Monday, June 5, 2017

Birthday Fun!

You know you're an adult when you slam through three loads of laundry, vacuum the house, and then have a confab with your pest control guy all in the first few hours of your birthday.  But after all that was done, and I had dropped Paco off at the vet for a day of boarding so the pest people could do their thing in my house and yard, I had the rest of the day to play.  Luckily for me, Diane is on half day Fridays for work this month, so I kidnapped her for some shopping adventures.  The first place we went was Martha's Bloomers, which is a nursery, cafe, and gift shop located south of town.  I was hoping to find some interesting containers for my new little succulents - and I did, yay!  But first, we had lunch in the cafe.  It's a charming restaurant where they start you off with tiny cups of orange spice tea and mini pastries:
Blueberry and apple cinnamon mini scones - food is always so fun when it's in miniature form!
Ham and broccoli quiche with a spicy chicken soup, and savory crackers.  Everything was really tasty!

After we ate our lunch, we wandered outside - they have a nice plant nursery and we looked at all of the plants, with Diane pointing at some and commenting "I've killed that, and that, and that" - too funny.  Then we discovered their pot area and I was in heaven!  It was nice to see so many different pots from the basics that Lowe's and Home Depot carry.  I had my eye on a few when we saw an old open shed-like building, so we had to investigate.  First thing Diane saw was a plow point - I had no idea what it was, but she recognized it right away, and we took a picture so she could send it to her farmer dad:
A plow point, of course!

Nevermind that it was 90 degrees and the middle of the afternoon - when we got into the shed, we had to take some pictures.  Pretty sure if you look close enough you will see the sweat pouring down my face, but hey, summer in Texas isn't for sissies:
Why hello, welcome to my shed...
Fun with the selfie timer on the iPhone!
Different side of the shed - the doorway where we took the other pictures is on the right side of this picture.
A horse saddle and an old bicycle, just in case you were into different modes of transporation.

The shed was full of clay pots - nothing exciting, or so we thought.  But just inside the doorway where we were taking pictures were several old dusty, dirty wooden crates filled with tiny clay pots.  They were weathered and so charming and I knew they would be perfect for my tiny succulents!  I grabbed one and walked back inside the gift shop area to see if they were for sale.  I tried to be nonchalant, hiding my glee at how perfect these were, and hoping they'd say the pots were 25 cents each, but no...they were $1.50, which wasn't bad for something that I knew I'd love.  I went back to the shed, where Diane and I proceeded to go through four boxes, choosing the best pots.  Only once did we both jump back when we thought we heard something moving inside (she was thinking rat while I was thinking snake) but it was just dirt falling from one crate onto some plastic...but when you're on edge, all noises are suspect!

I ended up with 12 tiny pots:
Some have ridges, some are taller and skinnier than others - none are exactly the same size.

I also bought three brightly-colored glazed square pots, similar to some that I'd liked when I was in California last summer.  I got the clay pots cleaned up over the weekend - I wanted to get most of the dirt off from the outside without compromising the aged look, so I tried to be very gentle with my washing.  I planted all of my new succulents yesterday and I am thrilled.  Everything looks so good!

Here's the clay pots:
It was hard to get decent pictures of them yesterday because it'd been raining a lot and the sun wasn't cooperating.
Of course Paco had to come over when I was taking pictures.  It's dog-law, I think.

I love how the succulents look in their own little pots, and while we were out shopping I saw an old galvanized tin cake stand being used for display in a store - wouldn't that be a cute thing to group these little pots on?  Now I have another item to search out!

Here's the other pots that I bought:
I love these little square pots; I've regretted not buying them last summer when I started my succulent adventure in California, so I finally remedied that error.  This grouping is in my office.

All in all, it was a great birthday - a spur of the moment shopping adventure combined with some everyday adulting - can't go wrong with that!

23 comments:

  1. Looks like some great finds! Glad you had a good birthday! It rained all day here for mine.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm so glad you found the perfect pots for your little succulents! They look great!

    I always say I want to live somewhere warm, but there's that whole insect thing...it's bad enough here but I know down south, the bugs are epic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wait, you don't have bugs?? Huh. I never considered that! Of course, where I really want to live (Maui) is known for lizards and all kinds of bugs, but WORTH IT. ;)

      Delete
  3. What a fun day. I love that all the little clay pots are all different. And I really love the square pots. They just seem made for succulents.

    I'm so glad you had a great birthday, especially after that start!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, those square pots are perfect, and they come in a ton of colors. I keep walking by all my newly-potted plants just to see how nice everything is looking - my succulents are your baby chicks, LOL!

      Delete
    2. I need some pots for my baby chicks. Maybe they would hold still for a minute :)

      Delete
    3. A baby chick in a pot would make for an adorable picture!

      Delete
  4. Happy Happy birthday. I am living vicariously through your weather. it has been cool and rainy...almost every day UGH!

    You really have a green thumb.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We ended up getting the same amount of rain on Sunday as we did for the entire month of June last year - it was a wild day! I'm hoping we dry up soon...you too.

      Delete
  5. What a fabulous birthday!!!

    I love the container succulent garden!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Happy belated birthday, Shelley! Looks like you got to spend it in style, good food, good friend and shopping!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. That sounds like a birthday outing I would like as well LOL! Those clay pots are cute. You are becoming quite the gardener!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, I can stick things in small pots - not sure how much gardening that involves, but I'll accept the compliment. :)

      Delete
  8. What a lovely birthday you had! Sounds like a lot of fun times!! :) Happy belated birthday!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Happy Belated Birthday! I'm one of those people who reads your blog religiously but rarely comments. Thanks for your faithful entries!
    I have a question about the mini cactus. Are you happy with the cactus that you ordered, and if so, would you mind sharing where you got them from? Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Diane, thanks for commenting! :)

      I've only had the succulents for a week, but so far, so good - they are all doing well, and that's with replanting them. I'd order from the shop again - plus shipping was super reasonable, only $4.95 and they arrived in two days! Here's the link to the etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/RGSucculents?ref=l2-shopheader-name

      Delete
  10. Thank you so much! I'm passing this on to my friend who has made about 75 mini ceramic pots and will be planting tiny succulents in them. These will be part of a gift bag for guests at her son's upcoming wedding!

    ReplyDelete
  11. A lovely afternoon to celebrate your birthday. Love it how your succulents look in their tiny pots.

    ReplyDelete

Comments are now moderated to prevent spammers from leaving, well, spam - but rest assured that as soon as I read a real comment, I will publish it. So please, comment away, even though the blog is officially closed. Thanks!