Bird Cage Planter

A few weeks ago I went to the Northwest Flower and Garden Show where I saw so many things that were so gorgeous, but so expensive.  Quite a bit of it could easily be made at home at a fraction of the cost, one of those items was a bird cage planter.  I didn't get pictures of the ones at the garden show because they tend to frown on you doing that, some even post signs, which I totally respect.

 This one was at my local nursery, it was about 12" high with some basket hanging plants sitting inside.  It's cute, but I knew I could do one even more cute!!

I stopped off at Michaels and what did I find?  Bird cages 50% off making the larger ones around $15 and the smaller ones were around $11.  Of course I had to pick a couple (ok more than a couple) up. 

Next stop was my local nursery where I picked up a lemon cypress tree and some random flowers that I thought would look nice in the bird cage.

When I got home I foraged some moss to use as a liner, can't beat free, right?  I also grabbed a plastic plant tray, you could totally use terra cotta if you wanted to get all fancy.  Lastly, some potting soil.

To see how it would look I put the plants in the bird cage before starting to make sure I liked the combination.  I did, so I could proceed.

After I put the plastic tray on the bottom of the bird cage I used the moss to build up the sides and hold in the dirt.  It's just like when you use it when planting hanging planters.  I did see a bird cage where they used one of the coconut liners instead of moss, but I prefer this look.

Lastly, I took the plants out of their containers and placed them where I wanted in the bird cage.  I put the lemon cypress in the center then used the smaller plants around it.  I used two plants that were meant for hanging baskets because they trail, and some pansies, because I love them. 

Overall, I'm really happy with the result.  It didn't cost anywhere near what it would have if I purchased it at the garden show or even a nursery, it was in the area of $30 or so dollars.  If I had gone to a garden center instead of a nursery to get the plants it would have been even cheaper, but I didn't want to drive the 20 minutes since I was on limited time.

I will make at least one more of these, then with the other bird cages..... I'm not sure yet.  Stay tuned!

Garden Update

Thank goodness winter is over and spring is finally here.  Even so, the rainy season has begun and if it's like last year will continue for about three months.  There will be a few days here and there where it stops and sometimes even be quite nice out, but for the most part it's pure rain.  That my friends is why I do a lot of indoor gardening.  I get a nice jump on the growing season and it helps satiate my gardening need.

This past weekend I picked up this cool growing box thing http://amzn.to/1Ry9FFi that is truly a neat little item.  I put my peppers and eggplants inside and even in the few short days since then they have grown quite a bit.

I've been moving a lot of the seedlings to the greenhouse so the inside growing table is looking a little bare.  But don't worry, it will be filling up again with the new seeds I'm hoping to get planted this morning.

The beans and peas are looking good.  A second batch was planted a few days ago so more will be coming.  I want to make teepees for them out of sticks I find on our property.  I love the look of the ones I've seen on Pinterest.

The parsley and cilantro are growing, though they've slowed down a bit.  My guess is the lights are just a tad to high, so I'll need to rearrange how I have all the seedlings to accommodate the shorter ones.

Look at my tomatoes!!  They are loving it in the greenhouse.  I seriously need to find another folding table to move them around.  There are some tomato seedlings inside that are struggling due to a little neglect, but I'm hoping that with some extra tlc they will bounce right back.

Not much happening in the yard.  I did sprinkle some flower seeds in random places as well as get more mint.  I had a big patch of it growing near in the front, but when we put in the chicken run they had to dig it up since it was in the direct path.  I saved some of it, but forgot about it until it was too late.... sigh....  I'm expecting things to really start growing around here in the next couple weeks and of course I'll share some of the pictures.

Off to get my hands dirty.....

Shepherd's Pie

My husband has a horrible aversion to casseroles or anything close to a casserole. He won’t eat them, he scoffs at them and pretty much has nothing positive to say about them. Bottom line, we don’t have them. If for some reason I get a craving for something of a casserole nature I make it during the day.
My twins do not have above mentioned aversion, yet.

The other day I saw a post from one of the pages I follow, now don’t judge… it’s Honey Boo Boo’s page. Mama June makes something called a multimeal, which is pretty much her taking a few nights of leftovers into one meal.  The hubs saw the episode (if he confessed, he’s seen many episodes) where she showed this culinary delight. He once again got that pained “I am repulsed” look he gets, which inspired me to make a multimeal. Seeing the post on Facebook just brought it to the front and center of my “to do” list and my multimeal was born.

I knew I couldn’t do it exactly as Mama June did it. I have to admit, her “recipe” was a tad gross. The big globs of tub butter that she is so fond of (Bing “butter sketti”) just isn’t on my list. So after thinking of how to still make a Mama June multimeal, I decided to make a shepherd’s pie of sorts. I really like shepherds pie, I have never made one at home, but knew it was a fairly basic concept. Meat, vegetables, potatoes, got it!

I searched for recipes on Bing and man oh man there are some interesting ones out there. I perused a few from my favorite sites and decided to wing it with their guidance. What turned out was quite honestly super yummalicious. And it wasn’t just me that thought this, my casserole hating husband had three servings!!



This is what the pan looked like after dinner andI had some for breakfast.
After seeing all the recipes and variations of shepherd’s pie, I think it’s safe to say that you can customize it a bit to make it suit your family’s taste.  Below is the recipe I used.  I’m quite happy with it and would make it again.
Shepherd’s Pie:

For the potato topping:
2 lbs. potatoes
6 tbsp. butter
1/4 c. cream
2 egg yolks
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

For the filling:
1 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 large carrots, peeled and chopped
1/4 c. parsley, chopped
2 lbs. ground lamb
1 tbsp. salt
2 tsp. pepper
1 tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped fine
2 tsp. thyme
2 tbsp. tomato paste
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp. flour
1 1/4 c. beef broth
3/4 c. corn
3/4 c. peas

Boil the potatoes in salted water for about 15 minutes or until you can insert a knife in them.  Drain, leaving 1/4 c. of the boiling water in the pot.  Mash the potatoes.  Add the salt, pepper, butter, cream and mix in.  In a separate bowl, break up the yolks a bit, then add to the potatoes.  The potatoes should not be as moist as traditional mashed potatoes.  They will absorb some of the liquid from the filling so if they are too moist they will just be a big goopy mess on top.

While the potatoes are cooking you can make the filling.  In a sauté pan add the oil and let heat up for a few seconds.  Add the onions and carrots, cook until the onions start to get translucent.  Add the parsley, cook for another minute or so.  Add the ground lamb and cook for about 5 minutes until it is cooked.  Add the salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme and tomato paste, mixing it in well.  Cook for about two minutes so the tomato paste changes color a bit (it should deepen in color).  Add the Worcestershire sauce, mix in.  Sprinkle the flour over the top of the ingredients, then mix well.  If you just pour it in and not sprinkle it can goop up on you.  Once the flour has been mixed in, add the beef broth.  Once the liquid in the pan starts to bubble, maybe two minutes, add the corn and peas.  Cook another three or so minutes and the filling is done.
Preheat oven to 400 F
Put the filling in a baking pan and cover with the potatoes.  Since the potatoes are a little stiff I found piping it with a pastry bag then spreading it was the easiest way for me.  Cook for 25-30 minutes, then let it rest for about 10 minutes before serving.
Enjoy!!

Spring is Coming!

We've almost been in Awesome Opossum one year, and what I remember was the three months of non-stop rain.  So far it's not any different....sigh....  However, I do have my greenhouse that I'm making use.  I purchased a foldable table to put more grow lights in there so the larger seedlings can be moved.

This table will be filled with seedlings soon

Last fall I really wanted to get in there and do a deep clean, but time got away from me and I didn't.  What I did manage to do was get the Meyer lemon trees out that were covered in mold.  No matter what I tried I just couldn't get rid of it and it was starting to spread.  They are now on the bottom porch, I'm still trying to decide what in the heck to do with them.  I really want to try and get them healthy and I'm hoping that one of the people at the local nursery will be able to help.

The fig trees are looking great, they will be ready to head outside in a few weeks.  They will get transferred into nicer pots for a few years before they go in the ground just to make sure they can survive the winter.  This method worked great for the fig tree I had to leave behind at my last house.

My kaffir lime trees are doing great and they are making the greenhouse smell amazing.  When I went back to see if they had any more of them (like I really need any more) she said they sold out that week and she wouldn't be able to get more.  Next year she is going to order more.

Then the lemongrass..... thanks to the greenhouse this is the first time I've been able to winter it over.  I will definitely be starting more of this the next time I get some from the Asian market.

The lemon verbena did great as well.  I have about 4 pots of it that will just keep getting bigger. 

Last year was our first growing season in Awesome Opossum, we had only been here a few months, brought home a bunch of chickens and had to build all the soil up from pretty much nothing.  This year we are more settled, the chickens are locked up and I've got quite the compost pile to add to soil I'm bringing in.  It's going to be a good growing year, the greenhouse is going to make it even better. 

This greenhouse was a huge selling point for this house.  I saw it and instantly knew I had to grow things inside, I'm thankful that my wish came true....

They Just Won't Stop Growing....

Today I am registering the twinadoes for kindergarten.  Kindergarten!!  How did this happen?  Until last night I pretty much just put it in the back of my mind, waiting until I really had to to actually think about it.  But last night as I tried to fill my brain with HGtv and Vanderpump Rules I kept thinking about what today would bring.

So here I am, less than two hours from heading to their elementary school to sign over my babies for 8 hours a day, five days a week.  Mrs. Metalhead will be there for support and to translate my sobbing answers back into English.  Am I being dramatic, hell yes I am, but these are my babies, my only babies.  Once I get past that first day of kindergarten, and we all know I will be a hot bawling mess, I will be like all the other moms singing all the way to drop them off to school so I get those glorious eight hours of kid free time.

Sip'n Dip is coming out for their first day, then we are heading to our favorite Din Tai Fung where I will stuff myself full of dumplings and cocktail.  Mr. Housewife said he will take the day off to be our chauffeur so we don't accidentally get a little too drunk and forget to pick up my little darlings. 

Before I had kids, when I lived in my first house, the moms would send their kids off to school then go celebrate with lunch.  Many times I would tag along and be so oblivious to it all, to each passing year, to each step closer the kids made to leaving the nest.  Those kids are all out of school now, some are married with children, others are still finding themselves, but they are all adults.  I know this will happen to my children as well, but I don't even want to go there....yet.

My mom heart is both sad and incredibly proud.  But I think that's the way it is suppose to be.  Hearts are changed dramatically once they become a mom heart, they have to.  Time to look up the address of the school I'm about to trust with my lovies.....