This and That This week #7

It's been a very quiet week.

Last week I mentioned I got a new pot for the Christmas Cactus.

I stopped in at one of my favorite gardening centers and mentioned to the girl what I was doing and she said I should use the "African Violet' soil- that they like a real rich soil…. something I didn't know about them.

To keep the soil from draining out the bottom I cut a little piece of landscape fabric to cover the whole and placed a piece of broken clay pottery over top.  

After I filled the pot part way I used some more clay pieces to create sort of a border. In my early days of growing indoor plants I had read that adding clay pieces like this also helps to prevent it from staying too moist.  With all that perlite in it I doubt that will be an issue for it but since the pot is so deep I figured why not.

When I pulled it out of the pot it was solid with roots.

I tickled the roots loose here and there and on the bottom too before setting in in place.

And here it is!  Before any chance of a frost I will have it back in the house but for now I think it will do best staying outside and allowing the roots to spread and get comfy in it's new surroundings.

I have this very unique piece that Dan's father put together as a surprise for his mother many years ago. I had admired it and his Mom insisted I take it home with me this past June.  It's a concoction of a few scrap metal pieces he had and Dan thinks the water pump came from his grandparents farm long ago.

We're going to give it a new paint job and surprisingly this new pot fits in it like it was made for it.  I am aiming for a creamy white color.  I think it's going to look great with the flower pot on it!

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I did a post on Monday which was my 6 year blog anniversary that you can visit 

"here"

Hard to believe it's been six years.  Blogging has been a great outlet for me!

Thank you so much to all of you who have already commented.  

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I stopped in at Pier 1 because of a 20% discount offered on silk flowers.   I went in for a different color but spotted this pretty red one.  I asked if there were more and they checked the storage area but non were found.  They checked the computer and this was actually old stock marked for clearance and guess how much I paid!!  .88 cents!!

LOL… I said well for .88 cents I'll take it off of your hands!

Shh… don't get mad but I've bought some things for fall already only because when seasonal stuff comes out and you find it's on sale you have to jump if you want good selection.  

These will stay tucked away until I'm ready to decorate for fall. 

I saw this metal topiary frame filled with faux pumpkins at Hobby Lobby.  This would be cute if you have a nice front porch area to decorate.  I dot have a front porch but I get inspired by this for another idea.

I plan to use my metal topiaries I bought for my planters by the garage last spring to load up with some pumpkins.  I have some of that pine straw mulch that makes a great bed to dress out the top of the dirt and it keeps the real pumpkins from laying on the dirt where it could rot out quicker. 

Last year I found pumpkins with the flatter tops to stack on which worked out well but I think this will be a fun way to do it this year!

I've put a new post together after shuffling the living room furniture around (again).  

I'll share that soon! 

 That's all for This and That This Week!