As the year winds down, I’ve decided to create a few retrospectives.
Without further ado I present: My Year of Squirrels
Sure, they can drive you nuts while they dig up your bulbs, but their cuteness more than makes up for it.
Anthurium Christmasum
It’s not every day you receive a box on your doorstep from Volcano, Hawaii.
Squeal!!!
My friend Laura and family sent us a dozen Mini Anthuriums by way of Akatsuka Orchid Gardens in Hawaii. Aren’t they breathtaking? It wasn’t until I looked at the website that I realized we had been there on our visit to the Big Island several years ago. Goosebumps!
Anthuriums, banana leaves and flax
The waxy stems traveled 2,352 miles (3,785 kilometers) to get here. They arrived wrapped in beautiful green paper, soft foam, a sheet of plastic and damp, shredded newspaper. The contents smelled like an evening on the shore. I’m going to add it to my compost bin for a bit of Hawaiian flare.
Packaged in damp, shredded newspaper
In addition to the heart-shaped stems, they included several exotic greens, including banana leaves and flax. The greens, reds and golds light up the room. What an extraordinary gift.
Mini Anthuriums
Reds and corals
According to The Flower Expert:
The red, heart-shaped flower of Anthuriums is really a spathe or a waxy, modified leaf flaring out from the base of a fleshy spike (spadix) where the tiny real flowers grow. The anthurium flowers appear as a roughness on the spadix as compared to a smooth spadix. Most common colors of anthuriums are red and shades of red.
In Greek, the name Anthurium means tail flower. The plant’s stem lengths may grow to a height of 15-20 inches depending on the size of the spathe, i.e., the bigger the spathe, the longer the stem. Its leaves are usually simple, large, attractively colored and borne on long stalks. The flowering stalk is slender, ending in a fleshy column crowded with many unisexual flowers. They have leafy bracts which may be white, yellow, red, pink, orange or green.
This glass, lotus-shaped bowl was a wedding gift. I think it’s perfect for these blooms
Craft it Forward: 7 of Hearts
Craft it Forward Button: Grab it for your own blog
In early February, I launched my first Craft it Forward. It’s been great fun having an excuse to craft all year and the pleasure of trying new things.
December’s Craft it Forward is ‘7 of Hearts’ representing my 7th work from the heart. As soon as I secure Vivien’s address, they’ll be on their way to the UK.
Vivien blogs at Where the Journey Takes me. She writes:
I live in a small old mill town nestled into the Pennine hills in Yorkshire with my long-suffering husband of thirty some years. I have two beautiful daughters who have flown the nest (most of the time!). I paint and draw (a little) when time allows, make and bake sometimes but not often enough and garden and grow things as much as possible. I recycle and up-cycle, hate waste and I couldn’t live without my time planner and lists.
Vivien is slowly renovating a quaint and picturesque cottage in Scotland, where she will eventually retire. We share a mutual love of gardening, card-making and organizing.
I crafted a set of cards from KaiserCraft’s Enchanted Garden Collection. Vivien uses flowers and butterflies in her own cards. I incorporated both into the designs, below.
Die cut butterfly using my Silhouette
Butterfly Cards
Using the same paper, I made a set of quilt cards, one of my favorite designs for the Silhouette. I enjoyed combining the geometric patterns of the card design, with the more ethereal patterned paper. Each of the six cards features a different combination of the papers.
Envelopes and card detail
Quilt cards
The last two cards feature the intricate illustrations of the Enchanted Garden designs.
Enchanted Garden Cards
I’ve kept the packaging simple, honoring her desire to scale back: they’re wrapped together with a single piece of ribbon.
What is Craft it Forward?
If you think you might like to try this on your own blog, G+ or Facebook page, here’s how it works. You put forth the offer to create a handmade item. The first five people to comment on your original post receive a handmade item, uniquely your own . In return, they agree to pay it forward, crafting their own unique item for the first five people on their list. Craft it Forward encourages community, creative spirit and camaraderie. It also encourages flexibility, so I expanded my list from five to seven based on interest in the project. Isn’t it fun making your own rules?
- Craft it Forward #1: Living Journal
- Craft it Forward #2: Flowers and Oscar Wilde
- Craft it Forward #3: Three’s a Charm
- Craft it Forward #4: Secret Garden in The Round
- Craft it Forward #5: Tiny Album, Big Heart
- Craft it Forward #6: Garden Journal
- Craft it Forward #7: 7 of Hearts
Frosty Fingers Tickle the Fronds
Amazing things happen when you look through the lens of a camera. It’s an interesting metaphor for life.
We can view a glass as half empty or half full or we can focus on the small etches in the glass, marvel at the glass’ ability to hold water and consider its resilience. That glass stands up to multiple washings and use, and perhaps a tumble or two.
Seven days of hard frost laid waste the less-hardy plants in our garden. This kind of cold snap is unheard of in San Jose, a semi-arid climate known for moderate temps. It was disheartening seeing all that damage, but a reminder too, that loss is part of life. So too, is resilience.
I donned my warm coat, slung the camera over my shoulder and took pictures of nature’s etching. While the ferns took a hit, the plants survived. Frosty fingers tickled the fronds, but the roots stayed warm and strong.
Frost damaged ferns
All three geraniums seemed to collapse from the frost, but beneath the wilt, I see life. I’ve gardened long enough to know that nature serves up some amazing things. I’ll wait for spring before a true assessment is in order.
Geranium droop
Geranium leaves
Meanwhile, since frost is as much a part of nature as wind, rain, snow and sun, I’m choosing to embrace the beauty in all of it.
Frozen beauty
Organized at Heart
I’m posting a series of articles featuring organizing around the holidays this month on my blog Organized at Heart. If the subject interests you, please go take a peak. Today’s blog offers tips for Organizing Christmas Morning.
Snow-in-a-Can, Winter Wonderland
Early last week, I received a package in the mail. Not just any old package, but a package from a garden gnome named Alyster. He’s a clever little fellow, small enough to fit in your hand, but full of big ideas.
Alyster says he’s “up to his eyeballs in snow” and wishes he could come back to stay in sunny California. I wish he would come and stay, too. I need to check in with his traveling companion, Boomdee.
Since Alyster is missing the sun, he thought I might be missing the snow. (You are so right, Alyster). That clever garden gnome sent me snow-in-a-can. Just add water and watch the snow grow. Along with the snow came a tiny glass igloo, and the smallest scarf you’ve ever seen.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
So what does one do with snow-in-a-can, a tiny igloo and a pint-sized red scarf? You make a snow globe!
Several years ago, my friend Marcia sent us this super-cool acrylic globe. We’ve used it in many ways over the years. It was a terrarium for a while till the plants outgrew it. One year we filled it with colored silk Christmas ornaments. It’s also beautiful unadorned.
Acrylic globe
This season it’s a tiny winter wonderland. Here’s what I did:
I filled the bottom with airfill packing, then topped with a paper plate, cut to fit the opening.
AIRplus Packing material
I foraged a couple of Christmas ornaments from our tree to help set the scene. We bought the tiny wooden snowman for our first tree 18 years ago. We were starting from scratch so we bought a small tree and even smaller ornaments at a local import store. The little door decoration came from our local Hallmark store the year we remodeled our house.
Snow globe details
I added sprigs of Christmas greens, a small pathway and then it was time to let it snow. I haven’t had this much fun in ages.
It’s ‘snowing’ on WordPress throughout December. I can’t wait to hit the publish key so I can watch the snow falling on my winter wonderland.
PS…Alyster, I found your flip-flops. You left them on the bottom of the box. Please pop over to pick them up whenever you like. :-) I’ll keep the light on for you.
Snow globe
Under the dome
Now just linger over this last photo and wait for the snow to fall
Birds of Wisdom: A bit of Goofing Off
I’ve been working extra hours these past few weeks, so when my client called to cancel this morning, I was (mostly) relieved. I decided to treat myself to a much-needed thirty minutes of goofing off. I sat in a chair facing the garden, played a game on my phone and within minutes had a sleeping cat on my lap.
It wasn’t long before my eyes drifted out to the usual wildlife antics. Foraging squirrels raced around the garden, so round and full I’m amazed they can still move. It looked as though they were working as a team. You don’t see that every day! It’s usually ‘every squirrel for themselves.’ The light grey squirrel moved across the lawn, into the shrubs and then used the camellia trellis like a ladder. I should have jumped up for the camera then, but I was busy goofing off. Right behind him was a dark, brown squirrel, following his every move. It looked like a game of follow the leader.
Just outside the window, a small bird flew from branch to branch in the maple tree. Then he turned and appeared to be looking in the window. How could I ignore an invitation like that!?
Camera in hand, it was still incredibly challenging getting his picture. He darted from branch to branch, up, down, back up. Then he flew to the neighboring yard, and within minutes was back again. Perhaps he could see his own reflection, though he never went for the window.*
I’ve decided he was keeping an eye on me, making sure I stuck to my goofing-off schedule before getting back to work. Meanwhile, he was keeping plenty busy for both of us.
Are you taking some time to goof-off during this hectic season?
*It’s disheartening to hear a bird fly into a closed window. One theory is that the sky reflects in the glass, and to the bird thinks it can fly through. These clever decals Window Alert: Protect Your Songbirds act as a ‘stoplight’ for the birds.
Cyclamen: Pretty in Pink
Like dominoes, much of the garden continues to succumb to days of frost. The cyclamen, however, look terrific. The plant pictured above remained dormant all summer. As spring and summer annuals died, my trusty cyclamen bloomed again. I’ve always loved the way the flowers soft petals seem to fold in like little clam shells.
The nurseries are full of them this time of year, usually in red and white. I assumed they were all the same plant, but apparently the nursery variety are grown for indoors. Though sold as ‘house plants’, they prefer cool temps. In fact, if you keep one indoors, they suggest putting it outside for a few hours, or even overnight, to prolong the health of the plant. It seems counter-intuitive. The rest of the garden needs salvaging from the carnage of this unusual frost, but the Cyclamen crave it.
According to Garden Web:
Cyclamen [in its native habitat] is an endangered plant. Centuries of collecting from the wild have decimated populations and the Cyclamen is now protected by CITES. CITES is the Congress on International Trade in Endangered Species. It is a worldwide body set up to protect not only plants, but animals that are in danger of extinction. It is illegal to import or export Cyclamen to or from any cooperating country without a CITES permit.
I had no idea! I saw hundreds of them on display at a nursery earlier this week, so hope this bodes well for their survival. Meanwhile, this little gem is looking pretty in pink and happy in the garden. I’m inspired to plant many more.
Further Reading:
Garden Update: Frosty and Dry
Days of unseasonal frost have left my garden looking desolate. I raced past the dying tomato plant on my way to dump kitchen scraps. I upended them into the compost bin, then raced back inside for warmth.
Tomatoes last stand
Still no rain in sight, other than one brief storm last month. The days are cold and dry.
The leaves have been off the Pistache since mid-November, but the maple is just now turning color. It’s nice that they set color at different times. It gives us a chance to enjoy each one.
View from my living room window
Japanese Maple
Somewhat comically, I won’t need to refrigerate my bulbs this year. Generally speaking, California isn’t cold enough so we have to tease the bulbs with a six-week chill. They’re getting plenty of cold in the garage and should be ready to go soon. I’m not ready, but they are.
The hyacinth bulbs are popping up, happy with the autumn chill. When they finally bloom, the smell is potent and intoxicating. I can’t wait. It evokes a happy childhood memory, so I look forward to breathing that in each year.
hyacinth
I’m off to the craft store to buy some ribbon for the finishing touches on a gift. One last seasonal trip to the post office tomorrow.
What’s happening in your corner of the world? I’m behind on my reading, but look forward to catching up with all your lovely comments, and blogs, soon.
Lawn Tree Traditions: Greening up the Neighborhood
Mother and son
If you drop by this week, you’ll see Christmas trees up and down the block. Our neighborhood has an extensive and coordinated effort to display cut Christmas trees on our lawn each year. The trees go up the first week of December and come down New Year’s day. I’m the block captain for our street.
We try to make it a family affair, but now that our boys are teens, their interest wanes. This year my older son did the heavy lifting along with his dad, dropping trees at each house while I drove the truck. My youngest son asked if he could stay in bed! So it goes.
The Muscle
Our neighbor, Greg lends us his truck for deliveries. I get to dust off my manual transmission driving skills once a year. It keeps me in the game.
Ready for delivery
The Bay Area is diverse. Not all neighbors celebrate this tradition. When I was a young, I wondered why one or two people wouldn’t want a tree in their yard. Then I grew up and understood that the world is full of different religions and cultures and it all made sense. We see Menorah in neighboring windows and understand others simply don’t embrace the ritual. It’s a great time of year to pause and reflect on the richness of diversity.
We have an artificial tree indoors, and a cut tree on the lawn. I wrote about the pros and cons of real vs fake last year. You can read more about that here.
Do you celebrate Christmas? Do you display a tree? Real or fake…or both? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments, below.
Organized at Heart
I’m posting a series of articles featuring organizing around the holidays this month on my blog Organized at Heart. If the subject interests you, please go take a peak. Today’s blog: Holiday Storage: The Case of the Shrinking House.
Of note: Wikipedia has a wonderful and detailed article on the origins of the decorated Christmas tree. I’m always learning something new on that site and must remember to make my annual donation accordingly.
Make Like a Tree
Shhh…
Don’t say anything, but sometimes I pretend I’m a tree. I stand stock still in the garden and wait to see what happens. I’m a tree with a camera, but lets not argue semantics. I get the best shots when I’m quiet and unmoving, even though I long to call out ‘come look!’ at the cuteness nature serves outdoors.
I ventured out this morning in my warmest coat and watched the ballet. One crow, then two swooped on and off the phone lines. They soared overhead, settled in the neighbors pine, then flew back again. I was so tree-like at that point that I missed the photo-op entirely.
A pair of hummingbirds danced a different dance: low, fast and chit-chit-chitting as they went, They crossed and swooped from tree to tree, feeder to tree, and back.
Hummingbird on guard
A squirrel hopped the fence, stuffed to the gills. It looks like our neighbors have a two-for one offer on peanuts this morning. This little fella looked worried, even though I assured him I was just a tree with a camera. His peanuts were safe.
Two-for-one special
Squirrels don’t have wings, but I swear he flew along the fence. For all his concern, I’ll probably unearth those peanuts in the vegetable garden come June. I can’t imagine his well-padded frame could eat another bite. Of course that never stops me from grazing.
Bums the word (and hopefully not a commentary on the gardener)
If you have a few extra moments this weekend, make like a tree. Let me know how it goes in the comments, below.
Organized at Heart
I’m posting a series of articles featuring organizing around the holidays this week on my blog Organized at Heart. If the subject interests you, please go take a peak. Today’s blog, Reorganizing Traditions, suggests evaluating our holiday traditions. then bringing them in line with our current lifestyles.
Gardening Nirvana 