2025: Day 59....."No Ice is Safe Ice"

 This is February 2025 out MY window.

 Unsafe ice.

Someone on our lake posted 

this picture here below.

No. It's not safe. 

It has a crack. See it on the left.

It has moving water underneath 

that 13"...AND......someone else

noticed a key point.

Lakes are beautiful and dangerous both.

They need to be respected as such.

You can't drown ON ice.

But you sure can drown UNDER it.

2025: Day 58....."Staghorn Fern in a pot and a Superbum on the wall"

 If I lived in Florida....

I'd grow Staghorn ferns in every tree.

Just like this picture I took in Florida on a visit. 

A bouquet in a tree.

All living and growing.

These are MY staghorn ferns here in Michigan.

One is in a southeast window in a pot.

2025

2026

More leaves but still in the same pot.

Then I found this Superbum made by

a clever man in East Lansing who doesn't mount

them in sphagnum moss.

He has a different approach.

Here's his website called

Wall Plants.

I bought this one and it hangs in my bathroom

and makes me happy every time I look at it.

Here's the whole look.

I love living with plants. 

I have 32 plants in my bathroom. 

These are just 3. 

Can you imagine the rest of the room!

Making an outdoor plant into an

indoor houseplant is a glorious challenge.

I'll never achieve this look below of the

fern in the Matthai Botanical Garden....

nor would I want to.

It looks like an alien creature ready

to dissolve me in it's innards.

I can almost see a face in there.

2025: Day 57…..” Bonsai Tea Bags”

 

Sunday Funday was partially in the 

MATTHEI BOTANICAL GARDENS

in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

I was especially intrigued by this

Bonsai Tree and it's tea bag.

I had to learn more.

Here's a link to learn more if you're interested.

https://www.portlandbonsai.org/scotts-branch-tips/tag/tea+bags

I'll never stop being surprised 

to know what

I don't know.

2025: Day 56....."It's Fun to be One"

Stacey made some stuff.

Stacey made pennants.

Stacey made a sign for the entrance.

     Stacey made a sign for the high chair. 

Then she lost control of herself and

bought a pile of 1 year old specific

toys Mabel can't live without and

because it's fun to be a Grandma also.

That's how she rolls.

2025: Day 55....."Tuxedo Centerpieces & Tux Gift Card Box"

Tuxedo centerpieces are one of our most popular centerpieces.

They seem to work with many different

sophisticated looks and not just

a Black Tie specific party.

Great for a classy birthday 

or wedding.

Whatever the reason or season, 

we like doing them.

Here's a new design for a

GIFT CARD BOX 

personalized for a classy

40th Birthday Party.

Card slot on top. Trap door on the bottom.

Let us design something unique for you.

Email us at:

marlyss@mac.com

2025: DAY 54....."My Maidenhair Fern for the win"

This has been a testy plant for me to grow.

It's my second Maidenhair Fern.

I usually don't buy another one when

I have a fail because I feel bitter at the plant for

letting me down and 

 like my house is not right for it.

But I really like this plant and it's airy

and delicate leaves.

I gave it a second try.

I bought a small one. 

Look at it now.

it's beautiful.

It likes a lot of humidity 

so it lives in my bathroom that 

gets a daily dose of shower steam.

I guess that's the main key.

We went to a botanical garden and

saw many of these growing on the 

fish pond wall and also in pots directly

in a pond.

So the botanical garden also had some

testy looking ferns.

That made me feel better.

Apparently that's what these ferns do.

2025: Day 53....."Signs from a Germaphobe"

Probably THE BEST  & most helpful

public bathroom signs I've run across.

They should be everywhere.

I highly approve.

Everywhere I go I'm always

saying: "Don't touch that" or

    "Here...use this sanitizer" or

"Go wash your hands now".

I'm that person and you'll NEVER see

me touch an escalator hand rail with my hand. 

Eck.

Door handles? No. 

I pull my sleeve down over my hand.

I don't know if that works but I haven't

got covid.

I love those door foot pedals too.

Yet....alas....I do eat out at restaurants.

 I'm still alive. 

2025: Day 52....."Party Base Landscaping "

A base for a party centerpiece is 

an important element to the total look.

Kinda like the landscaping around a house.

For example:

What a difference!

That's why we keep some of our stuff  

in this cabinet that Stacey owns 

and brought back from England.

It's so fancy. 

It adds to the interior landscaping also.

 

2025: Day 51....."Boogie woogie woogie"

 

Ok....'ya made me smile.

Amazon made me frown when the

yearly bill came for Amazon Prime.

Not smilin' so much then on

how much they raise the price every year.

But...hey....they do make life easy.

And in this case....funny 'n fun.

Some smart marketing person likely said:

"Try & keep 'em smiling and maybe

they won't notice the bill. They'll just

hope their house is the trucks next stop".

2025: Day 49 & 50....."Life Interrupted"

I only made it 49 days in a row from

my good intentions to do one post a day

starting on January 1st.

Then fail. 

Life interrupted my good intentions. 

I know who and why.

Something took ALL the space in my head

and absorbed me totally.

I'm sure you've had it happen to you.

I might pause but I face things head on.

 I'm resilient.

I bounced.

Sleep is one of the keys to resilience.

 I purchased these awhile back.

They work.

Soft. Gentle. 

And they taste so damn good.

 

2025: Day 48....."Negative Four"

 It was -4 this morning.

I have memories of that swing with

it's floating canopy and a side table

with an afternoon drink and my iPad

with a good book.

Not today.

But we have some blue sky 

and a pinch of sun to fake us out.

Funky February.

2025: Day 47....."What can I do?"

Zekelman Holocaust Museum in Michigan.

Wall of messages.

For then and now.

2025: Day 46....."Fire that won't melt snow"

Fake fire that gives me a warm feeling.

It doesn't throw off a bit of heat.

Not even a tiny bit.

But I look at it and feel warmth.

That's why it's out there all winter and

not melting one bit of snow. 

I see the glow from my bedroom doorwall

 (that's what us folks in Michigan call it)

 and I LOVE it.

It turns on when the sun goes down.

It lasts a few hours.

Enough to give me a bonus 

warm feeling every day.

Small joys in a Michigan winter.

 

2025: Day 45....."Art By Others"

This paper mache sculpture is by

Lori Hlavs in Florida who came

to Michigan to an art show in the 90's.

I'm very selective on the 

"Art By Others" that I purchase 

but this I could not resist.

The live edge wood corner shelf she is

currently seated on is from another

artist who works in natural wood...another

weakness I have. I love pieces of wood.

I think I related to this figure & wood because I

am that funky creature who would like to dress

like that and also own every woodsy thing I could find.

I do own a jacket like this..with a pointy hat... so 

that tells you something.

If I allowed her to live outside (but I never would!)

this is the type house we both would like.

2025: Day 44....."Throwback to 2014 Valentine's Day"

 Throwback all the way to 2014.

Custom little Valentine's for

2 sisters to take to school.

Personalized and cute.

A fun endeavor.