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

 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.

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

 March 20 and all these

houseplants are blooming indoors.

Egyptian Starflower. 

Mini Fuschsia.

Orchid.

And....tah dah...

JASMINE.

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.

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

Stacey FaceTiming with Jeffrey.

We could be anywhere.

But we're here.

He's there.

It looks like anywhere.

It's real magic.

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

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.

 

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

Peace & Joy

My porch frogs.

Not Leprechauns but

tinted green for St. Patricks Day.

To each his own.

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.

March 14

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

Success or fail.

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

I mean.....THIS is

SO CUTE.

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.

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. 

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.

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!

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.

But it's alive and

proving it.

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.

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.

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.

Had some drinks with friends and family on Sat.

Sunday we took a mini road trip to visit an 

ART ALLEY.

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.

  

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.

One of the big outdoor alley murals.

Of course we took a picture of the car!

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

The ceiling fell in so now it's an 

outdoor venue space with a sky view.

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.

 

2025: Day 66....."Weird Plants & Pots"

 I like weird plants and weird pots.

So if I can match weird with weird

in the house plant world, I like that.

Stacey found this frog at JoAnn's 

going-out-of-business sale and 

knew I'd like it. 

I put a bunch of 

RATTAIL CASSULA plants in it.

(Also known as Watch Chain,

Lizards Tail, Zipper Plant.)

Pretty weird, huh.

Looks like he's enjoying a big lunch.

Susie bought me this guy because

she knew my style also.

I've taken pieces of his 'hair' and prop them

in this box because I like making

more weirdness.

And I have this little baby weirdo growing to

take to a plant swap in spring because I 

know other plant people like weird too. 

It's always fun to start small and get to 

know a plant so I always take a 

Box of Babies to share.

2025: Day 65....."Jumbo Rollers & Jumbo Love"

One of my all time favorite photos

of my great little model Haley.

She was and still is.... always willing to indulge me. 

She is a natural beauty.... even now as

a big grownup girl.

Jumbo love.

 

2025: Day 64....."Graduation Gift Card Box for Class of 2025"

Grad Gift Card Box

Circa 2025

Here's something interesting.

I made a blog post in 2009  (here's a link if 

you want to see it) and this is how

many folks have looked at it:

All I can say is that 

I'm so grateful for ALL

 that have ordered one! 

But happy that not

everyone did because I don't think

our fingers would have survived

all the foamcore cutting. 

We'd be done in.

Hopefully you enjoyed looking

at our ideas and had fun 

creating one on your own.

But for those that don't want to

do the work themselves....then....

call or email us.

Our fingers are still working!

2025: Day 63....."Are you ready boots? Start walkin' "

'I'll walk right in. Set right down.

Daddy, let your mind roll on."

 Yeah....Like Nancy Sinatra said....

"And that's just what they'll do."

 

Mammogram Part 1,005.

Or so it seems.

Check out those babies.

Version 2025.

TCB.

Because that stuff's important.

Man....I wish I had that ring though.

2025: Day 62....."It's not an optical illusion"

Yes. It really is this oddly crooked.

It's a building in Corktown, MI.

It's also shaped like a triangle.

Here's the back of the building.

We've decided to always check the back.

It can be more interesting than the front.

What a surprise.

Apparently there was once a building

next door that they tore down.

But still. 

Why this shape?

I guess the answer is that this is 

all the space they had so they went with that.

Oddly creative, interesting and weird.

Go on a treasure hunt and see it for yourself.

Hashtag Detroit. Hashtag Corktown.