succulents and findings

I stopped by a vintage and art shop that was having a 20% off sale today. One thing I have always loved about this shop is the way the owner uses succulents in an array of vintage containers to decorate her outdoor space. 

Here's some close-ups of what was on the cart shown above...

On the other side of the building...

and some close-ups.

Even a ladle isn't spared.

These plants and containers were for sale. How cool would it be to get these with your house numbers? Though in this area, the plants would only last outdoors through the summer.

My finds at this shop today were a small ironstone pitcher to add to my collection and a McCoy ribbed planter.

I also found a vintage linen piece that fit my nightstand perfectly...

and a Dawn doll! Who remembers these from the early 70's? I loved my Dawn doll with the pink and gold dress. I know I still have her somewhere in my basement, but I haven't been able to find her. In the meantime, I was happy to find this one for only a few dollars. I need to do something with her wild hair though. 

I guess this wasn't exactly a find, but my new Shark vacuum cleaner arrived today. 

I guess it means you're an adult when you get excited over a new vacuum cleaner. ;-)

joy, pride, sorrow ~ all part of weekend celebrations

What a joyous occasion we celebrated Saturday evening: Tim's BFA Art Show!

Tim had three of his photography pieces in the show. Here's his artist statement.

Tim had framed his work with glass, so I apologize for the glare. I wish you could see these pieces in person. My phone camera doesn't even begin to capture the beauty in his amazing work.

To say that I am proud of my son is an understatement. He is talented, smart, hard-working, and most of all, a truly genuine, loving young man. He has overcome some major life obstacles in pursuing his degree. I'll talk more about that next week after his graduation ceremony.

And then Sunday was Mother's Day. I have mixed emotions about this day. While I am grateful to still have my mother on this earth, and I'm a mother myself, Mother's Day is always hard for those of us who have lost a child.

I'm not a big fan of these kinds of holidays anyway. I think they put a lot of pressure and expectation on both sides. 

Yesterday afternoon, out of the blue, I received a private message from a friend in Canada whom I rarely speak to. She's had a messy life and isn't online much. But somehow - on Mother's Day - she thought of me. And took the time to send me a private message to tell me so. I was so touched. She was the only one - besides one of my best friends - that took the time and effort to contact me yesterday.

Backing up a little, on Friday Brian had said that he wanted to go out and pick up a little something for me for Mother's Day. Knowing the chain stores in this area, I told him to please not waste his money on some last-minute piece of cheap jewelry from one of those places. He asked why not and I told him things like that don't mean anything to me. (There's the expectations thing on the other end...men know that their wife and/or mother expect a gift, so they think going out at the last minute and buying something frivolous gives them brownie points.) I hinted that I liked plants and flowers. We'd been talking about sprucing up the area in front of our neighbor's fence - as talked about in my May 2nd post, in case you missed it. A couple of you had suggested a trellis and I had nixed that idea at first because I thought a trellis would have to lean against our neighbor's fence. 

Brian called me from the garden center and asked how I'd like a trellis for the fence area! I laughed and told him a couple of my blogger friends had suggested that. He said he found a metal trellis that was curved. It wouldn't have to lean against the fence. He also picked out a couple of clematis plants. 

I hope these plants do well. I tried growing clematis years ago and it died. This area gets at least six hours of sun every day, plus I've been watering. Rain is moving in tonight and into tomorrow, so no watering from me will be needed.

On Saturday evening before Tim's art show, the three of us met up for dinner with my mom, sister and brother-in-law. I gave my mom her Mother's Day gift then, since I wasn't seeing her on Sunday. Like me, Mom loves succulents and pretty dishes and pottery for use as planters. So I made her a pretty arrangement.

 I lucked out in finding the vintage planter in my newest favorite shop. 

A weekend full of emotions, high and low. Today's a new day and I'm taking time to breathe and find peace in the stillness after the flurry of weekend activity. How about you?

needing green

 It's still cold and yucky here.  Dark and rainy all day. It's my only day at home this week, so the only time I ventured outside was to get the mail. I was surprised to be greeted by flowers on the vinca. A bright spot in an otherwise miserable day. Maybe the poor vinca doesn't know that there's still a 50% chance of snow showers on Friday?

As usual at this time of the year, I am itching to play in the dirt ~ especially when I am seeing the most beautiful garden photos from my blogger friends who live in warmer climates. Since outdoor gardening isn't possible for me right now, I get a little bit of planting satisfaction by going with houseplants or succulents. My mom called me the other day from her local nursery and said they had little succulents on sale. She asked if I wanted some.

Of course!

I spent the day with Mom yesterday, picked up my succulents, and got them planted today.

Here's my mom's succulents on her dining room table. 

We'll take our greenery anyway we can get it.

Happy spring!

let's talk succulents ~ unique containers and care

Hello there! I hope you had a great weekend. My weekend included a couple of fun outings, including getting together with a friend at a local coffee shop and then shopping at a nearby vintage shop. I never even knew this vintage shop existed ~ until my friend led me there.

One of the things I was really impressed with was all the unique ways the owner displayed succulents. Loved this vintage birdcage filled with moss and plants...

and this old letter holder.

Very creative use of an old dolly and plant hangers, don't you think?

I also liked how she planted succulents in old tins...

and boxes and galvanized metal containers. But, I was wondering...don't these plants get waterlogged in these types of containers? She keeps all of these plants outdoors and we've had lots of rain. I didn't think succulents liked too much water. But yet these succulents look vibrant and healthy! Anyone in the know?

Here's another cool idea ~ using an old wagon to make a small garden. I like how an old piece of metal fencing (I'm guessing that's what it is) was used in back for height and interest and then an old piece of wood in the display, as well. You can see how much rain we've had by the wagon underneath the one with plants in it. Look at all that standing water!

As for myself, I've been collecting small vintage animal planters for my succulents. I took this photo outdoors, but I do keep all these plants indoors.

I also have some succulents planted in a milk glass container. The plant on the left started dying; these were the two small pieces I was able to save.

I also have succulents in teacups ~ and, as you can see, the plant in the flowered teacup is not doing well. What's up with me and succulents?! As with the milk glass container and the small, vintage planters, I put a layer of tiny rocks on the bottom of the containers for drainage. I only water them once every two weeks. They're not in direct sun.

Do you have succulents or have you ever tried keeping them? If so, do you keep them indoors or outdoors? Do you use any kind of unique containers? What kind of light do you keep them in and how often do you water them? Any fertilizer?

around here

I'm writing this post at 10:00 PM on Thursday night - thankfully, upstairs and safe -  after being in the basement family room for a couple of hours due to tornado warnings. We had thunderstorms all day with brief pauses where during one of them, I went outside to take some photos. I love spring and finding the promise of new growth after a long winter.

Sedum in the butterfly garden...

 

Chives in the herb garden ~ and, of course, the lemon balm is already popping up too, as you can see in the background...

 

The tiger lilies in the backyard around the composting bin are loving the rain. I swear they grow at least an inch a day!

 

Lilac buds...

 

Since I can't play in the dirt outside yet, I bought some succulents and planted them in teacups, two new mini vintage planters (the deer and the chick), and a milk glass container. How do you like that gorgeous teapot? I recently found it - plus matching teacups, saucers, little plates and a creamer - at Goodwill. The milk glass container was also a Goodwill find. More on all that in another post.

I did some painting today, too. My aunt had given me a painting last fall when she was packing her house to move out-of-state. I loved the painting itself, but not the frame. Auntie had painted the frame red, which - to me - clashed with the painting. I got a small jar of Americana Decor chalk paint (the color is Serene) at Hobby Lobby and gave it a whirl. I'm not much of a crafty person, nor am I a DIYer, so I was a little nervous at first.

Here's the painting after the first coat. Much better, don't you think? I just now noticed after uploading this picture to my blog that Clementine is photobombing this photo. I shouldn't be surprised - usually one of the cats is doing so. Anyway, I have to give a thumbs up for this paint. It went on very smoothly, gave great coverage without having to use a primer, dried quickly, and had no odor at all. Now I just have to wax the frame and then decide where to hang this painting. At first I thought it could go in the living room, but the light blue frame clashed with the aqua accents in the room. Blue overload! I think I'll wait and hang it in our bedroom after we paint and re-do that room. (And that's another huge, looming project.)

I'm turning the laptop off now and reading for awhile before I go to bed. I'm in the middle of "The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy" by Rachel Joyce. She's the author of, "The Pilgrimage of Harold Fry." Are you familiar with that book? Brian and I read it last year and we both loved it. So when the author came out with this sequel, we couldn't wait to read it. I've had the book on my amazon wish list since it came out, but the price has been too high to buy the book. I kept checking my library's web site and was thrilled to see last week that they got the book! Brian read it first - in two days - and he said it was excellent. I'm halfway through and loving this book. One of those that's hard to put down and has you reading way past your bedtime.