House Plant Friday/Saturday–Fat Free Valentines

This post is a day late because I’ve been out shopping for last minute Valentine gift ideas for those of us that just don’t want to be alone in the house with a jumbo size box of chocolates.

I do really love Valentine’s day but not for the reasons you might think.  I love it because I like the colors of V-day--red, purple, pink & white and hearts are one of my favorite quilt shapes.  I also love  it because it falls in the dead of winter, after all the joy and celebration of Christmas and New Year’s has been packed away with the holiday decorations and we face another six weeks of  long dark nights, cold, ice, and snow. 

I’m not adverse to letting a little chocolate pass my lips from time to time.  Actually a lot of chocolate has passed these lips and currently resides on these hips, but I’m not a “chocaholic” either so I thought I’d try to come up with some “romantic” alternatives to the traditional V-Day gifts of cut flowers and candy.  I shopped my local garden center and a few big box stores, you can use my ideas as is or as a jumping off point.

The suggestions below are for both giving and receiving by all of us who would like to be outside digging in the dirt, if only we could just get past the top 3 feet of snow!

Everlasting Love--  How about a Seed starting kit and grow light? This may not seem very romantic but trust me on this one. Tuck in some pretty packets of perennial seeds, add a pair of Atlas gardening gloves in a pretty color (I like lavender),  wrap in a gift bag or pretty paper, tie with a big bow and add a note that says you want to give them a bouquet that will last forever just like your love  and then watch the fireworks go off in the romance department.  Note:  You might want to think about choosing a different color for the gloves if this is for your hubby or boyfriend.  

An Exotic Date The NH Orchid Society is holding their annual show this weekend at the Radisson Hotel in Nashua, NH—what could be more romantic than a date with your special someone that includes lunch out and a day surrounded by beautiful, rare and exotic blooms.  You can give him/her a card with the same sentiments.   If you don’t live within driving distance, check the internet for other orchid societies in your region and when their shows are being held.  You can tuck a rain check in a card if the show is after V-Day and they’ll think you gave this a lot of thought.

“Herbal Romance”   If your sweetie likes to garden and/or cook then how about gifting them with a few pots of fresh herbs for his/her kitchen windowsill—so appreciated this time of year.  The most often used are: rosemary, basil, oregano and thyme  You can find them at your local garden center, like I did.   If you want to jazz it up a notch above colored tin foil and a bow, add a nice ceramic pot and a a valentine potholder or dish towel from Target with a cute note that says: “Let’s Cook Something Up Together”!

“Wild” Date  If you’re not quite at the stage for a serious commitment or extravagant gift.  How about a a beautiful packet of wildflower seeds tucked into an equally beautiful card that says “I’m wild about you and I’m looking forward to watching our relationship grow and  blossom”.  You can add a note that you want to plant the seeds together on the first nice day in the spring, complete with a romantic picnic lunch that you’ll provide.

My “Furry Valentine”—the little quilt inspectors, quilt sitters and sewing companions.   Want to get something for your kitty?  How about kitty greens?   It’s actually wheat grass that’s good for indoor cats and gives them an alternative to eating our houseplants.  Wheat grass provides some minerals and nutrients and helps to eliminate furballs.   My garden center had both  plants and seeds for sale but you can also find them at pet stores too.  I chose the seeds so I could grow a few extra pots for the “furry” neighbors and also because the cat on the packet looked a bit like Ernie.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Gail

Pillow Power

My friend, Linda is expecting another grandchild this month—a little girl (her second granddaughter) and I wanted to make a gift for the new baby and use up some of the leftover fabric from the baby quilt I made for Calvin last spring.  I know that doesn’t sound all that generous making a gift because I want to use up fabric scraps but it’s not really as one way as bad as it sounds.  I was planning on making  a special gift for Linda’s baby granddaughter anyway.  
I went a little crazy with baby fabrics when Calvin was on the way. [I claim first-time grandmother amnesty!]  Of course most of them are blues and tans to match his nursery’s wall paint. Not exactly very “girly” but I have a lot of leftover baby greens too and I can mix them up with some purple and lavender scraps from my “scrap diving” stash.
I thought about making a crib quilt but Linda said that her daughter-in-law got a lot of “blankets” at her shower.   I’m sure that some of them were crocheted afghans but why is it that people from the mid-Atlantic states call quilts, “blankets”?   I remember my mother-in-law calling quilts “blankets” too.
Anyway, I decided that I would make a pillow and try out my new embroidery machine.   I downloaded the free design from Bunnycup Embroidery, Their designs are whimsical and sew, sew cute and if you sign up to be a “Bunnycup Club” member you’ll get lots of special offers and discounts.  This design is called, “Little Cheri” and I just love it.   
Here’s another picture of the completed design.  Don’t you love the purple hat?  I was going to add the baby’s name but her parents haven’t picked one yet.  They have a couple of names picked out but are waiting to see the baby before they make the final choice.


I decided to string piece around the bit of embroidery.  Some of these scraps are the last of my 70’s and 80’s fabrics and some are new.   I like the mix of old and new, bright and subtle colors. 

Instead of a square, this pillow will be rectangular with a flange edge and made as a removable sham with a pocket on the back for a little toy when the baby is older.   I prefer shams for kids so that they can be removed and washed and of course,  you know me by now-- I prewashed all of my fabrics—sew NO shrinkage!
I’ve made these pillows before—here’s a Santa Christmas pocket pillow sham made from a panel print and strip piecing.  I made this one for another friend’s granddaughter who is a little timid of Santa Claus.  Her mom and dad can sneak a letter & little trinket from “santa” in the pocket while she’s sleeping to lessen her anxiety of the big guy in red.


Here’s a close up of the embellishment details.  I added some buttons, machine embroidery, quilting and a bell to dress up “Santa”

I hope to post a tutorial for anyone that’s interested in making their own “pocket pillow”as soon as “Little Cheri” is finished. 

UPDATE:  My little Cheri pocket pillow is finished--hooray.  Here's some updated photos.  I'm working on the tutorial now and will post it soon.

Oh No! More Snow!

I took this picture on my way home from the market yesterday.  Do you think this homeowner has had enough of winter?                 

It’s snowing again today, another 4 or 5 inches is predicted but at least we had two days of sunshine between storms so we could shovel off  our roofs, scrape the ice off the walkways and knock down the snow piles a bit.

I think it’s time for everyone to put their snowflakes and snowman collections away, the snow god has been paid enough homage! 

My Deere Jane

 

Jane and I have known each other  for thirty-one years now.

She’s worked very hard since the first day  she arrived here in 1980.  I remember how bright and shiny her paint was when the proud dealer  unloaded her from his flatbed truck.  I loved that she was almost an exact miniature of the big farm tractors I had seen in photographs of wheat fields in the Midwest. 

During  the thirty years that I’ve had Jane, She has hauled logs, rocks, brush, leaves, and garden supplies. In nice weather she mowed the lawn and gave the girls and their friends rides around our property. She rototilled my garden in spring carried the leaves to the compost pile in fall and cleared the snow from the driveway in winter. 

Even now, though she’s getting on in years, she still serves me well and in turn, I try to make sure that she receives the best possible maintenance.  She may not be shiny and new anymore but neither am I!

Happy Birthday, Deere Jane.

House Plant Fridays–Easy Plants for Beginners - The Humble and Venerable Jade Plant

Have you been accused of having a brown thumb?  Well first I’m here to help and second, you’re not alone. No one is born with a green thumb and just because past houseplants have gone to that great compost heap in the sky, don’t feel discouraged.  Finding the right house plant is a little like finding true love—sometimes it takes a while to find the right “one”. 

Today, I’m going to suggest a plant you might like to get to know a little better in your quest for true “ green” love.  It’s a plant that was once very popular but is under-appreciated today because  just like pets, and most other things,  house plants tend to fall into and out of fashion over time.

It’s also the first house plant that I can remember being aware of as a child.  It’s the humble Jade Plant (Crassula ovata) or money tree.  C.ovata is native to South Africa where it grows on dry rocky hillsides.  Being a succulent, it has green fleshy leaves that help it retain moisture on windswept hillsides. The smooth rounded jade green leaves are about 1 1/2 to 2 inches long and sometimes are tinged with red along the edge.  The brittle green stems are thick and turn brown as they mature. 

My grandmother grew jade plants in almost every room of her large victorian house.  She used to tell me that they were good luck and I begged her for one till she relented and gave me a small plant which  I promptly killed with love.  I unknowingly made the most common mistake  that people make with any house plant—overwatering it. 

Jade plants should only be watered sparingly in winter when they’re not actively growing—once a month and slightly more often in spring and summer (every 2 or 3 weeks) is enough This is why they’re a great house plant if you’re a busy mom or lady (aren’t we all), travel for work a lot  or want to take a lengthy vacation and don’t have any reliable plant sitters.  They’re also a great pick for an older child’s first house plant.  Kids seem to love the fat plump leaves and their plastic toy-like look.  Just make sure you supervise the watering, lol

Jade plants don’t need to be fertilized more than two or three times a year.  It’s OK to use a general fertilizer but dilute it to 50% and apply it AFTER you have watered so that it won’t burn the roots.

Jade plants like well drained soil so when you repot yours, use a potting soil that’s heavy in perlite and light on peat moss or add extra grit like aquarium gravel or parakeet gravel to your usual potting mix.  Like Christmas cactus, they do best in partial or indirect sunlight but need about 4 hours a day of very good light.  Outside in summer they don’t like extreme heat and will scorch if they’re left on a hot deck in full sun.

My grandmother grew her jade plants in heavy clay pots because that was all that was available to her and because they were so top heavy they need the weight of the heavy pots to keep them from toppling over.  I still think a clay pot works better than plastic—they drain better and provide more stability.  Jade plants have brittle stems that break off easily so it’s also a good idea to do a little “trimming” to keep them compact, in the spring before they get into active growing mode.  Trimming a little at a time as new growth develops will look better than doing a drastic  buzz cut all at once like the picture below.

Jade plants are fairly pest free but they can get infested with mealy bugs in the store or greenhouse before you bring them home.  Mealy bugs look like tiny white cotton balls and hang out in the junction between the stems and leaves.  A Q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol will end their short nasty little lives but don’t use chemical sprays. Jade plants are very sensitive to insecticides, even organic ones, and they shouldn’t be sprayed with anything except warm water. 

To get  your jade plant to bloom (the bloom time is around Christmas) you can treat them the same as a Christmas cactus—hold back water in early fall and expose them to short days and cool nights till buds form.   The flowers are very small and come in either white or tinged with pink.  They resemble the “autumn joy sedum” that we grow outside in our gardens.  The jade plant’s flowers form in large clusters.  My grandmother’s plants never bloomed so the first time I saw a jade plant with flowers, I didn’t recognize it as a jade plant.

If you’re interested in learning how to grow bonsai, a jade plant is  good to start with.  Besides being a lot less expensive than other plants and trees used for bonsai, they don’t need as much watering and you can have a pretty nice looking bonsai in a lot less time.

Along with all its other qualities as a houseplant, jade plants are easy to share.  Stem cuttings can be placed in a glass of water (my grandmother had these everywhere) and leaves can be pushed partially into damp soil.  They’ll root in 3 to 4 weeks giving you many chances to turn your thumb green and share their good luck with others. 

Join me next week for another House Plant Friday!

 

 

More Snow & Some Exciting News!

There haven’t been many times in my life when I’ve wished  that I lived someplace else other than in New England but this winter is one of those times.

Mother Nature has decided that we don’t have enough snow even though there’s already several feet of the white stuff on the ground and no one knows what to do with more of it. 

My sister sent this picture last week.  I laughed when I saw it, but I’m getting a little concerned because  my driveway is beginning to look like this.

My snow blower is still out of commission till Mike the JD guy comes back to install the new switch and the snowplow guy just doesn’t have anyplace to put more snow. 

After  my visit to Boston this weekend, it looks like they’re wondering the same thing—where to put MORE snow?

And now I’ve come to the reason WHY I was in Boston again this weekend.  I drove to Carolyn’s apartment in the morning and we met Laura, Calvin and Kelley (Laura’s college roommate) for brunch at Zaftig’s Deli in Brookline.

 

There’s always a line at Zaftig’s on Saturday and when you see my Challah bread french toast you’ll understand why! 

 

 

 

 

 

Kelley drove up on Thursday from New Jersey to meet us for a very special reason.  After breakfast we split up. Carolyn and I took the streetcar and Laura, Kelley and Calvin took “Ringo” Laura’s VW to Copley Square.  Our destination was the Park Plaza Hotel.  Carolyn and I got a little lost  along the way and we had to make a detour through the lobby of the beautiful Copley Plaza Hotel.  I didn’t  get pictures but believe me it’s top drawer all the way.  The Copley even has their own dog that guests can walk during their stay. 

We did manage to meet up at our destination, the Park Plaza Hotel.   Look at this floral arrangement in the lobby?  It’s made up of amaryllis, lilies, lady’s mantle and real cherry blossoms.  It was over 5 ft tall.  Don’t you love how the glass bowl is lined with split leaf philodendron leaves?

What was going on at the Park Plaza on Saturday and why were we there?  It was the registration party for the Avon two-day walk for breast cancer and  I signed up as a walker.  Kelley had already registered online, but came along to cheer me on and offer support.  She and Dawn, who wasn’t able to come Saturday, have been doing this walk for several years now in different cities.

 

This year, they’re doing the Boston walk with me and I’m so excited.  I’ve already started my training program (it’s 39 miles in two days) and will be keeping you posted on my progress along with my fund-raising efforts.  Stay posted for walk pictures.

Each Avon two-day walker is committed to raising $1,800.  If  you’d like to help me reach my goal, you can email me for information.   I will also have a web page of my own on the Avon Walk website but that hasn’t been set up yet.   I’m also thinking that I’d like to have a special give-away drawing here for followers who donate to the Avon Walk—details to come later!

It’s easy to donate to this great cause—you can make a one-time donation or pledge over several months and every donation no matter what the amount, will go towards making breast cancer a thing of the past.  I’m all for that, how about you?

Swap Meet

I’m linking up this week with Karen’s Swap Meet Weekend over at Sew Many Ways.  You can check her Sew Many Ways Swap Meet Weekend for the rules and to see all of the goodies being given away.  It’s like thrift store shopping without the kids, car or even getting dressed!  Even better, no money is exchanged, the only cost is postage.

The swap meet will end Friday, February 4th.  I’m getting a late start but it’s been a busy weekend and  I’ll have more to write about that, very soon.

I hope you’ll check out the swap over at Karen’s blog and while you’re there, have a look around.  She’s got some amazing ideas for creating useful items from stuff you can find in the hardware store. 

Here are the items that I have up for grabs.  I’d be willing to swap for fat quarters or charm squares in bright happy prints as long as they’re not batiks or solids.  If you’re interested in swapping just leave a comment or email me.

• A complete unopened Bucilla counted cross stitch kit  “NOEL” with floss, needle and 14 ct aida cloth.
• 3 quilt magazines (American Patchwork & Quilting Feb. 2010; The Quilter May 2010 and McCalls Quilting March/April 2010)
• (2 ) 1 & 3/4 oz  new balls of Katia “hippy mix” yarn (60% wool, 25% acrylic and 15% poly. Made in Spain.