Just Peachy

My parents have a peach tree that produced a lot of peaches this past summer. I took home a lot of them. We grilled some, we made peach salsa and some peach jelly. They were sweet and tart. 

At summers end, I decided to preserve a peach seed from one of my peaches and attempt to grow a new peach tree. Will it work? Well see.

I did some reading on the internet to learn a little bit about how to grow a peach tree. It sounded like a lot of work but it wasn’t so bad. I just have to give it room and let nature take it’s course. 

August- I placed a seed in a sealed baggie and placed it in my refrigerator. It needed a three to four month cold treatment to allow the embryo to develop and mature. I had to make sure to keep it away from other foods as peach seeds emit ethylene gas. Yes, peach seeds are poison. So are plums, cherries, apricots and nectarines. The seeds in these fruits contain cyanid compounds. If you swallow a seed you will be ok but they are poisonous when they are ground or crushed. 

November- I took the seed out of the refrigerator and carefully used a hammer and popped open the hull to reveal a tiny seed that looked like an almond. 

I placed the seed in another baggie along with some dirt. I just sealed it up and sat it in the window seal. After a couple weeks, I checked on it and was surprised to find a tiny peach tree! 

Just look at that! Isn’t it cute?

December- I removed it from the little baggie of dirt and planted it in a cup. Six days later it seems to be growing with a little help from a grow light. 

This red cup photo was taken on December 24th. On January 1st, it has grown even more!

Man! It is growing fast! I knew it would grow out of this red cup soon so I prepared a five gallon grow bag planter for a more permanent grow space.

I have to let it grow indoors until there is no threat of frost then I will be able to plant it in the yard in early spring. 

January- It loves the grow bag and has already grown a total of six inches tall in just one month. 

I have it placed at the back patio door where it can get some natural light through the blinds and on rainy days, I will plug in the little grow light. It’s fun to watch it lean back and forth and wiggle itself towards the light. I hope It will hang in there until I can plant it hopefully in March. My husband is going to find a spot in the back yard that will be easy for him to mow around come summer. 

I will be sure to give you an update when I have it planted in the yard. It will take an average of two years for it to start producing fruit but I’m not rushing it. Like I said “Nature will take its course”.

Aint that just peachy? 

Propagation Station

Can you believe it’s already the September? Where does time go? I love Fall, but then comes Winter. I am not a fan of the cold but I guess it’s not that bad. It gives me a reason to bring out the cuddly blankets and cute boots. The days will seem shorter, meaning it will be almost dark when I go to work and when I come home from work. I guess I’ll be doing my exercises more indoors now. 

Now for my latest project…..

This Summer, I have enjoyed collecting a few plants. Now that I have a office cube, I have my own space with a whole window wall. I do not have a sunny window at home so I never really bought plants but now I do since I have a place to put them. I only have a few but they are thriving.  I want to start rooting some of them and start some new plants to repot in the spring. 

After searching around, I saw that there are such things as a propagation station. Decorative clusters of small jars of water to place a piece of plant in so you can get it to root. Once rooted, you plant them in soil. I always just used a baby food jar or small vase. Those were boring and did not look good sitting around. 

So, I came up with a cute idea of using macrame to create this hanging propagation station. I have seen these on line but could no find out how to make them so I used my own imagination and come up with this simple design. 

I am still new at macrame but I would love to learn more. This little propagation station was super simple and only used two types of knots to create a cute wall hanging piece. If you are interested in one of these, it will cost you 15.00 each plus free shipping as long as it’s in the USA. This basically just pays for the supplies, packaging and me a cup of coffee. Just let me know by sending me an email or leave your email in comments and I’ll contact you.

Now, If you would want to make your own, here is what I used:

4mm macrame yarn.

1.5 wooden ring.

2 small glass bottles.

1 wooden bead (optional).

With two strands of yarn, cast on two larks head knots. 

Now you will have four strands of yarn hanging down.

With the four strands, make 10 square knots.

Place a 3-4 inch piece of yarn and make a square knot around it. (This will tie your bottle on).

Make 14 square knots.

Place a 3-4 inch piece of yarn and make a square knot around it.

Make 12 square knots.

Add bead (optional).

Tie a knot at the end and trim off the yarn to make your tassel.

Last, tie on your little glass bottles. 

You can make it as long or short as you want by just subtracting or adding more knots and ties. 

Enjoy.

Grow light and String of Hearts

I entered another giveaway on instagram. AND WON. They are always fun. Most of them are small businesses trying to gain followers or show appreciation. They will post a giveaway and to enter, you just like and comment then follow any other instructions on their post. They will do a drawing of those who participate and a winner is chosen. I was the lucky one.  

The latest giveaway was from a two small businesses that worked together for a great prize. One place was called Plantasia The Market. They sale plant accessories and more. You should definitely check them out online. From this business I received a Halo grow light. I will post a photo and link at the end of this post.

The other part of my winning gift was a this cute little plant called “string of hearts” This came from a plant enthusiast on Instagram known as “Plants.Pots.Possitivity”. I love this elegant plant and can not wait to watch it grow. String of hearts is a trailing plant so I needed to find a planter pot for it. 

While shopping at Target, I thought I would go check out the planters. That’s when I found the perfect little planter for my new plant. 

The vines are thin right now but it will grow quickly into a full pot that will overflow with a beautiful pink and green show of hearts. 

My daughter named her Yolonda. Isn’t she pretty? I have not decided if I want to keep her at the house or take her to work. I do not have any sunny places to keep her so she will need to use the grow light often. If I take her to work, I have a large window with a wide window seal to put plants on. I already have a few succulent there and they are thriving. 

This plant is rather rare and expensive so I am a little afraid that if I take it work, people will sneak cuttings from it without asking. There are a lot of plant lovers in my office and plants are a big conversation piece.

I will give you an update in a few months on how well it is growing. Wish me luck that I can keep it alive as my thumb is not a green one. 

You can get your own Halo grow light at plantasiathemarket.com.

Grow Bags

I do not have much of a green thumb but I do like to grow things. Nick will usually build me a small raised bed at the end of the yard where there is a lot of sun all day. I have not had a garden bed in the past couple years. The last one I had was not very successful. Every time a sprig would come up, the birds or squirrels would snap them right out of the dirt. It was not worth the trouble, the money or the dead grassy spots left in the yard. 

This year I’m taking a different approach and decided to purchase some 5 gallon “Grow Bags”. I was not sure how they would do so I only purchased a pack of three. I feel like they are more of just 3 gallon bags instead of 5 but I’ll take their word for it. I headed to Home Depot and picked up two bags of dirt, a few cucumber plants and just one tomato plant. I was shocked at how expensive plants were now days. What ever happened to it being cheaper to grow you own veggies?

I loved how well and sturdy these grow bags held a bag of dirt each. They have handles on each side that make it easy to move them around so there will be no dead spots in my grass. The material allows for natural drainage so I do not have to worry about them being over watered. It’s just like them being planted in the ground. Once they start growing good, I will be adding a tomato cage to both plants. I hope I get a great climbing vine of cucumbers and bushy fruitful tomato plant. 

Right now I have them sitting on my patio. We are expecting a frost this weekend. Since they are in these grow bags, I can just move them inside (placed on plastic of course) or move them under the carport until there is no more threats of frost.

I may add strawberries to the third bag. 

What are you growing this year? Have you ever used grow bags or pot to plant your veggies? 

Plants

I have been loving plants lately. Ok, I know that’s random but I have always liked plants. I am also a plant killer. My problem is that I do not have any places in my house to place them where they will get sunshine. I have no ledges on my windows. I have a large bay window in the front room but the sun only shines in it for a little while in the afternoon. Besides, I do not want to put a lot of plants on it to ruin. I currently have a Christmas cactus in that place. 

While visiting my daughter this past weekend, she took me to a place called “Optimist Hall”. It is an old mill turned into a large food court and a few shopping spots. There were isles and isles of different types of unique foods. Just imagine food trucks stationary in a building. 

One of the shopping spots was a plant store. I didn’t get the name but it was fun to walk in and see all the plants. They had everything from air plants to terrariums. You could also feel the oxygen in the air as you walked around looking at all the unique greens.

I did not purchase any new plants because the were to expensive for me. I would rather wait and just go to Lowes or Home depot for my plants. I mean, look at the price of this small plant.

It was probably my favorite plant in the store. I thought it was unique. 

I now work in an office cubicle with a large window. I have been loving plants because now I have a place to put them. I currently have a few succulents in the window and a snake plant. 

My sweet neighbor friend made me this cute plant pot cover for my snake plant. It sits on top of my file cabinet and has been a fun conversation piece. I remember my mom used to have a snake plant. It was much larger than the one I have. 

I plan to get a small potted palm tree soon. It will remind me of summer, sand and sunshine. 

What is your favorite plant in your home or office? 

Beauty and The Bee

Every day as we walk, we past a home where an old man and his wife passed away and left no one to care for their now abandoned house. It has been over a year.

We shake our head in disgust as we walk around this neglected yard that corners the street. We gripe, "I would have already called the city to get this cleaned up". or "What a mess! This is ridiculous and makes the neighborhood look bad". The complaining goes on every time. I guess you can say it at least gives us a conversation.

Rounding the corner and eyeing what once was a well kept yard full of roses and mixed flowers, we noticed some life in the mix of rubble. It was a bumble bee working diligently to gather pollen from an onion flower. I left my phone at home to charge so I asked my husband to be a photographer. He pulls his phone from his waistband and steps in to the snaky brush to get a closer aim. The complaining stopped and our conversation focused on the bee the rest of the way home.

I think God throws out little reminders for us to stop looking at the negative in things and focus on the beauty. The bee didn't care what his surroundings were, he just knew he had a job to finish and all he needed was in that place.

"The flower doesn't dream of the bee. It blossoms and the bee comes". 

                                                                                      ~Mark Nepo

Oui Pot Crochet Hangers

Often you will find me sitting in the center of the living room organizing my yarn basket. While most crochet addicts have a whole closet of yarn, I just have a little square storage cube type basket. It works perfect to hold the yarns I need and fits perfectly beside me chair.

I do not stock up on yarn. I buy as I go. It gives me an excuse to visit Hobby Lobby. Most of you can relate. However, I do wind up with a lot of smalls balls of yarn that are not big enough to make a full project. I will normally roll into what I call my scrap ball and will eventually use it to make a crazy multi colored scrap blanket.

I keep my acrylic yarn and cotton yarn separated. Cotton is my favorite fiber to crochet with. I like to keep scraps of cotton yarn to make small things like baby teethers, face wipes or coasters but I found something new to make with my scrap pieces.

Oui Pot Crochet Hangers

I am obsessed in these cute little crochet hangers. I'm thinking of adding some to my Etsy shop. They are just so darn cute. Can you imagine some cute little succulents in them? Oh my!

I have several Oui yogurt glass jars. Oui is a French yogurt by Yoplait and is delicious. You can find them at most grocery stores in the yogurt section and are usually only a dollar each and have several flavors to choose from. I always keep a few of these empty glass pots in the cabinet because they make great candle holders, and plant starters. You can actually purchase special lids from the Oui website if you want to use them to store things. They also have some other crafty ideas you can use these little pots for.


These crochet hangers are quick and easy. The original pattern can be found HERE.

Bloomers

The rain finally let up and we have been able to enjoy the sunshine. It has been warm enough for me to slip on a pair of shorts and a tshirt before heading out for our afternoon walk. For a while I thought the tanning be was going to be the only source of rays I was going to get.

It felt good to get outside. We saw a lot of signs of Springs. There were a lot bloomers. Flowers blooming and trees budding. 

The Bradford Pear trees were the first to greet us with there stinky fragrance in the air (I call them fish trees).

I am glad I took my camera with me so I could take some photos along the way.

The Butter Cups (or Daffodils) were loud and proud and I could tell they were wanting their photo taken. 

My Camellia bushes were full bloom. These beauties bloom twice a year. Once in the spring and once in the Fall.  

I had to ask my face book friends what this plant was. I am told it is a “Hyacinth” It was hiding between some bushes in my neighbors yard. 

It was so pretty. I had to reach out and pet this one after I took a photo. It just looked fluffy and needed some attention.

I have an onion garden in my front yard.

The yellow bells (also known to me as a hickory bush) are in full bloom too.

My butterfly bush has new growth and the day lilies and Easter Lilies have broke ground. 

And to think, when you first seen the title to my post, you thought about these.

(Source)

Come on, you know you did.

New Year New Goals

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hope everyone is doing great and recovering from the mid night activities. My husband and I went out for a nice dinner then back home to start the preparation for my annual family New Years Dinner. We are not fans of late night partying. We like to stay in and stay sober.

I started my morning off using this little New Years coaster I whipped up for fun.

Crochet pattern HERE.

I love having a coaster under my coffee mug so it doesn't clank on the table.

Later, we will be enjoying a feast of meat, black eye peas, collard greens, potatoes, macaroni n cheese, bread and dessert. When everyone comes, I can have a crowd of about 13 people. However, now that the nephews are all grown up, they can't be forced to come over and eat greens.

Do you make resolutions for the new year?
I don't make what I call resolutions but I do make goals for myself. Here are my top five.
I will always be adding new goals throughout the year.

1. I have lost the weight, now I want to get healthier.
My goal is to be able to run a mile without stopping, be able to do 50 sit ups by my 50th birthday, and loose another 10 lbs by Summer. I will also be taking more vitamins and collagen to help with my skin and muscles.

2. My car will be paid off in July.
My goal is to purchase a new one by Fall. I like to keep a new car so I never have to worry about putting money into always fixing an old one. I like warranty protection and new car smells.

3. I want to get more involved in blogging.

My goal is to get more involved as an influencer while still keeping my blog personal. 

I want to build my blog followers and reach out more.

4. Keeping up- I can never keep a planner going. I always fall short. I find it easier to just jot things down to remember other than adding them to a certain date on a calendar.
My goal is to start a bullet style journal using my new "Rocketbook" for keeping blog ideas, to do list, social media activities, and goals. I will keep using my Google calendar on my phone and iPad for appointments and events. This also keeps "Alexa" in the loop. haha.

5. Call me crazy, but I want to start a small Loofah garden.  I think it will be something different to try and fun results at the end.
My goal is to be able to actually get it to produce.

....Not sure about number five. Nick is over there shaking his head. Well, see. I have already bought the seeds.

Do you have any new plans for the new year? 

Whats Been Growing in My Garden

I will be the first to tell you I do not have a green thumb. I can kill a plastic plant and that's the truth.
Every Summer I try to grow something. I wish I could grow some tomatoes and cucumbers but every time I get a plant growing, something comes out of the wild and eats it. I'm not sure if its rabbits, birds or squirrels. Though I have seen some raccoons and fox around. Trying to succeed in growing any kind of plant is a struggle for me but I did manage to get a few things growing.

At the beginning of Summer one of the managers at work gave me a sunflower plant that was already about a foot tall so I stuck it in the ground and it grew a couple inches each day until it reached about 8 feet tall and made a beautiful sunflower. Now the petals have fallen off and I'm waiting for time to harvest it so I can give some seeds to my sister and save some for me to replant next year.

Knowing my luck, I will wait too long and the birds will have eaten all the seeds but so far nothing has bothered them. They need a few more days to dry.

I also purchased two egg plants this year. I chose a purple one and a white one. Something keeps eating at them but when I came home from vacation last week, I had a white egg plant!

It's not quiet ready yet. It needs to get a little bigger. I see a few buds on the purple egg plant so I hope they give me some fruit too.

And last but not least, last summer I took a seed from a lemon slice and planted it just to see if it would grow. This is how it looks so far.

I kept it inside all Winter and put it out on the patio during the Summer. It seems to be happy in the sunshine. It also smells wonderful! I'm so afraid it will wilt when I bring it in again this Winter. This is my little buddy.

That's all I have. But of course I didn't break my back or have to use any mules to get this hard work accomplished.

Cactus Rocks

Well what do ya know? I found a plant that I can’t kill. That's right. I do not need to water it or feed it. It’s cactus rocks!

I saw this cute little idea of painting rocks on Pinterest the other day and since I like to paint and do crafty stuff, I thought I’d give it shot.

Francilina stole three rocks from the Wendy’s parking lot and the fun began. 

(Name has been changed to protect the guilty).

I took these rocks outside one 98 degree day and painted away. I never even broke a sweat. (I ran a 5k a few weeks ago and didn’t break a sweat then either, but that's beside the point). Our large dogwood now hangs over the patio enough to give it a nice afternoon shade. I enjoyed my time alone painting rocks. However, it was not easy! 

The base color was easy but trying to paint the tiny prickly hairs that cactus have was ridiculously hard. Oh and by the way, don’t use paint brushes from the dollar store. The bristles kept coming off in my paint making them look hairyeeeee....Wait, I just had an idea. I should have just glued the tiny brush bristles onto the rock to really give a prickly look. Oh well, it’s too late now.

.

I know, I know, they look terrible, but from a distance I think they are ok. Sort of adorable actually. I think I will take them to work and put them up on a shelf in my office.

This would be a great idea for moms, teachers or babysitters. You can create many cactus rocks of different sizes and shapes. Purchase some small planters or cups along with some pebbles from the dollar store. The kids can have fun creating their own little cactus gardens over and over. I mean, it’s not like they will break. They are rocks! Just make sure little Johnny doesn’t stuff the pebbles up his nose. 

Dandelion Tea

Yes. “Dandelion Tea.

I will no longer call these little bright yellow yard flowers “weeds”.

My yard is full of them. The neighbors yards are not. They keep weed killer on their lawns but little do they know, they are killing something that is beneficial to your health. 

Did you know you can eat every part of a Dandelion? I always heard about the green leafy part being edible but I always thought the yellow flower was poison. As a kid, I can remember other weeds we put in our mouth. Most were by dare, but we did it and we lived. 

We sucked the juice from Honeysuckle, chewed on sour grass, ate wild blackberries and attempted to smoke rabbit tobacco. 

But Dandelions? Umm never. 

After seeing several recipes online using dandelions, I did a little investigating (aka Googling). I found out that these little sunshine flowers were good for you and have lots of health benefits.

• Detoxifies the body
• Has fat metabolizing enzymes and natural diuretic to eliminate water weight- both aid in weight loss.
• Rich in Fiber and antioxidants.
• High in vitamin K, A, calcium, zinc, iron and magnesium.
• Cleanses the Liver
• Minimizes stress
• Boost immune system
• Balances blood sugars
• Reduces inflammation....

And the list goes on. I will have some links at the end of my page where you can read a little about them. It will surprise you. 

I am from the South and we like our tea sweet and cold but I just had to try some Dandelion Tea. 

So, out to the yard I went carrying a little bowl, hoping my neighbors were not watching, and began picking dandelions. I felt like I was six again. There were no threat of pesticides or weed killers ‘obvliously”. Ha.

The bees would beat me to a few so I made sure to leave them plenty to work with. 

There are many recipes for Dandelion flowers, and I plan to make Dandelion bread soon, but for now here is how I made Dandelion tea. 

Dandelion Tea:

(1 cup Dandelion petals for every 2 cups water.)

1. Wash and pat dry. 

2. Pinch off the yellow petals removing the green best you can as the green can be bitter. (A little green wont hurt)

3. Place the petals in a pot of water and bring to a starting boil.

4. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. It will begin to have a yellow tint.

5. Using cheese cloth, drain the petals from the tea. 

6. Pour into your favorite mug , add a teaspoon of honey or other flavor of your choice and Enjoy.

The tea alone was rich in flavor. It had sort of a honey taste even before adding the extra honey. It was actually good. I would make this tea again before going out and buying some overpriced weak tea from the store.
"Well, it was all good until the next morning when I saw some cats messing around in the yard". 

Warning: Dandelions are closely related to other plants such as Daisies, Marigolds, Sunflowers, etc which some people are allergic to. If you have allergies to such flowers, do not attempt to eat Dandelion without consulting a doctor first. 

Sources:

https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/herbs-and-spices/health-benefits-of-dandelion.html

https://draxe.com/dandelion-tea/

https://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-706-dandelion.aspx?activeingredientid=706&activeingredientname=dandelion

Recipes:

Dandelion Bread

Dandelion Jelly

Dandelion Honey Butter

Dandelion Wine

I’ve linked to these great parties

Great party Idea at flusterbuster.com

Floral Beauty from Silk Plants Direct

Flowers are great to send and receive for any occasion. It's not too early to even think about Mothers Day. It will be here before you know it. This is a good time to start thinking about what to get Mom to brighten up her day. If it’s flowers she likes, skip the real ones and get her something that will last longer than a week. Not sure where to find high quality real looking flowers? Look no further than Silk Plants Direct. They offer a huge selection of realist silk flowers, so whatever flower is her favorite, you will be sure to find it. You can choose from single stem flowers to beautiful arrangements. 

Silk Plants Direct is also the place to go if you need to brighten up your business or office. They have over 500 varieties of silk plants, trees, flowers, and more. You may see their products in places like hospitals, hotels, shopping centers, restaurants and other spaces as they offer commercial options too. 

This product was provided free of charge in exchange for my honest review.

All opinions are my own.

Color shades in photos may vary due to change of lighting. 

When Silk Plants Direct asked me to choose one of their floral products, I was overwhelmed with the different flowers and plants to choose from. It was so hard to decide on which one I wanted to try. This was a challenge for me because I'm such an indecisive person and all of their selections were so pretty. As I did a face plant in the palm of my hand, I decided to go straight to my favorite flower. I chose the yellow Tulips in a glass container.

It just screamed Spring to me. I thought about how pretty these will look during the Spring and Summer months. I also though about how great these will look on my table at Easter.

The shipping was quick. When my package arrived I was so excited and immediately tore open the box. I’m glad they were wrapped and packed with protection because I dropped the box while opening it. “Whooo” no harm done. They were perfect. I gently unwrapped the packaging and lifted the flowers from the box. I spent the rest of the day placing the arrangement of Tulips all over the house. I wanted to find the perfect spot to show them off.

These Tulips look soft and delicate and even feel real. 

They were perfect from the petals to the cute moss that blanketed the bulb. If you look closely you will see these Tulips are sitting in an illusion of water. This means I will never have to water them. Yes, that's my kind of flowers. 

With the affordable prices and quality products, I plan to shop at Silk Plants Direct for any future plants. I’ve already got some ideas in my head for my future beach house. Did I mention, they have Palm Trees too?

Start shopping today for the best silk flowers, plants and more at SilkPlantsDirect.com

Use code: BLOGGER10 and get 10% off your purchase (excludes custom orders).

Lemon Seeds

I had no idea I could actually grow a lemon tree. I read on the Internet that you can actually grow a lemon tree from lemon seeds. Really? Ha! Okay, I knew that but wasn't sure it would work for me.

I read that the seeds need to be from a fresh organic lemon. My lemons were NOT organic. In fact, they had also been in the fridge for a week.

The truth is, I rarely buy anything organic unless its on sale and that's only because of the price. I’m not a big believer in the whole organic craze. Organic to me is right out of my garden. I call bull on any of the organic claimed items in the store. Personally I’d rather have my foods grown protected from insects and diseases. But that's just my thoughts.

Ok, back to the lemon seeds. 

While cutting up a lemon for Nicks water, I managed to scoop out some seeds. I didn't follow the instructions on how to get them ready to plant. I just stuck them in some dirt. Two weeks later, I had lemon sprigs! 

I was tickled. I did read that once they have a couple leaves to them, I can transport them to a larger pot, so I did and they have mature just a bit.

Now I wait. The weathers is going to turn cold soon so I plan to bring the plant inside and keep it by the bay window for sun. I really hope it continues to grow.