Weekend thrifting finds

Did you know Lowes has a discount plant rack?? I did not, but now I do.
Tons of poor little plants that just need a good watering and to be in either less or more sun.

I picked up a succulent mixed pot from that little forlorn orphanage on the way home from thrifting with a friend. (this happened about forever ago, as you can see from all the greenery in the background)

And I certainly did not ditch what was dead in the mix and
cherry pick from the other forlorn pots a few replacement pieces.
Perish the thought..........

It turned out to go perfectly with a little brass bowl snagged for $2 that morning!

bowl me over

Brass and succulents, it's a thing I hear.
I feel so 'hip', or whatever the kids are calling it these days....

It's happily living on the long n low mid-century dresser I'm using as an entertainment center.

When it was perfect and compact.
Now it's a little gangly.

-Lindsay

Summer Porch Food Round-up

I went a little overboard on plants this summer. Home Depot's plentiful garden department, and the excitement of having my own porch overcame me. The result is about 20 pots with anywhere from 1 to 6 plants per pot. I've kept almost everything alive, but its all a little much.

just 8 of the ~13 plant containers on the back porch

As I talked about in an earlier post, I had a goal to plant something I could eat. The herbs have done gangbusters. Even though the pepper, squash, and cucumber plants haven't produced any veggies, they've put out a lot of pretty flowers and thus have earned their keep.

The tomatoes have been quite a different story. I planted early, used several varieties, fertilized, de-bugged, watered, watched and waited. No tomatoes. I plant sat a friend's tomato which quickly grew several good sized fruits. I even put my plants near the damn friend-mato thinking perhaps there was an optimal sun situation there. Mine just flowered, got huge, and laughed. grumble grumble grumble...

4ft tall tomato plants

Finally one of the 6 towering plants mustered an actual tomato.

Why hellooo dere.

It was a teeny tiny little thing, and this morning was it's time of reckoning.

side note: Beans LOVES his perch.

It was delicious! 

That little tomato definitely inspired me to eat more tomatoes next summer.....from the farm stand. 

I'll stick with petunias, they love me back.

-Lindsay

Pretty Petite Pallet Plant ..... Thing

Sleeping out on the porch last night was glorious! The temps were in the high 60's/low 70's, and I did not get attacked by any manner of wildlife; bugs, overly affectionate cats, or otherwise.
When I woke up I let the monsters out with me, and noticed that Mr. Beans the curious did not have a spot on the plant stand upon which to sit and survey his kingdom.
My options were to move the plants onto the floor, ignore it and inevitably have him knock them over, or make alternate arrangements.  A couple of the pots had holes for hanging, but I did not want to put them straight on the wall because it is block, and a PAIN to drill into. I had one existing pre-drilled hole to work with, and a pile of (suprise suprise) pallet wood.

pile o stuff

I used some paint stirrers to bracket the pallet boards together, and added a sawtooth hanger on the back, since I had extra from the mirrors.

rawr

Taking into account the size of the plants in the pots, I awkwardly held up and guesstimated precisely measured where they would best hang, and added two sets of two screws to the front.

Using a hole in the wall that was already hard fought for made this little Saturday morning project niiiiice and easy. Thank goodness for previously expended efforts; all I had to do today was drive a screw in there.
Mounting hung on screw. Pots hung on mounting. Bing-Bang-Plants-on-the-Wall.

purdy petunias

Mr.Beans had lost interest in being on the porch by this time and cared not for his newly created spot on the plant bench. Oh well, it was a good little free n fast project anyway.

giant tomato plants. one little tomato.

-Lindsay

Monday, Monday

Mornings are not my thing.

My alarm this morning went off at 4am to switch units at the station, then again at 6am to pack it up and go home. Both buzzings were a bit unwelcome, but once I drag my butt out of bed, Monday mornings have become a favorite part of my week. 6am is early enough to miss the traffic, the air is still cool, and it gives me a chance to run errands, (both home depot and my local grocery store are open that early) and pick up the house before the week really starts. A stolen hour or two where I don't have to get anything done, so everything is bonus points.

Today, I took some time to sit and enjoy the morning on Porch Couch with a cup of tea and some delicious Jordanian honey a worldly friend gave me.

herb trimmings to share at work

There's a mama bird who has a made a little cocoon nest in an empty wall planter. I think she is a Carolina Wren and has four little tan eggs. She does not seem to mind me being around, but happened to fly in when the cats were out this morning. One took interest, but I grabbed her (the cat) before she could move. I like my bird-mama and had a minor heart attack, so lesson learned: morning time is for the birds....no cats allowed.

who? me?

-Lindsay