Today, I rock.

I mentioned in an earlier entry that I was considering making some frog caves to post on etsy. I haven't had a ton of time and the weather has been less than ideal, so I haven't gotten around to it. Today, however, was a beautiful day with cooler temperatures and a lovely breeze, and I decided to go out and play in the tufa.

I ended up making two frog caves and four or five planters. I'll go out and take pictures of everything after the initial curing, but I made a dinosaur egg planter, three 'petrified log' planters, and one round bonsai tray. We'll see how those come out after they're safer to handle, but I'm pretty excited.

I decided to use an experimental mix which ended up coming out beautifully. True to form, though, I didn't bother to write it down and will probably never be able to replicate it's wonderfulness again! Everything came together beautifully, much easier than I'm used to, and it just made the creation so much less stressful and so satisfying.

If everything turned out well, I'll put these in for a soak and leach for a week or two and then get ready to list them in my shop. There's nothing like a day when things seem to create themselves!

My Gardenin' Granny

My grandmother is probably the biggest influence in my plant world (yes, they are separate, kinda...). My dad picked me up and we did a quick visit to Mississippi for her 80th birthday party, and I managed to take a few pictures, despite the lack of time. The backwaters are in, and I'd have loved to go out and take some pictures. That's how it goes, though.

Here I am at my grandmother's party. She was off with her guests, and I, being the plant weenie that I am, hung out with, you guessed it, the plants. My dad actually took this picture, and it's in focus, light, and my head isn't cut off, making it quite an accomplishment for him. Sadly, the only pictures where my entire head is included are really the most unflattering, like this one where I'm scrunching my face up. Thanks, dad.

And here are some of my grandmother's containers. She's gotten to the point where she can't maintain the acres of gardens she used to, so she container gardens. I wish I had her eye for colors and textures and all of that stuff!