Moving the Plants in for the Winter

I am battling a miserable head cold.

The nights are now dipping into the 30's in Michigan

so I moved all my plants inside from my green house.

  I don't heat it in the winter. 

I wish this house had better light.

It's always a struggle for me to find a place for them,

especially since  they grow so much in the summer outside in the shade.

I over winter a few annual flowers inside that would

not survive the winter here.

Here you can see my Geraniums in big pots.  This pic 

was taken at the beginning of the

growing season.  They get as big as shrubs simply

because they are about 3 yrs. old.

There are all sorts of ways to over winter

geraniums.  I have tried others with

less success and for me this works

best.  I replant them in  large plastic pots with

new dirt.  I cut back the plant otherwise 

they would never fit inside.  This year they were pretty 

shocked so I weakly fertilized them to get over

the shock.  Usually you only want to cut them 

about 1/3 back. Then I just treat them like a house

plant throughout the winter.  They usually

stop blooming 1/2 way through

winter but the leaves stay green.

In April I usually move them out to my green house.

I fertilize them and with the added sunlight they

perk back up and start filling out and blooming.

Then in the spring they get planted back in my 

large planters. I like how big they get in the summer.

Honestly I have never seen Geraniums this

large for sale in the spring at any

garden centers.

With the dark winter ahead  I can

enjoy my green plants inside.

I have to gather them around my windows and hope for the best.

I'm not a fan of the falling back time change. 

I know we gain an hour of sleep but for

me that means I will go to work in the dark and when

I go to the barn at after work it will be dark.  The only

time I'll be able to ride my horse outside is on the weekend.

Does anyone one else hate the time change business?

I sure hope I feel better soon....

A few recent creations...

The red snowflakes are an idea of mine

to hang on long ribbons in the window.

I am thinking they will pop

against my white window sheers.

A new butter dish I made which

I chipped the yellow top yesterday

ARGH! so I guess I will be making another one.

the green pumpkin bowl

A bird bathe with a stick holder.

Where any stick can be inserted for

the birds to sit on.

A hanging bird bath or bird feeder.

I am going to hang it under my pine tree

and put bird seed

in it this winter for the big

birds that don't fit on my

bird feeders.

This little bowl I didn't think would accept the glaze because it was misfired at

a temp that was too high by mistake.  So I just wanted to see what

would happened and it took so it came out ok.

 I challenge you to find some time

and make something.

Its a great way to relax

and you never know you

may find a new passion!

Go Create Something!

Glazing...

 I am busy working on glazing some

bisque fired pieces of mine.

 

 

Each one is covered in 3 coats of glaze.

I am hopeful my shading will

come out the way I

envision.  There is no exact

way to know for sure

before firing.

 

 

It takes me quite a while to get the glaze

details painted the way I think they should be.

 

 

There always is some uncertainty...

How will this look once

it's fired?   Is the red- red enough or

pink the shade I wanted?

 That part is a bit nerve wracking and

exciting at the same time.

 

So I will see....and keep plugging

away at it!

 

 

 

 

 

Celebrate Fall

 

Fall is my #1 favorite season.

I love the coziness of it

and to celebrate fall  I started

decorating my house for

fall a few years ago.

I warms up the dark nights until

Christmas and it makes me happy.

I'm a firm believer

in making things look pretty

to make your everyday brighter.

Corny but it does make me feel

better as the dark Michigan winter

is around the corner.

 

 

I add a few little

fall things on our entry

way table

 

 

I do my faux fireplace mantel above.

This cement fireplace was my parents

and I have pictures of me standing

in front of it when I was 3.  I add leaves,

lights and ceramic pumpkins

 

 

I do the same for the real

fireplace.

 

 

On the side table in the dining room

I display some pumpkin plates, lights

and gourds.

 

 

On the front porch I have

lanterns that I fill with

strands of lights and

fake leaves.  I was thrilled to

find gold lights at Hobby Lobby

this year.  I like them better

than the orange lights actually.

Orange is not my favorite color.

 

The pumpkins are fake.  I

got tired of the squirrels

chewing up my real ones

so I got these.

 

 

 

 

 

I painted this little sign.

It says " I can feel fall

dancing in the trees"

 

 

Then at night the lights

cozy everything up for me.

 

 

 

 

I can't help it...

 

 

Not sure if I ever mentioned that

I'm a Visual Merchandiser.

What I do for a living is

decorate stores and display

merchandise for stores.  So

that's why I like decorating a lot.

Now days they don't do the

big elaborate displays

like the shop windows.

It's more simplified and

more centered around graphic

signing, but it kind of

explains why I like decorating.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

Feeling Short On Time

I have been trying to work on fall cleaning

in the yard and decorating for fall.

It just seems to be taking me longer than usual.

Maybe this is why... 

Usually I take a week off work in September but

I didn't this year as I'm saving my vacation

leave to use later this year.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Being an animal Mom is time consuming.

There is always lots of cleaning and vacuuming of fur.

 

Each animal has their needs & wants

for love and attention everyday!

Finn is always into something..

Henley gets cuddles every night while I

watch some TV.

 During the day Finn and Henley hang out. 

Here Finn is enjoying  the new a cozy drawer

bed I made with a feather pillow inside.

Every night my big buns look for their time and cuddles.

Hank has now become accustomed to it too.

and every week the

birds get their bath so

their feathers don't dry out.

In the summer I garden

and make up bunny veggies

or make treats which include

baking and dehydrating

food.

The parrots also get cooked food and fresh fruits daily

Not to mention

cleaning the

7 - big litter boxes we have

in our house.

2 cat boxes are sifted daily

and the 5 bunny boxes are

dumped completely and

filled with fresh

hay and shavings

 every other day.

I'm kind of a neat freak and

like everything clean

all the time.

and last but not least my

horse Hottie which

I board at a barn and go

out to see and ride a

minimum of 3 days per week.

I am so thankful for my wonderful

husband that helps me all the time with

all of the animals.  I'm grateful that he loves animals

and puts up with all my craziness.

It is obvious the animals all love him.  They

are a good judge of character.  Even

Finn loves him, even after Matt has been giving

him daily heart meds.

So I guess it kind of makes sense when I look at

why maybe I feel like I'm behind

due to being a little

short on time but ....

I know it seems like insanity...

but I believe it is my

calling and I can't imagine a

life without animals in it.

So maybe I am a little behind

on some things but that's because

it is filled with so much more!

It a world where it seems there

is so much tragedy going

on, I think it is good to

focus on the good things

that bring purpose to your life!