Green Thumb?

I grew up in the south, and for many years my mom worked part time on a vegetable farm. She always had a very green thumb so we always had a plethora of plants and flowers around the house. I never really paid too much attention to plants until recently.

When my mom moved away, she really didn't have room to take many of her plants with her. So, my grandmother and I took them all in. I ended up with a 50 + year old snake plant and a 20+ year old Holiday Cactus. The snake plant was about 5 feet tall and about 100 pounds including the pot.

Mom repotted them in plastic pots a few years ago before she left. Because I really didn't know how to take care of them, the plants ended up almost dying. I think because they were so old and big, the plastic pots they were in were not allowing water to drain away. I purchased new pottery for them all and some cactus soil, which drains better than regular potting soil.

When I pulled out the snake plant, the roots were very fragile and tiny, and the middle of the pot was drippy sludge. I took away all the baby plants from around the outside, and potted them by themselves, then the base plant went in a huge pot of it's own. The Holiday cactus had gotten so bad off, I was only able to save about three full sprigs and pot them.

After doing a lot of reading on the care of plants, I am happy to say the plants have made a full recovery. When Sam and moved, I kept the pot of snake plant "babies" as it was smaller than "mom". Grandma ended up with the bigger plant, as we decided we could not get it up 3 flights of stairs.

I placed the plants outside on our balcony and they love it. The weather during the summer is about 80-90 degrees F, and they get indirect light all day. I water the Holiday plant (aka Thanksgiving or Christmas Cactus.. This one blooms in March-April..) weekly, or until the pot dries out. With the weather being so hot, it has a tendency to dry out pretty quick. This photo shows all the new growth that has appeared during this spring and summer. Again, this plant started out as three tiny sprigs!



Here is the snake plant.. The taller stalks unfortunately weren't doing very well from being in standing water. After about a month of being on the balcony though, I noticed that the plant started shooting out baby plants of it's own. The babies have grown about 1-2 feet tall now, and I opted to cut the drooping leaves. I am hoping the cut leaves will be buried under the baby plants one day. Or I may separate the babies back out after they get more established. The green and white variegated leaves are the babies and the dark leaves are the parent plant. It gets watered about every 2 weeks.


Nursing these plants back to health inspired me to go pick up a few more plants for my balcony garden. They had a lot of lovely cacti, so I made my own mixed pot for about half the price that the store was charging. I also picked up a Jade Plant for about $5. It was in a little plastic pot, so I re-potted it also with the cactus soil in a ceramic pot. They also had a very interesting Echeveria, that is sort of pink and lavender in color. Pretty sure it's an "Afterglow" variety.

All of the little succulents seem to be doing really well. The Jade plant and Echeveria enjoy sun and being neglected so I water them every week or until the pot dries out while it's so hot. The large mixed cactus pot I made does not need to be watered too often. Every two weeks or so. I usually go by feel and weight of the pot instead of a schedule on this one. All of the plants have put out a ton of new growth since they were purchased, so I am guessing that I am doing something right. Now I just have to figure out where the heck to put them once the weather outside gets too cold for them!

Something I knew only recently is that really healthy Jade Plants have red tips. After mine turned really red, I was getting upset because I thought I killed it! Nope, it's doing fine. The trick with succulents is to let them have lots of light, and only water them when they are really dry.

I have found that taking care of these plants is very relaxing and rewarding. They make our balcony seem more welcoming and pretty, without having to spend a ton of money on seasonal plants.

Happiness in a flat pack - our first trip to Ikea

Our apartment is terribly unorganized, with clutter all over the place. We had to downsize when we relocated, and didn't quite get rid of enough stuff.

With the clutter driving us crazy, and just not finding what we need at Walmart and Target, we decided that a trip to Ikea was finally in order. This past Memorial Day ended up being the perfect opportunity to visit our closest Ikea (4 hours away).

We knew it would be really busy, but it was really our only chance to take the trip within the next few months. My first and only purchase to date from Ikea was the white PS locker for DVDs/CD's. I ordered it online and couldn't be happier with it.

We got into the city the night before and stayed at a Hilton. Believe it or not, it was one of the cheaper hotels in the area. Wow, was the room nice! Very posh. Since it was a Sunday, and after 7 when we got there, there really wasn't anything to do. So we induldged in room service (also a first) and made a romantic, relaxing night in.

The next morning we checked out and drove to the Ikea, ariving there just before 11. When we drove by on the exit ramp and saw the building for the first time, we both got a little overwhelmed. I knew it would be big, but wow!

We got a fairly decent parking space and went in to the store. Since neither of us had eaten anything that morning we went upstairs to the cafe. I tried the Swedish meatballs (served with cream sauce, mashed potatoes and liggonberry jam) which were great, especially for the price of $4.99! I also had the apple (pie?) dessert, which had good flavor but the crust was mushy. Sam had the salmon with vegetables and the daim torte. She loved the salmon, but I thought it tasted too fishy. The torte was amazing!

After lunch, we stayed upstairs and toured the show room. It was so crowded we could barely walk. It reminded me of an ant farm. But that's what we get for going on a holiday! We were really amazed by all the displays. The room plans were really well thought out and functional.

We tried out a lot of the furniture, but I really didn't find the sofas and chairs all that comfortable.

Everything looked awesome, and the prices were unbelievable. But, I think I will stick to my ugly green living room furniture right now. There was such a swarm around the Poang chairs, we didn't even get to go in that section.

I was really impressed by the kitchens. They all had such lovely clean lines, so functional and really modern. I am used to the country and traditional kitchens that are on display in Home Depot and Lowes. My next house will definitely have an Ikea kitchen.

I was also really impressed with the bookcases, lighting, and tv storage. Everything was really cool looking and well made. We made it to the bedding section and tried out the mattresses and pillows. The pillows that we have purchased previously were from walmart, and cost under $10. We both have chronic neck and back pain and it went away when we tried out the GOSA RAPS pillow. It was like laying on a cloud. Looking at the price tag was a little bit of a shock. We debated and wrung our hands, but we decided to get two of them.

After an hour or two in the showroom, we went down to the marketplace. We bought tons of Kassett boxes, a Fira box, a Snack box, some shelving, the PS low locker in white (who dosen't own one of those these days!), several yards of fabric, and a few odds and ends. The only thing I didn't expect to buy were the pillows. We checked out and loaded up our car.
Since it was 4:30 by then we decided to get some more Ikea Food. Sam got the meatballs, and I opted for a buffalo chicken wrap. For dessert, we had the almond torte and chocolate cake. Everything was wonderful, like before. Since we are big dessert people, and everything being
so inexpensive, we felt justified in eating all those sweets. :) Then of course, we had to check out the frozen/packaged food section in the front of the store. We got a Daim bar, some lingonberry jelly, and lingonberry drink concentrate. Finally we left to go back home at 5:30 PM.

To any other Ikea first timers out there I would like to give the following advice:

Try the food! Don't be put off by the fact that it is frozen/mass produced. Think of it like any other fast food restaurant. Some things are gonna taste a little processed, but some of it is really great. Especially the tortes.

Wear comfortable clothes and shoes.
Allow 4+ hours to properly tour the whole store. The place is enormous.

Don't be put off by the "flat pack" concept. Everything I've purchased has been really easy to put together, and I am no carpenter.

The store was really busy at 11, but was a lot quieter at 3:30. That may be more a holiday/weekend thing, and I'm not sure about how things are in the evenings.

Try before you buy! Sit on the furniture, lay on the mattresses, etc.

Don't bother looking for sales people to help you. I saw 2 on the floor the entire time. Not that you really need help, everything is pretty well laid out and self explanatory. The furniture warehouse section is self serve too, like the rest of the store. We had a good time wrestling our PS cabinet down off a second shelf.

All in all, I loved Ikea. We can't wait to go back. The products are fun and affordable.