Thursday, March 27, 2025

2025: Day 86....."Square boxes R Us"

Gift Card Box for class of 2025

Fun gift card box to collect grad envelopes.

Party cubes for Hopkins Men's Lacrosse
 Centerpiece cubes

   Shipped in the mail.

     Fun Fun Fun to receive.

    Also for us to make.





 

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

2025: Day 84-85....."I follow & learn"

Here's 3 of the most insightful

people I follow online and learn from.

MICKMEL
Mickey Mellen's insightful daily posts

Mickey Mellen posts every single day.

Tech stuff. Life stuff.

Good to know stuff.

Links to take deeper dives if you need to.

Stuff I need to hear and know.

I adore this guy.


Mel Robbins

I read her book "Let Them".

Now I follow her podcasts.

Today she said:

In a moment of uncertainty:

What you choose to think about and

what you do or don't do next, 

       that is where your power is.


       I'd say everyone should follow her 

     but it looks like they already are.


Erica Derrickson
Erica Derrickson

A young woman living in Guatemala
doing her own thing in her own way.

Lots of ups and downs in her life but always
in a searching mode trying to understand
herself.  A seeker. 

A generous spirit.


Time spent online listening to any or all of these

wonderful humans is time well spent.



Monday, March 24, 2025

2025: Day 83....."Monkey Tail Cactus"

I really want to put eyes on this

Monkey Tail Cactus. 

monkey tail cactus creeping out of the pot
It's creeping out and over the pop.

It's 'nose' is getting longer.

I adore it.

It has a relative nearby called

a Peanut Cactus.

They are not the same

but think they are.

They do things differently.

That's why I need them both.

2 different cactus plants




Sunday, March 23, 2025

2025: Day 82....."Fairy Garden"

Here's where I'm going to store some

of my FAIRY GARDEN photos.

The first picture is of a new

fairy on her ride home today.

metal fairy cutout in rust

More to come right here on this subject


Saturday, March 22, 2025

2025: Day 81....."The brain is a funny thing"

One day many years back I

was in a store and passed a mirror.

For one very brief second I

thought my Mom was in the store.

But it was me.

The other day I was thrifting & saw this

little statue and it

reminded me of Jacob

and his tossed little boy hair.

Garden statue of tossed hair little boy

Of course I bought it.

It's going in our garden.

#thrifting

garden statue of a little boy with a pail and shovel






Friday, March 21, 2025

2025: Day 80....."Ten years ago we made this"

Baseball Gift Box Class of 2015

 Ten years ago this month we made this.

Still doing it and find joy in it.

Hello AARYN if you see this.

Class of 2015.

Hope you're celebrating your 
10 year Class Reunion in style.

Thursday, March 20, 2025

2025: Day 79....."Blooming Houseplants"

 March 20 and all these

houseplants are blooming indoors.

Egyptian Starflower. 
Mini Fuschsia.
Orchid.

And....tah dah...
JASMINE.

One Jasmine flower
My Jasmine plant which I had such
high hopes for it's fragrance in the winter...
well...then....about 3 flowers.

If I stick my nose right up close it smells great!

But I expected an abundance of flowers
and a whole roomful of fragrance.
But not this year.

I need to perfect the strategy of getting
it to bloom abundantly and earlier.

Letting it have a cold slow Fall that rolls into winter
yet not a freezing one (which allows flowers to set)
and then placement in
a room with bright indirect light and
more humidity is what's up for later this year.
I'm on a learning curve.

In the meantime I'll smell this flower
up close for as long as it lasts.


Wednesday, March 19, 2025

2025: Day 78....."FaceTime Magic"

Stacey FaceTiming with Jeffrey.

Face Time picture of Stacey & Jeffrey

We could be anywhere.

But we're here.

He's there.

It looks like anywhere.

It's real magic.



Tuesday, March 18, 2025

2025: Day 77....."Boom Box Card Box"

foamcore boom box with cassette player

It won't play music but it will collect those
PARTY ENVELOPES 
stashed with cash.

That's the point.

And it will look darn cute
while it's doing it.

It's what we do around here.

 

Monday, March 17, 2025

2025: Day 74-76....."Peace & Joy"


green frog couple
Peace & Joy

My porch frogs.

Not Leprechauns but
tinted green for St. Patricks Day.

To each his own.


Friday, March 14, 2025

2025: Day 73....."Egyptian Walking Onions"

 Hello there.

New plants put in the ground as bare roots 

in 2024 from the Lakes Area Plant Swap.

Egyptian Walking Onions
March 14

I'm going to keep track of their progress here.
Success or fail.

Thursday, March 13, 2025

2025: Day 72....."Baseball Baby Centerpiece"

I mean.....THIS is

SO CUTE.

Baseball baby cutout on a cube centerpiece

Two sided cutie patootie on a 
10" 
PARTY CUBE.

Foamcore.

Lots of cutouts.

So fun to make these.

Now I get to ship these out.

The part that's not as much fun.

But at least our weather here in
Michigan is delightful so I
need not complain any further.




Wednesday, March 12, 2025

2025: Day 71....."I live on an Icy Field"

I like to think I live on a lake.

But in the winter I live on an 

ICY FIELD. 

Icy field versus lake living...a transition picture
Right now we are in transition.

Every day is different.

One day there is a thin skim of ice and

the next day it's patchy and almost gone.

Then ice again.

Come on SPRING & SUMMER.


Tuesday, March 11, 2025

2025: Day 70....."Corn Plant Shows off a root"

It's been months!

So many months I've lost track.

Over 6 months for sure.

But finally....a root!

Corn houseplant cutting gets a root
It's a cutting from a corn plant that reached the ceiling.

We had to cut it or take out an office 
ceiling tile and let it grow in the rafters.
But who wants that.

This is the second try with a 
cutting from this plant.

The first one failed or 
I guess I lost
patience too soon.

This cutting had many beautiful leaves.
It was hard to cut those leaves away 
but I heard you had to but I did it in stages.

I also started it in water then later
changed to wet perlite. 
(the white stuff clinging to it in the photo)

I think cutting the leaves WAY back
and the perlite did the trick.

The stalk looks awful.

corn plant wet stick with leaves cut way back

But it's alive and
proving it.

Macro photo of a root emerging from a corn plant
And another root looks like it's bubbling up. 

Stay tuned.

This will hopefully be a great success.

I'm patient this time.

I'm also mesmerized and 
fascinated by what plants can do.














Monday, March 10, 2025

2025: Days 67-69: " Old Redford Alley"

I've been getting Matthew McConaughey's 

Lyrics of Livin' every Friday.

You can read it or listen.

I listen because I love the sound of his voice.

Here's a quote from this week.

Quote from Matthew McConaughey

I've been recording 'my music of life' since Jan. 1.

I skipped a few days here and there but
I'm carrying on so I can remember it later.

Here's some tidbits from this weekend.
Drinks with friends and family
Had some drinks with friends and family on Sat.

Sunday we took a mini road trip to visit an 

Apparently there are currently 9 Art Alleys
as part of the Detroit's 
BLIGHT to BEAUTY.

I want to visit them all.

First one we visited is:
OLD REDFORD ALLEY
It's in the process of becoming 
all it can be.

The surrounding area has plenty of blight 
but no doubt scheduled on some list
somewhere to be demolished.

Tear down house  
Burned house in Brightmoor, Michigan

But we did find an alley of art & John
who gave us a tour and his wife's
MOTOR CITY JAVA HOUSE.
Beautiful. Colorful. Friendly.
Yummy coffee.

Interior of Motor City Java House


One of the big outdoor alley murals.

Of course we took a picture of the car!

Detroit Murals and a water leak
Another beautiful mural and a water leak waiting on the city.

When the roof fell in and you made an art space
The ceiling fell in so now it's an 
outdoor venue space with a sky view.

Plants with potential
Plants with Potential I'd say about this.
I'll bet it will look beautiful in the summer.

I'd say our first Art Alley visit was a success for us and
I look forward to a re-visit and see all that
Motor City Blight Busters 
create in the world.

Motor City Blight Busters sign