Only 7 Pictures?

T jokingly (I hope) said that I could only have seven pictures in my picture blog, one for each day.  Well, I took 256 photos this week.  203 remained after culling fuzzy, awkward and duplicate shots.  Some were intentionally taken with future blogs in mind, but I did just have fun taking lots of pictures.  I actually was a little worried about the fact that I didn’t have a specific goal in mind.  I wondered if I would have anything interesting to share or if it would be ok if not all the pictures were plant focused or have a lesson with them.  So there is no specific order or theme to my collection of photos for this blog and I am going to be happy with that.  I just found a few pretty pictures and told their stories.

Stack of water rocks in the Ashitaba ‘s pot.

My family (Shannon’s side) enjoys hiking, outdoor activities and sports.  We are usually moving.  Back in December, most of us (missing 3 of the 21) went for a hike at a park on Lake Michigan.  The day was beautiful, I didn’t bring my camera, but I did pick up rocks on the beach.  I left most of them stacked on a big boulder along the trail for others to enjoy but did bring home these five.  I love the fossils in the top one.  Of course the colors all match too.

I LEARNED something!

Ok, a plate of food, normal enough dinner for us…  BUT I learned how to program the white balance on my camera and that was amazing!  No more yellow indoor pictures!  I’m so excited!  About time though right?  No, I have not YET read the 400 page instruction manual that came with my camera…

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce you to sunrise.

Yep, I was awake for the sunrise one morning.  It was beautiful and it only happened that one time.  My circadian rhythm swings towards night owl rather than bright eyed and bushy tailed morning squirrel.  That would be my Mom.  However, it was beautiful and I thought about trying to make it a habit to take a picture of the sunrise every morning and then thought nah…. I like bed way too much and that would just make this one less special.  This attitude does not apply to sunsets though.

Michigan blue

My Dad made this little wooden cut out of Michigan which sits on my window sill over my kitchen sink.  It is about an inch and a half tall.  I love blue glass and anything that my dad makes is special.  He made one for each of us kids so no matter where we are, we always have home with us.

Glass blue bird

I found this figurine at a second hand shop a few years ago and it moves around my plant rack.  Sometimes it can be found in a pot, sitting out on the deck or displayed front and center.  Regardless of where it ends up, it always makes me smile.

Empty watering cans waiting to be filled.

Technically I water the indoor plants once a week.  Realistically, it happens whenever a plant looks thirsty.  I usually play with my plants a couple of times a week, checking leaves, dead heading, turning them so they grow evenly, and watering the extra thirsty ones.  It is a great procrastination chore because I’m still doing something productive… and it is a LOT more fun than doing the dishes.  I fill my watering cans with “waste” water (the water that you are waiting to get hot or cold goes into the watering can rather than down the drain) so it actually takes a while to refill them all.  Then I wait for the chorine to off gas before I use that water.  I have a bottom shelf on one of my plant racks for the water to live.  Usually I have one can that is being filled while the others are rotated.  I just happened to water everything all at once this week and wiped them all out at one time.

Glass hearts decorating the plant rack.

These hearts are leftover favors from my wedding.  While decluttering last month, I found a small box of them carefully packed away and I decided to display them.  Fancy ornament hooks bought on clearance added a touch of class to my sparkles.  Since they hang from the top shelf of the plant rack, they don’t impede much sun and they glow when the sun does decide to come out.  Note to self:  keep using the pretty stuff now, don’t save it for later because then you miss out on the joy of it now.

Boston Fern

This is a detail of my Boston Fern who is currently taking up almost the entire picture window in the living room.  It was a rescue from a friend who couldn’t bring it inside at first frost a couple of years ago and since then has been transplanted from its hanging basket to a large pot.  It has definitely enjoyed and used up the extra space and now has a diameter of about three feet across.  I love the way the leaves are so haphazard in growth but extremely organized in form.  This is one of the thirsty ones.

The plant rack…

So to finish this plant blog off, I’d better show you a few plants.  This little corner of my dining room gets lovely southern sun and I make the most of it.  Every plant has a story and so do most of the pots and decorations.  By no means is this the total head count of my collection but it is a large chunk of it.  Perhaps I’ll do a plant yearbook picture blog and tell you some of the stories.

I hope you enjoyed my little foray into randomness.  Hey, there were a couple of plant pictures so that counts right?  Let me know if there are any particular sorts of pictures or themes you would be interested in seeing and I’ll add it to the list.
Have a lovely week!