Five out of Thirteen Orchids Survived the Elements...

 After the very cold winter we had here on the Southern Gulf Coast of Florida, I really thought my Orchid plants would be lost.  They seemed to wilt and die down.  This past week I took a walk around my yard and found a few of them were all showing new growth.   Five out of thirteen survived!

 The Orchids that were growing on the Oak trees seemed to have had the most trouble.. but One is doing great.

It's been about 6 months since the Orchids have produced a flower so I'll be mixing fertilizer into a spray bottle and soaking them all well.  I do this every two weeks and expect to see them budding around July. At this point in time I have no idea the name or what each flower will look like.

I may just get some new plants later this week but do not want ones with flowers, and they are not easy to find.  The ones with flowers will not bloom again for another 8 or 10 months. 

After reading an article on "How to propagate orchids" it sounds a little tricky. Also it will take months for the new plants to generate roots and leaves... no, I'll go buy new plants.

You know, I could kick myself because two months ago I was at an orchid show and they had so many plants not yet in bloom and quite  inexpensive that way.  I remember telling my sister, "I have enough orchids"

Today we have wind and rain from the remnants of "TS Beryl" so my day has been spent indoors catching up on my cleaning. I do hope all up at the top of Florida did not get too much damage from our first Tropical Storm.  Hurricane season starts in two weeks and that means there are more to come.

I'm linking up to

Tuesdays Garden Party 

Outdoor Wednesday 

Fertilizer Friday 

Cottage Garden Party 

Home and Garden Thursday 

"A Special Gift for a Special Daughter"

 

Did you ever have a special occasion happen to someone you love and you wanted to give them a gift telling the story.  I looked in so many shops and on Pinterest for ideas,  but no such gift could be found.. The home this gift will grace is one that will be "Shabby Country" as that is Cyndi's love of decor, something that started in the few years we all lived in Texas.  

So, I thought I'd just make my own!

My daughter Cyndi has worked for one company for the past 13 years and while with the company has moved  5 times to different cities. For almost 3 of those years she lived out of hotel rooms while opening new stores up in the North East.. and her belongings were put in storage.  She was then offered a promotion to work in the corporate offices out of Jupiter, Florida.  For the past two years she lived in a rather nice apartment in Palm Beach, a 45 minute drive down I-95.  But, it just was not home!  Well, I'm happy to say, "Cyndi bought her first house in Jupiter", and will be moving into it sometime in June. (no more driving I-95 and that is a big deal in itself)

What could I give her but something that said, 

"I'm Home" 

Using some left over wood, I cut a simple size to create a sign for her to hang in her new "Home"

 I painted the wood with some left over white wall paint and rubbed on a bit of brown to give the color some texture then used some craft store rub on lettering for the words.

(i'm really bad with hand painting letters)

 In the craft store I found what looked like a roll of ribbon but it was in fact made of garden twigs.  Really interesting stuff.  I simply placed it on the sign and used my staple gun and glue gun to attach it to the wood.

I also found this butterfly made out of  wire and Spanish moss.

The entire project took me about an hour to create.

The butterfly was put on top of a raffia bow with industrial strength hot glue and a raffia streamer tail for interest.

Using the words "I'm Home" is all that is needed.  Cyndi knows what it means and the feelings that go into it.

I can't tell you how proud I am of my girl and I know what this new  home means to her. She has worked so hard over the last decade and If anyone on the planet deserves it.. "It's Cyndi"

x0x0x

I'm linking up to

Tuesdays To Do List 

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday 

Create and Share 

Power of Paint Party

WoW us Wednesday  

Thrifty Things Friday 

"Remembering on this Memorial Day Weekend"

                                                                 photo Frank Glick

To All Who Have Served

To All Who Gave Their Lives

So That We Can Be Free

"I Salute You"

As we all go about our daily lives this Memorial Day Weekend, 

Please pause and remember all those who have and still keep us 

"Safe and Free"

Saving seeds from my Blackeyed Susan and Purple Cone Flowers

I'm always thinking ahead, to next years garden and this will be my fifth year saving the seeds from my Black Eyed Susans.

They seem to grow without my even seeding  the spot by my front fence, but I save the spent flowers, let them dry then put the seeds in an envelope to be scattered out back in the fall.

Of all the flowers growing in my yard, these two seem to be the ones that love

to grow all on their own.  Too much rain, or no rain at all and their happy!

And from the way they look in the garden, 

"They make me happy too"

What more could this woman ask for?

Tuesdays Garden Party 

Cottage Garden Party 

Fertilizer Friday 

It's Almost Done...... My Master Closet

In a previous post I spoke of re-doing my messy master closet. Well, I'm happy to say "It's Almost Finished"

It's day 7 of my Custom Closet make over.  

My hands hurt and I have white paint and liquid nails under my finger nails.  I'm tired of looking at the hammer and assorted screwdrivers.. but "Oh so happy with what is going on in there"!!

This is one of those "Did I Do That" moments. 

Call me nuts, but I know I've saved myself thousands of dollars by not hiring a contractor or handy man.

Hey, "I'm the handy woman" 

The first thing I did when I brought home the pine boards is paint them all with a white primer.

Now that I have the shelving up I stopped to think about putting the clothing hanger rod in, then it hit me that it would be long and there is a possibility the weight of the clothes might not be supported by the 3/4" wood?  This morning I went back to the HD and my favorite guy who has been so helpful with ideas and opinions on what I was up to.  He gave me some great thoughts on a second, stronger shelf with better support.

This project is taking much longer than I thought but as long as I have the time this next week, I'd say it might take at least 4 more days to finish.

I'm being really picky... "NO" metal or wire  at all, will go in my closet so I bought a large wood dowel for the clothes rod.  Three will be installed but I just don't want metal supports on the end. My big idea is to use 2by4 wood.  Drill a hole in the wood and insert the dowel....  How do I drill 2 1/2" holes, that is the question??

Doing a project of this size I've come to the understanding that these items are the ones most needed.  

Liquid Nails, Molly's and a Miter Saw.  

Really!

And lets not forget the Masking Tape! I must have gone through two large rolls just holding things together while I worked on it.

The walls and cabinets have been primed and now I'm

wondering if I can con someone into putting a fresh coat of paint on everything in the Closet? 

Any takers out there?

The little night stand will not stay there, that spot as the one above it will  be for a clothes rod, for short items like shorts and tee's.

My little girl, Daisy spends all her time in the closet with me.

My guest room has been taken over by all my clothing and I can't wait to get it all back and hanging in my new Custom Closet.  

I'm tired now but as they say, "The show must go on" because it's Almost finished and I can't stop now!

I'll post more on the finished product.  Mr. N told me last night, he was going to hire me out as a contractor.

The best part of such a project is when it's "Almost Finished"

No, scratch that,,, "The best part is when it is finished"

* * * * *

I'm linking up to

It's Overflowing with Creativity 

Metamorphosis Monday 

Brag Monday 

POWW 39 

White Wednesday 

Power of Paint 

Alphabet Thursday 

What's It Wednesday 

Furniture Feature Friday 

Scavenger Hunt

We are in dry season here in the Tampa Bay area. Although we had one day of rain two days ago, there were no rainbows.   But I have a photo taken just two months ago in Juneau.  Taken from the deck of my sons home looking towards the mountain.  I hoped to capture the double rainbow but you can just barley see the second one. Sorry to say "No Pot of Gold".

 The words for this weeks Scavenger Hunt are

Rainbow

Fluffy

Letters

Metal

Tree 

You will all have to admit, 

Dryer Lint is Fluffy!

Letters

This is where I keep my in coming Letters, just waiting for me to deal with them.

 Metal

My Bromeliads waiting to be planted in the yard, sit on my Metal potting table.

Trees

Although it looks like a large bush, it is actually a 75 year old, very tall Hickory Tree that fell yesterday morning in my neighbors back yard.  We had an entire day of rain and the roots loosened and down it came... very close to his home!

I'm joining 

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

My Wildlife Habitat had some new Visitors

 My yard is registered with the National Wildlife Federation because several years ago I turned it into a Wildlife Habitat.  There have been so many different critters coming and going but these are a first. "Peacocks!

 

The peacocks were  out back the other day digging and looking for food.  I never realized how slow these birds are, just moving about without a care in the world.  Maybe they are domestic, but they sure were not afraid of me when I came out wanting to shoo them from  one of my flower beds. I had tiny seedlings about 2" tall in there. 

Oh well, their mashed now.

I quickly called my daughter and asked her to " Google and find out what peacocks eat"... she said, "seeds, oats, bugs and nuts".  I ran into the house and found all but the bugs and tried to feed them.  

I want them to stay around my yard!

That was three days ago. 

The peacocks hung around for several hours then walked on through the woods.  Maybe they will come back one day?   I just loved it when they made that "jungle sound" they were so loud.  My yard is like critterville out there and each day I may see something new. 

This little lady came up from the creek to lay her eggs.  Although I did not bother the turtle more than taking her photo,  she was not about to come out of her shell until I went away.

I love my yard and all who inhabit it.

"Have a wonderful week everyone" 

Outdoor Wednesday 

Happy Mothers Day Mom ...

Mothers Day 1998, I remember coming home from work  carrying a simple bouquet of flowers for my Mom.

She did not feel well that morning  and before I left for work  I told her to go lay down and watch a bit of TV and call me if she needed anything.

It all seemed so simple because she did not seem sick.

I came home that day and walked into her room and she was  peacefully sleeping in her bed.  Her TV was on and her morning coffee was still on the bedside table.  I did call her from work,  about 10am to check on her and she told me she was ok.

Well when I walked closer to talk to her I noticed she was indeed sleeping. Somewhere between 10am and 4:30pm Mom died in her sleep.

Today I still wonder why she would leave us on Mothers Day?  With her Irish sense of humor, I guess she was sure we would not forget the date.

For all that have your moms close by, go see them, or call them.  Better yet, take them to dinner.  

How I wish I could do this.

Sending good vibes and love out into the heavens to say

"Happy Mothers Day  Mom"

My Violet bloomed just in time for you

"Oh How I Miss You"

xoxoxox

* * * * * 

They say a persons worth is measured by their achievements during a lifetime, well, these three are my greatest achievement! 

"Happy Mothers Day to me"

(their going to beat me for posting this old photo but it was one of those happy  carefree days we spent together)