Crumbly terrarium!

Indoor play

I've been having fun getting inspiration from other bloggers. However, Rain is stopping blogging, as have several other people I follow. I volunteer once a week, and haven't any close friends here. It's a small, but supportive community online. Val, at Mulewings, has brought me inspiration with her little figure tableaux pieces. I am going to keep my little set and set them up outside. 

 I wanted to remove my terrarium for our seasonal decor. (I bought it that at an 'antique' store.) Hooper cat had fun with it, back in his time. He was fascinated with it. I stuffed it with fairy furniture. Cleaning the brass made it shine. The plants changed over time, as I found many did not survive. Hooper was quiet keen on them. 

Sadly I cannot keep it up. The copper is deteriorating, water leaking from the seams. The plants just don't have the right humidity balance. I give up. This is a tribute to it.

The decorations manager is fine tuning his decor.

❄️ In Gravenhurst they've a webcam. We used to drive past Campbells Landing Marina between Gravenhurst and Bala, where we lived for a time. I enjoyed living by the lake, except for the jet skis and snow machines.

We've had some snow. Just a few cm over a few days. It is protecting the ecosystem. I noticed that last year we had about as much rain as snow. There is that.

Outdoor play

The fisher has been an inspector, but I think Barry is safe inside. 

 

 The fisher and I inspected Barry's Lodge. I was careful on the ice. This is as far as I ventured. It's not very deep. By the time I got to where I am standing, I turned around. 

Barry, I presume, is safe inside. Barry must have run out of time to gather winter food. I hope he's sleeping!

 

The terrarium

 I had a project. It was time to revitalize the terrarium. I bought it at an online auction. Ordering in some fairies, I took out the plastic crap, replanted it with these plants, including polka-dot plant, which keeps growing out the top.

Sadly, the baby's breath died, and the palm plant was keenly appreciated by the late Hooper. I had to remove it. Cinnamon liked the palm plant. I had to move that, too.

In March, 2022, the copper was cleaned up. (I'll have to do that soon on a rainy day!)

Back to the present, everything was assembled on the back deck. There aren't too many days like this. This morning it was 5 C. It was cool on the back deck! I hauled out the dead stuff. Took out the mineral stained soil, and washed the little figures. 

I have this little set of 'kiddy' gardening tools. They are perfect for all sorts of jobs, including this one. 

I decided to order in some seeds. The only wee plant I could think of was Alyssum. They were totally out of the pretty pinks (left), but they had both white a dark pink. 

Look how they came, in a little vial. Planting about half of each colour, I shall hope for the best.

The final task was to spray the soil, to give the seeds some moisture. Next, I washed the glass.  

I usually prepare posts ahead of time. That said, Cinnamon is sitting on my lap, so here is an iPhone photo from across the room. You'll note my felting project! 

That was my project for Tuesday! Let us see what Wednesday brings.

The terrarium!

I found a fun activity in 2019: to plant a terrarium. I bought it used from a local second hand store, with fake flowers in it, but I didn't want any part of that. We shopped for some lovely wee plants. Baby's breath, pink polka dot plant, and a couple of others.

It was beautiful, with the teeny plants. Eventually, I cleaned the copper, and it looked much better. The plants were tricky. The baby's breath died, as it was too difficult keeping the moisture balance. The palm plant grew up!

I found some teeny mushrooms and fairies, as well as a little Muskoka chair, bench and table with a tea set. 

Dear Hooper loved to chew on the palm plant, as it began to grow out of the top. I finally took it out after several haircuts just made it thicker and stronger. We miss Hooper lots. R.I.P. Hooper, Nov. 2019. 

Cinnamon loved the palm plant, as well. I had to remove it, and repot it, as it kept growing out of the top of the terrarium. He found it in the new container! It's coming along. 

Not only that, but all of the plants grew and they grew, and they grew. I've just been giving it a haircut from time-to-time. Just chopping it all off across the top, like an old fashioned bowl cut, and hoping for the best.

Cinnamon looking fondly out at his squirrel friends. You can see how nice it is to have greenery between me, the window and the snow!

I took out the bigger plants on Tuesday. I'll try rooting them. I sprinkled a few forget-me-not plant seeds in it. We shall see what happens.

P.S. The pumpkins are coming along!

🐻SNUGGLE Bears

JB has been demonstrating a little more energy, it's a good sign. We had a dreary winter. He prepared another tableau. 

"BEARWARE THE IDES OF MARCH!" 

Groceries & other excitement

 Funny story! 

I did a pick-up grocery order for JB on Wednesday night. With his arm issues, it saves him a lot of work. I reserved the 9:30 – 10:00 timeslot. Thursday morning JB set off for his walk. The phone was low on juice, so he kept it off whilst walking. The thought occurred to me that I didn't get an order confirmation. I went back to the website, and thought about it. There were items in my cart. I knew we had a problem.

I phoned Debbie at the store, as she was filling someone else's order. I asked if the order had gone through and she said no. SIGH. I told her the issue with the phone, and that if JB turned up just tell him I screwed up! JB phoned me before going to the store, which was a good thing. I told him it was off. He's going for a nice cup of coffee! I went walkies.

I went back to the order online, and they were full the rest of Thursday, so I booked 9:30 – 10 for Friday. After I thought about it, I realized I had a haircut booked for 9 a.m., but I cannot change the pickup time now. Good thing I have short hair!

I don't even remember what plants this is. I think pumpkin, but since they nibble on it, and there is no fruit to inspect...I give up!

We still have cherry tomatoes, but it was 5˚ C. this morning, so it won't be long before frost.

Time to work on indoor plants. My terrarium is just wild. The plants are escaping confinement. The one has lovely little purple flowers. I've been trimming them, as they overflow, but their roots are large.

🐻SNUGGLE Bears

They are reading about Sable Island!

Butch in the forest  

The chickadees were taunting Cinnamon, who was up a tree! chickadees & Cinnamon  

 

Critters, well, cats!

Ya know, winter is truly here. The cats are not amused. They will go outdoors, but only for 5 minutes. This is good exercise for all of us! Front door, back door, they keep hoping it'll be warmer there!

Indoor play is good! I have enjoyed my terrarium. It's been overgrown, and I've trimmed it up several times. I've had it nearly a year, bought second hand (at least 2nd hand!) [9th March, 2019; My new, old terrarium].

I took the palm plant out of the terrarium. It was just growing too tall, and you can see where I severely pruned the tallest branches. Cinnamon thought it was interesting. We shall monitor that.

It was Hooper who used to go after this plant. I'd forgotten until I looked back. Cinn has not been interested.

Cinnamon is pretty bored. We keep chasing him off of the aquarium. I think I give up, unless he is harassing the fish. 

Next, he took on the philodendron. I thought he might jump up. Males are so different than females, methinks.

Nope, Mommy, I'm not looking at the ivy! This railing looks down onto the basement stairs. He is nimble.

 I had a nice walk in the forest. So did the fisher and a couple of hares. I moved the trailcams, as there were a lot of tracks in the new fallen snow. When I went back on Saturday, Jan. 23rd, NOTHING on the trailcams! 

Oregano, our visiting cat

I was trying to see a pattern to the outdoor cat's visits, and I cannot. I made a STRANGE CAT PAGE where I could keep better track. There is no rhyme nor reason for his visits, other than being in the dark. 

Oregano, again. Strange cat Jan. 22 I think this might be our cat in the window, though.

Jan. 23rd, at night, 7:43 and 8:07. We know our cats were in. Oregano strange cat

Saturday morning, I unplugged the Christmas lights, and plugged in the heated cat house. My plan is to find out if he stays here, or not. Either he has a home, or he hunkers down in there. It's a 25W heater, adequate for the cats. 

People on our nearby lake tell us he's been on the north shore of Otty Lake for awhile. He must be hungry to cross the highway and travel a couple of km to see us, though.