Thursday, December 30, 2010

Favorite Garden Moments

Since my plants are my other love in this whole world, I thought they deserved a post just for them. Ever since I was pregnant with little caterpillar, I kind of ignored my orchids and garden. Knowing I won't have nearly enough time to even water them all correctly and on the right schedule, I had to make up my mind. First I didn't grow any vegetable this year, just to save all my precious time to play with little caterpillar. Then I gave half of my potted plants away, because I didn't and wouldn't kill them. Of course, those are mostly easier house plants. I cannot part with any of my orchids or jasmines. Even with this very limited time and care, my plants gave me quite a show. Now I am putting some of my favorite garden moments all together, so you can enjoy them with me!

In January, my Phalaenopsis Schilleriana exploded with color, while my Jasmine Indian Belle filled the whole house with heavenly aroma.

In Febuary, two of my dendrobiums joined the show, Den. Singapore Girl and Den. bigibbum. The plant shelf was filled with purple and pink, very strong colors.

By April, my garden woke up, forthysia, tulips, grape hyacinth, crocus, daffodils, and azalea. Amazingly vibrant colors. And inside of the house, things are getting more exciting as well. My Clivia's stuck spike was able to shoot out after a brink of diluted beer. And my variegated jasmine exploded with clusters and clusters of white little flowers. The dining room smelled amazing.

I got really excited in May, seeing my Peony "Gardenia" setting buds, growing bigger and bigger, and finally opened up. The flowers were so pure and graceful, absolutely worth 3 years of waiting. The iris AK gave me last year not only survived their first winter in my garden, but also gave me two amazingly beautiful flowers. These are definitely keepers. My favorite, columbines, didn't disappoint me either. The lily of the valley I planted the year before also survived. Even though the flower clusters are not very impressive, the smell was unbelievably strong. My strawberries gave me a blanket of white flowers, followed by the most sweet fruits. My chive also started blooming this month, lovely purple ball of flowers.

By June, my peony flowers reached peak, and faded quickly. But the show they put on was unforgettable. This is the first time I ever noticed the lovely details on my Rhododendron flowers. My Asiatic Lilie bloomed right after peony faded, filled the bed with watercolor painting like flowers, also replaced the fragrant.

OK, this post is getting too long. Will continue tomorrow.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Year-End Roundup of 2010

What happened during 2010, besides watching my baby girl growing up into a energetic toddler? Let's see.

January:

I found my best thrift finds of the year, well, I should say best ever.And gave this thrifted little chair a quick make over.

February:

I found a new hobby, making fun toys for my baby girl. And made some very cute flower pins for my niece.

March:

Made more felt goodies, some unique hair accessories and more of those flower pins. Had a blast thrifting. Polished some of my thrift finds silver with a easy home remedy.

April:

Power washed our deck, getting it ready for refinishing. And we enjoyed flying the kites Stubborn bought from China.

May:

Finished painting the deck, the curb found metal shelf and cart. Lots of hard work involved.

June:

Made a gorgeous table bumper to protect my little caterpillar.Made a super cute animal alphabet art with some of my paper scraps. And did some more thrifting, and found some gorgeous silver candlesticks.

July:

Finally finished the unbreakable wall arts for the nursery. Found a great solution for all those shampoo and conditioner bottles.

August:

Did some scrap sewing, and made some very pretty and useful small things. Found Stubborn a rocking footstool, and repair and re-upholster it.Finally found the mirror for the entry table, that we both like.

September:

Tried my first cloth refashion, with a XXXL Talbot top. It was surprisingly easy. Thrifted a great kids table set for little caterpillar.And threw a fabulous birthday party for my favorite baby girl! Actually had to do some of the decoration twice due to a very humid storm.

October:

Didn't have time to do any crafts. We spent every weekend taking little Caterpillar to farms, for apple picking and petting the animals. And little caterpillar practiced walking in a mini maze.

November:

Did another refashion, this time, I made a long sleeve t-shirt and a pair of pants for little Caterpillar's Halloween outfit, using one of my old shirt. Little caterpillar looked so cute!

December:

I did some serious design and came up with this 2-D felt Christmas tree, totally toddler safe. Little caterpillar loved all the ornaments and flowers on the tree. Then I built our first ever gingerbread house. Little caterpillar couldn't resist it, already ate the 'front yard'. And I made this patchwork scarf for Stubborn last minute.

Overall, 2010 was a very busy, happy year! Physically exhausting, because I have to squeeze all my projects into one to two hours at night after little caterpillar went to bed. And since I am the "photographer" of the house, I always have my camera hanging on my neck everywhere we go. So many pictures, so little time. I had to use all my commute time to process them. So, no more nap on the train or shuttle. But all these are absolutely worth it! I feel like I recorded almost every event that happened this whole year, doesn't matter how small it is. Now 2011 is just around the corner, I can wait to do more crafting, and finally get some of the projects off my to-do list. Oh, my hands are itchy now just thinking about them.

Hope you all had a wonderful 2010! And wish you all have a very productive and creative 2011!