Now, there’s not a way I know of to save lettuce, but basil-yes!

When I’ve got basil ready to go, I pick it all and rinse it off in the sink under cold water. Since my herbs are grown in containers on a covered porch, and I don’t use pesticides or chemicals, I only rinse.

After rinsing and shaking off, I place a couple leaves into the bottom of ice cube trays. Think about how you cook. Do you like to use a lot of basil? If you do, you might want to pack your cubes a little fuller. I vary how many leaves I put in each because we vary how much basil we use dish to dish.

Then, fill with water, press the leaves down as best you can and pop in the freezer. These will last you a long time and you’ll always have fresh basil for cooking, even in the dead of winter.

This is just one way to extend the home garden goodness, what are some tricks you use to extend the life of your harvest?

Everything you’re about to see is being grown in containers on one of two porch gardens. If you think you can’t grow your own stuff in small spaces, let this prove you wrong!

Down below is some Chamomile. It grows super easily and germinates from seed in just a day or two. I started this about 2 weeks ago and it’s already pretty substantial. I use this in tea that I dry myself. (I also make tea from mint and roses that I grow.)

And below you’ll see some of my lettuce. One side of the planter gets more sun than the other, and you’ll see that difference in the following two photos.

This lettuce is called Black Seeded Simpson.

And one of the newest additions to my garden is the Luffa. Now, I started this from seed and I am about ready to move it down to the ground. This is not a container plant, but I wanted to share it with you nonetheless. The luffa produces those body sponges you can buy at the store….yes those things! This becomes a large vine and grows shiny green gourd-like vegetables. Come autumn, you peel the green skin off, rinse out all the seeds and voila! Luffa! A neat plant for sure.

Mint is down below. Makes excellent sun tea and dried, loose leaf tea too.

And below is an heirloom variety of Morning Glory. This is called President Tyler and you’ll see the bloom is all wrapped up. I took this photo in the afternoon (they bloom in the mornings). Isn’t it lovely?

And down below are my tomato plants! We have 4 varieties on our porches this year and they are thriving in our containers.

What you’re seeing down below is the very first ripening tomato of the season! This guy should be ready later this week for munching.

Below are my Romano tomatoes. I started those from seed about 3 weeks ago. Starting tomatoes in late June produces a faster-growing plant. The other plants you saw above I started in February and they grow much more slowly due to cooler temperatures and less intense sun.

So, there’s where I am with my garden this year. I’m on my second round of lettuce (harvested the first batch in early June) and my second round of basil, arugula, and sage (not pictured).

Container gardening is easy. Here’s some simple tips for you if you’re interested in trying it out.

If you get full sun, at least 4-6 hours a day, on a porch or windowsill, here are my no-fail recommendations for you:

• lettuce (Black Seeded Simpson)
• tomato (Romano or Cherry)
• basil

These are three easy-to-use vegetables and herbs and great plants to start out with.

Come late summer, we’ll be planting onions, parsnips and more autumn-loving veggies.

Expect another update in a month or two!

To me, orchids are haunting flowers. Lovely, no doubt, and they are captivating in a spooky way. I’m not sure why they freak me out a bit—perhaps it’s the soft, nearly-perfect curvature of the flowers. The smoothness of the petals. The simplicity of the flower atop a thin, thin thread of a stem. I don’t know what it is about them, but they definitely do not have the same vibe as, let’s say, a rose or a peony.

Are you?

And taking photos of them is so rewarding. You just can’t go wrong taking pictures of plants. They are so pleasing to the eye.

Plants that flower are so captivating. Look the the little blossoms above– they only have two petals!

That’s something I wouldn’t have noticed had I not gotten in for a close-up.

These three photos are from a bonsai tree. Well, bush, I guess.

The entire thing was in bloom.

Such beautiful, delicate blooms. If you notice, you’ll see splotches of pink freckles towards the center of the bloom and the similar striking pink shade at the tip of the stamen.

Mother nature, you sure are a talented interior designer. ;)

Just above, you’ll see a bird of paradise flower. Also known as the most recent yoga pose I’ve just begun to master.

What a crazy flower.

Down below, you’ll see a plumeria bloom— look at the similarities in the intensity of the colors. I love finding similarities between different species.

And look at these sweet, sweet blooms.

You know, I’m more someone that lusts after leaves moreso than flowers, mostly because many plants that grow well here in Cincinnati, Ohio only flower for a short time. But after looking at these guys, it inspires me to add more than just morning glories to my landscape.

Lucky for me I’ve managed to find someone to marry me already and I’ve managed to find a couple dear friends who I know won’t cast me away. ;)

Just kidding.

Well, sort of. What’s a girl like me to do?

Anyway, May 2 (the day of Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon) was a joy for non-marathon runners. It was delightfully overcast and brought a near-constant rain. It was as if the whole of Cincinnati could be the backdrop in a Jane Austen novel.

So, perhaps, a combination of the romantic-esque weather (at least that I convinced myself of in my natural inclination to err on the positive side of things) and an empty house, I ventured to pull my tillandsia out from their respective perches around my urban cottage.

Thus, photos of them in a springtime Ohio rain.

Boy, where did that popular girl in high school I once was go? Seems I fooled them all. ;)

You know, like fly fishing.

It’s an enjoyable hobby and for a hobby primarily dominated by men (not many women tie flies). It’s considered an art form by many fly fisherman. After all, a well-tied fly will last a long time and bring in many catches.

How fly tying works is pretty easy.

First, you pick out your fishing spot.

Second, you hunt around a bit, looking for what bugs are on the riverbank.

Third, you mimic what you see–you tie flies based on what’s naturally occurring.

And it’s a pretty trusty formula to follow for helping ensure you have a great catch for the day.

You can read book after book all about fly fishing. While there are good guidelines to follow that detail what fish like what flies, nothing beats matching what’s actually out there around your fishing spot.

This is what makes fly tying so awesome. You are copying nature.

Now for me, I’ve never actually gone fly fishing. I love to tie those flies though.

Flies are made from a combination of thread, fur, feathers, chenile, hair—anything that you can wrap around the hook.

Pictured above is some dubbing. Dubbing is really soft hair–think the undercoat of an animal. It’s super soft. You pull a little out and twist it back and forth between your thumb and forefinger until it wraps around the thread. Then, you wind the thread around the hook. That’s how you make a soft body like many bugs have.

Below, you’ll see I tied down a feather to the end of my fly. That makes the tail.

I cut off the excess, leaving what you see below.

I then attached a few deer hairs to the head and tied them in a way so they’d spike up, mimicking wings.

To finish a fly, you dab a little substance called ‘fly head cement’ to the head. This keeps the fly from unwinding. Many hardcore fisherman only use knotting.

There are some good old standards in the world of fly tying.

Below, you’ll see a wooly bugger. A treasured favorite. Good for about any fish.

And below, a fire ant.

Check out the San Juan Worm below. He’s super easy to make, but not one of my favorites.

This is one of my favorites. It’s based off an emerger. I call it “Cole’s Green Emerger.”

Fly Tying is a great hobby for women. Women are much better at fine detail work, and our hands are smaller and more delicate. Many male fisherman struggle with tying their own flies because they break threads and struggle with working on such a small scale.

If you sell your flies, they can fetch up to $6 each so it’s  pretty profitable hobby too.

Plus, if a loved one is a fly fisherman, they’ll appreciate the flies more than you know.

It’s not exactly the most fun you can have in the garden.

After an entire winter, man, at the very least I’ve got to gear myself up for this. I really don’t enjoy the spring clean up. Turning soil, picking out rocks and clumps and other debris, opening the garden chest–slowly–making sure no little critter is inside—it’s nowhere near as fun as filling a basket with brightly colored veggies.

Here is a little garden box back in March. Now, it's overflowing with vegetation and growth!

The end of winter is like that though. Nothing is green yet, everything is thawing so it’s all wet. And it’s a cold wetness, which is worse. I think it stinks, literally, too. It takes until at least April before the dirt and outdoors as a whole start to smell earthy and sweet, not stale and cramped as it does in February.
Well, like other years previous to this one, I did this important task. I adjusted pots, wiped things down, picked through forgotten objects and pulled out my seed starting supplies.
I brought several trays inside and some peat pots too. I laid them out in straight rows, filled them with seed starter mix and got them soaking with water. My husband installed some shelves in front of our kitchen window this year to allow for a few more seed starting trays and more direct sunlight to warm the soil. Once I finished with the seeds, I filled the shelves with our teapots, french press, cookbooks and pasta jars.

I also pulled out a new notebook for this year– it is making for a lovely garden journal. I laid all my seed packets out from last year, took stock of what was left and drafted a garden layout. After doing that, I determined exactly how many plants of each vegetable or herb I’d need and what I’d like to give away as extras, and to whom. Then, I began fillingn specifics in my garden journal followed by labeling my seed tray. Now, in early June, I use the journal to take notes, to record which plants are doing well and which one’s art. I’m writing down all the little things I always forget about.

Each year, getting started is sometimes the worst part. But, it usually will just take an afternoon and if you left things fairly tidy the year before—well, it should all be worth it.

And now, friends, it is June. Today, I spent time willing unruly tomato plants back into cages and untangling peas from each other. The gardens are flourishing. The plants are producing. My beagles are tearing off leaves.

How are your green spaces faring?

I thought I’d share as you bear with me while I prepare for a big ol’ update to Simplicity Embellished.

The white and black guy sports a torn wing and a crinkle in a lower span as well, but isn’t he lovely?

The one below is my favorite. This little one was just sitting on the banister (it is sadly possible that he was nearing the end of his life) and I was able to get in very close. I feel like he’s thinking of something in this photo. I feel like there’s a lot more going on under those wings than above, and I feel like I’m seeing some intimate moment that I’m not supposed to.

I can’t help but think when I look at these butterflies, that without the wings, I would be terrified. If a bug that large came at me, well, it would not result in me leaning in for a closer shot.

The orange fellow below was a delight. I felt like we were making eye contact.

This is a dreamy shot too. You can see the fur, the spines on the leg and the twitch of the antenna. If you look close, you’ll see he’s got what looks like a little pig nose.

This reminds me of some very nice paper I own. Look at those wings. If I didn’t see that it was a butterfly, I would assume that it was some beautiful card stock worked into a beautiful, flowing stack.

And the finale.

Where else do you see orange like that other than on a jack-o-lantern or tiger lily? Not too often, I suppose. Orange is lovely.

What are you supposed to do when you find a baby bird? Is it true that you shouldn’t touch them?

Basically, there are two types of baby birds.
1. True baby birds (no real feathers yet, still pink)
2. Fledgling (have real feathers; hops but doesn’t fly)

If you find a true baby bird, it probably fell out of the nest or got blown out. You should pick it up, warm it in your hands and put it back into the nest.

If you find a fledgling, don’t put it back in the nest. It might have taken the leap to fly too soon, but it should be able to fly in a couple of days. If you look around, you’ll probably see the mother somewhere nearby. As a fledgling, life is dangerous. Many get killed at this stage of life because they aren’t full adults yet and they have a lot to learn about living in the wild. Just have faith that mother nature will take care of the little guy.

Anyway, I went over to my friend’s house and we noticed that it was probably a fledgling, but it definitely wasn’t ready to leave the nest yet. We picked it up to make sure it was warm and we were relieved tontine out it was. We saw the mother nearby (and the cat) so we left it in a safer spot behind some fencing.

Hopefully little bird learned to fly!

My stricta, in particular, has been the most amazing to watch. First, a single pink bud appeared. That single bud turned into a stalk of pink petals with white pearl-like objects tucked inside each petal. Those pearly little things eventually turned pink and started expanding into the purple mini-flowers you see below. This plant has been in bloom for about three weeks now.

And that about sums up why I am essentially obsessed with these epiphytes. They bloom, don’t require any soil and can live anywhere in my home.

I’m going to tell you a little bit about my favorite houseplant in this post, in hopes that it will become yours too. ;)

I realize that most people look for the following in houseplants:
1. Flowers
2. Foliage
3. Free

The air plant has all three. Except, I imagine, most people want houseplants with large, green leaves that are soft to the touch with a vibrant, glossy shine. Something like the golden pothos or even a rubber tree. Maybe a philodendron, too. Those are all great plant options, but, none are quite as versatile as the tillandsia.

The tillandsia is a bromeliad. A pineapple is a bromeliad. Spanish moss is a bromeliad. A bromeliad is a type of plant. That’s really all you need to know there.

A tillandsia is an epiphyte. That means it doesn’t need soil. It gathers all that it needs from sunlight, water and air.

What I love most about air plants is that I can place them wherever I wish. In a dish, a pot, a bowl–or hanging from some fishing line.

Tillandsia’s reproduce pretty quickly too. Depending on the type of air plant, in less than 12 months, one plant can easily become four, five, six or even seven. That’s what I meant when I said they were free–you just snap off the ‘pups’ from the ‘mother’ when you’d like another plant, or you can leave them together as a clump.

I was fortunate enough to find some beautiful antiques and pretty things at our local thrift store and my tillandsias look beautiful filling them up.

The tillandsia below is in bloom. Each plant only blooms once. After it blooms, it begins to produce pups. The mother plant will either die away in a few months or a few years. What a remarkable and captivating life cycle.

So, this is my little introduction to air plants. I hope you’ll consider them as an addition to you home. The one’s above I ordered online from Air Plant City in Florida. Catherine Essigman is the owner and she will communicate directly with you about any questions you may have.

Nonetheless, I’ll have to write about making shoes later.

For now though, I’d like to talk about baby booties. You see, many women my age are just starting families. They’ve been married a few years and either just had or are about to have their first child. It’s a special time. One thing I’ve noticed from the baby showers I’ve attended and from flipping through photos in Facebook albums is that you basically get the same things at baby showers. A stroller, bedding, Pack-n-Plays, bottles, diapers and lots and lots of clothes. Now, mind you, these are all essential items.

Do you know what I rarely see? Do you know what is almost always missing?

Handmade items! And no, not the ‘I made this’ kind, the ‘I spent a long time planning this, and then working on it’ kind. And there is a difference between the two, although I’m pretty sure my description makes no sense at all.

Traditional crafts are less prevalent today than in previous years. By traditional, I mean embroidery, crochet, knitting and tatting…things like that.

For a wonderfully sentimental and meaningful baby shower gift, why not try your hand at crocheting baby booties? They take about 2 hours for a beginner from start to finish and believe it or not, they are a super manageable project.

Here are some booties I’ve recently made. I’ll be doing some embroidery work on them before actually gifting them. The thing to remember about these is that they will be keepsake items. The infant may never wear them, but I can pretty much guarantee that the mother will hang on to them for years to come.

This is the pattern I follow. You can find a bunch of patterns on the internet, and in books too, but this one that I can do from memory; which is why I like it.

Gauge: 3mm
Yarn: Embroidery Weight

Start by doing 8 double-crochets into a circle.
Cinch the circle nice and tight and then do a slip stitch into the top of the first double crochet.

Next round:
Do 2 double-crochets into each stitch. Then, do a slip stitch into the top of the first double-crochet. Chain 2. (This is a total of 16 stitches.)

Next round:
Follow this pattern all the way around- 1 double-crochet into a stitch, 2 double crochet into the next stitch. Slip stitch into the top of the first stitch in the round and chain 2. (This is a total of 24 stitches.)

Next round:
Follow this pattern all the way around – 1 double-crochet into a stitch, 1 double-crochet into the next, 2 double-crochet into the next. Slip stitch into the top of the first stitch in the round and chain 2. (This is a total of 32 stitches.)

Next round:
Double-crochet even all the way around (this means 1 double-crochet into each stitch)

Next round:
Double-crochet even all the way around (this means 1 double-crochet into each stitch). Chain 2. Turn.

Next round:
(Make sure you turned your piece so you are going back the way you came.) Double-crochet into the first 22 stitches leaving 10 by themselves. Chain 2, and turn.

Next 11 rounds:
Do the same thing over and over. You are going to build on those 22 stitches forming the bottom and sides of the shoe.

Next round:
Double-crochet into the first 10 stitches, then double-crochet the next 3 together. Double-crochet the remaining stitches.

Next:
Fold that back part in half, with the 3 stitches you double-crocheted together as the bottom of the fold. Just slip stitch the sides together.

You have a shoe! Woo!

To add a strap, just chain 7 across the shoe wherever you want it.

Or, sometimes, you want to give something that is just awesome. Something you couldn’t find at a store, something so awesome it’s hard to assign a value to it.

I have a solution for you. This is a fail-safe, thoughtful, impressive and most importantly—cherished gift that will actually get used and be loved. Plus, this awesome craft has a unique distinction born from decades of tradition. Sororities, fraternities, secret societies and people needing to keep things hidden while still in view have used hollowed out books to safely store important documents and items. Plus, it’s really cool to be like,

“Darling, if I don’t come back……you’ll find everything you need in my copy of Robert’s Rules of Order, top shelf, in the den.”

Anyway. Here are the specifics:

A Hollowed-Out Book
Here’s an example:

I made this one for my BFF’s birthday this year and put photos I printed at home and cut out inside with some ribbon from Michael’s. She loved it. (She also loves my dogs.)

The one that I made for my husband was made out of a biography of Stalin. It’s super thick. His holds little love notes from me and a Mr. Goodbar.

And here’s a version for a funky-art lover:

See? I didn’t actually cut all the pages out, just about 1/2” or so. Then I shredded the remaining interior pages and bingo-bango, pretty cool stuff. Imagine this on a bookshelf for display, on a desk or mantle.

Have I convinced you yet that this is an awesome gift?

Here are the steps:
1. Select a book
2. Pick your favorite page in the book. You’re going to later glue this page on the inside back cover so it shows through when you open the book. Just slice it out and set aside.
3. Wrap the back cover in plastic wrap all the way back to the spine. Wrap the front cover and the first 5 or so pages in plastic wrap as well. Doing this prevents the covers from getting glued to the pages. You want to keep them separate. It also gives you a few normal pages up front which enhances the illusion of it being a real book.
4. Take off the jacket. With Elmer’s Glue, coat all the exterior sides of the pages generously. (It will dry clear.) I’d say drying time takes about 30 minutes. Be sure to put something heavy on it while it dries.
5. Open the book up to the first page you’re going cut. Draw a 1/2” border all around the page. Cut out the inside. I usually do the first 10-20 pages individually.
6. Glue the back page you set aside onto the inside back cover.
7. Glue the inside sides with Elmer’s Glue like you did the outside sides. Make sure you take the plastic wrap off the back cover and make sure it gets glued to the pages. Painting the inside with glue makes the book more stable and strong, and also helps to protect what you put inside it.
8. Close it up (saran wrap should still be on the front) and put something heavy on it to let it dry. (Give it at least an hour or two to dry.)

Here’s what you’ve got to clean up:

Tips:
+ Be patient. Don’t try and cut 10 pages at once.
+ Change your razor blade often.
+ Make sure your corners look good, don’t skimp on them.
+ Select a title that is appropriate to the person. For example, it’s probably not a good idea to give a devout Christian a hollowed-out Bible.
+ Robert’s Rules of Order is the old school book of choice for this project.
+ Can you use the interior pages you cut out for something else? Wall paper maybe? If you can, think about what you might be able to do with the pages before you start working. It blows to come up with a good idea for the pages after you’ve already ruined the pages.
+ Want to make sure you don’t have a valuable book before you start cutting? Go here.

Good places to get cheap books:
+ Thrift stores (Many thrift stores have 1/2 price book days)
+ Yard sales
+ Antique stores
+ Your own bookshelves, or a friend’s
+ Old textbooks

Would you let me know if you hollow out a book?

Motivated to cook. Actually, I think, motivated to be distracted in the kitchen for a few hours–do you know what I mean? Sometimes it’s really nice to be focused on one thing for several hours. And it’s even nicer when that one thing reaps quantifiable results.

I made yams.

I made roasted sweet potatoes and parsnips.

I made a lentil and rice dish.

And I made my husband a cake.

I used the yellow cake recipe from Cooks Illustrated and their Simple Vanilla Frosting recipe as well.

I felt so proud, staring across the room at my three layer cake resting peacefully on the cake stand.

And when my husband got home, he felt hungry. Which was perfect, because I had a lot of food.

I love these two little dogs as I’m sure you love your pets.

I love how, on sunny mornings, they follow sunspots around the house. The sun carries them between their early-morning nap and their mid-morning nap; both of which generally take place on the bed.

When I get real close to their little faces, I wonder what they are thinking about. They sit completely still, the sun fully shining on them, occasionally blinking. What are they pondering?

And then I catch a moment like this…..

…and I feel their happiness.

Simplicity Embellished | Simple Daily Makeup Routine from Simplicity Embellished on Vimeo.

This is Cole’s tried-and-true daily makeup routine. Developed after years and years of mistakes, mishaps and mooching off of other makeup mavens.

Mmmmmm!

This is my normal, everyday makeup routine. I debated on whether or not to post a video of it for you, but so far, the feedback has been positive.

If you have any questions about anything I mentioned in the video, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment.

We were all sitting in the living room Monday afternoon, just chatting and talking, and my MIL got up and said “I have something for you, Cole.”

For me?

She reappeared in the living room with the following:

Now, you’ll be able to see some smudges in these photos. I haven’t had time to drop these off at the jeweler for a good cleaning due to a very annoying snowstorm that has blanketed Cincinnati.

But how beautiful is this? The center stone is Aquamarine with two garnets on either side. My mother-in-law and her sister saved up for this ring to give to my husband’s grandmother many years ago.

And now it belongs to me.

It is putting it mildly to say I will cherish it forever.

Now look at this. My mother-in-law received this for a gift at one point from another family member and she gave it to me. It’s set with garnets (her birthstone).

I’ve never seen another ring like it.

And look at this:

She gave me earrings and a drop for a necklace to match. Those are garnet and diamonds.

Just beautiful. I am so honored to have these pieces in my possession.

Thanks MIL!

Aside from this, common houseplants actually purify the air. They can filter out things like formaldehyde, carbon monoxide and benzene from the air. NASA and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America did a two-year study on this and found they improve the air quality of your home.

And, you probably don’t know this but formaldehyde is found in virtually all indoor environments. Yucky, huh?

Here is my list of go-to houseplants. These are all easy to care for, appropriate for apartment dwellers (or just back bedrooms) and affordable.

MY BEST-BET HOUSEPLANTS

CROTON
This is probably one of the most rewarding houseplants I’ve ever had. They change color, are easy to care for and have a nice aesthetic appeal. The Croton is actually capable of flowering but mine never has.

SPIDER PLANT
These are pretty common in offices because they do pretty well in fluorescent light, are easy to care for and you can pretty much just forget about them. I think a decorative container is pretty important with these guys because there’s not much variation within the plant itself. At least, not like the Croton, for example.

GERBERA DAISY
For you flower fans, the Gerbera is an outstanding choice. The Gerbera was also ranked as one of the 10 plants most effective in cleaning the air. They’re happy, come in lots of colors. Plus, they make a great gift.

GOLDEN POTHOS
Doesn’t the name sound nice? This is one of 10 plants most effective in cleaning the air (OK, all of the plants in my list except the Croton and Tillandsia were in the top 10).

PHILODENDRON
A wonderful, beautiful plant. You can train this to grow any way you want. It’s a great office plant and also wonderful in the home. I had one when I still worked in a corporate setting and the longest tendril was more than five feet long. They are also really easy to break into multiple plants (say, if you want to give your friend one to start).

ENGLISH IVY
This is a classic houseplant. Many love it because of what you can do when you pop it into topiary form. I think the most common form is in a ball topiary. I usually spot these for sale at grocery stores around the holidays.

And my favorite houseplant of all time?

TILLANDSIA (AIR PLANT)
This is the ultimate in easy to care for. It requires no soil. In fact, you can hang them from fishing wire from all sorts of places; ceilings, shower rods, curtains. They are cheap, they are awesome. There are dozens and dozens of varieties. Some are green, some are purple, some flower…..they are incredible.

Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn – What to do and when?

I live in Cincinnati, Ohio and so I bring most of my houseplants out on the front porch in mid-spring; certainly after the last frost. I put them out on the front porch because it gets less sun than the back porch which gets full, afternoon sun.

I’ll leave them outside until we get to the hottest part of summer and then I’ll bring them inside to keep them from baking. I keep them in the warmest room of the house though, because I feel like the switch to cold air can harm some of the plants. (The Croton has been known to suddently drop leaves after a blast of cold air.) When September rolls around, I’ll put most of them outside again. Then, inside again in mid-October.

For me, I like to keep the air conditioning off as much as possible and the windows open. Having houseplants inside make the most difference for me in winter. And, I think good houseplant ownership is giving them a touch of the outdoors to invigorate them for the upcoming warmer months. Plants build a lot of strength (and sometimes, size) after a month or so outside in the sunlight and rain. It will make winter a lot easier for them.

Depending on where you are in the world, your habits will vary. Basically, do what you think is best for your plants.

Dead Houseplants

Are you afraid to kill a houseplant?

Don’t be. Don’t let that be the reason you don’t get one. It’s silly and you know what? If you start out with the right ones, you’ll greatly reduce your chance of killing them.

Start out with a philodendron. They are easy to care for and there’s a ton of info online. You can forget about them, under water, over water….beat them up and they’ll be OK.

Then, I’d get a Croton or Golden Pothos. Go for whatever calls you. I think this list is full of pretty safe bets.

There are treasures to be had.

Finds to discover.

Trinkets to claim.

Look at this. It’s a carousel. Made of some metal of some sort…zinc maybe? No idea. It’s certainly not a recent creation.

Look at the details. Doesn’t it just capture you? Pull you in?

If I had had this around when I was a child, I can guarantee that this would have inspired many a daydream.

The dern thing is even decorated. Look at the little flags, waving in the wind.

When I find stuff like this, I always wonder Who bought it? How much did they pay? Why did they buy it? How did it end up at a thrift store?

Maybe that’s why this is so magical. Because I don’t know any of those things. I only know that it was something somebody somewhere threw away. Something someone else saw no value in.

Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.

Here’s to it being a lucky one for you and yours.

My sister gave me these little fishies for a holiday gift this year. I just love them. They are kitsch. They are gaudy. They are flashy. They are perfect.

I believe these are said to be some sort of good luck talisman and are manufactured (or maybe they’re handmade?) in the China Towns of the world.

I made them into earrings and had Ruby model them. She thinks I should add some amethyst, lavender, midnight blue and crimson Swarovski crystals to them.

I like her style.

These sure would brighten any outfit.

I love the coloring. And the vibrancy of the gold.

Purple and gold are lovely colors.

In fact, I’ve been told those are my personal colors.

And so I plan to ride off into the sunrise of our brand new year with my lucky fish earrings dangling from my lobes, lookin’ fabulous.

Here’s to a new year together.