Soothing Saturday Rains

Don't ya just love it when you wake up in the morning and it is raining. The sounds of the rain hitting the roof are like no other. My garden is soaking up the desperately needed moisture and everything is looking so green.
I had a long list of things I had planned to do today, but since it is raining, I think I will take advantage of not being motivated to work outside and try to organize my studio a little. I currently have things spread out between 3 rooms and a couple of cabinets and I am at the point of really needing to consolidate them. When I finish organizing, I will photograph some of the pieces I have been working on and post them.
Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.


Life is like a rainbow, you need both the sun and the rain to make it's colors appear.

Tuesday's Tightwad Tip

I don't know about you, but I love it when I find good tightwad tips. My all time favorite is " Make your own". There are so many sights on the internet that specialize in frugality and money and finance tips that I won't even begin to go there.
I will tell you that anytime I find a recipe to "make my own", I have to try it. Some have been awesome, some disastrous, and some mediocre at best, but they have all been fun. I make some of my own condiments, my own cleaning supplies and even my own organic fertilizers.
The fertilizer was amazing and I even fed it to some epiphyllum cacti
that grew as much as 6 feet long last summer. I found the basic recipe on the brugmansia forum at Daves Garden. Then I kept working with it until I found a mixture that I liked. Living close to the beach, my yard is like sand. I have amended it for years with compost and potting soils, but they just filter through.
Anyway here is the formula ( recipe) that I ended up using. Try it out and let me know what you think.

Organic Plant Food

2 cups warm water
12ounces beer
1/2 cup household ammonia
1cup epsom salt
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 tsp super thrive

Mix well and use 1-1.5 Tbsp per gallon. You can use it twice a week and the leftovers should keep 3-4 weeks. Refrigerate the leftovers because it has a tendency to mold and smell really bad.
( Yet another lesson learned the hard way LOL)

I use it as a foliar feed as well as watering it in. I try not to feed them though when the temperatures are extremely hot.

Window Shopping Again

Painting by Paul Rafferty, @ Grenning gallery.com

This past week, I had the best time with my Mom. We had planned to go to the craft store and look around there, but we decided that Lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant and browsing in the bookstore was just what we wanted to do.
It is rare that I/we get in a book store with time to just look at anything that catches our eye. Usually somebody is ready to leave, or we have limited time. This week though was different. We weren't rushed at all. Mom and I looked through books and magazines to our hearts content. I bought a book that my hubby had been wanting to read and looked for a couple of things for my son, but I really didn't buy anything else.
The sad part is that even though I had a wonderful time with my Mom, I sure wish my Sister could have been here too. She lives on the other side of the country and I miss her terribly. She and I however have our own way of shopping via the internet. Sometimes we call each other and shop on the net together. It can be great fun. Thank God for unlimited long distance. Whoever de-regulated the telephone industry is a genius.
Anyway this past week, I wanted to shop and so I made an etsy treasury. It is the first one I have done and it was really fun to put together.
I love flowers and children so I couldn't resist putting this together. I call it flower child.
If you get a chance, check it out. There are some really pretty things in it made by some incredibly talented people.
Happy Window Shopping.

Happy 4th of July!

From The little island.

Lantana, Love it or Not?

Do you grow Lantana? In some places it can easily become an invasive obnoxious weed and in other places it is an almost ever blooming, can take any kind of situation in stride, hardy, happy perennial.
There are many varieties of lantana and I am telling you, butterflies and skipper moths absolutely love it. They are drawn to the flowers like I am to the beach on a warm sunny morning. The stems are kind of hairy ( sometimes they will make you itch) and it has an odd smell. The first time I saw the plants, I thought it smelled much like deep woods off, but now the scent is a little less pronounced.
I have it planted in several places. I love flowers and I can't get enough and one that is constantly in bloom is all the better.


The foundation border in the back of my house never seems to welcome anything I plant. I can and have planted many different things there, but nothing seems to thrive. I think I will mix in some different colors of lantana and other things and let it become a flower bed for "survivors" only. Who knows maybe it will live up to it's reputation of being hard to kill.

Read any good books Lately?

I love to read. I read all sorts of books, and this past week I picked up a good one that a friend had passed on to me.
I read The Traveler's Gift, by Andy Andrews. We had a real rainy day with a lot of lightning and thunder and the rain made everything smell so fresh and look so green. My 2 mutts however don't have the same appreciation for storms that I enjoy and with each thunderclap, or streak of lightning they were forced to endure, they shook and quivered and whined.


I had planned to photograph some Jewelry pieces that I had made,



but everytime I moved, the dogs moved with me. When I walked across the room to retrieve a camera battery, they got down from the sofa and followed me there and back whining all the way. When I made myself a cup of coffee and heated a Krispy Kreme donut they almost tripped me. I finally gave up on my plans and decided the only peace in the valley would be if they were right beside me with their heads buried under a blanket.So I decided it would be a perfect day just to sit on the couch and read. The book moved so fast that I couldn't put it down. In fact, I don't think I moved at all until I finished the book sometime during the wee hours of the morning.
It turned out to be quite a good read for a rainy day and if you get a chance, check it out and let me know what you think of it.

Scenic Sunday

The works of God all of them are good; in it's own time every need is supplied.

Sirach 37:16
NABCE