Showing posts with label bird cage gardens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bird cage gardens. Show all posts

Thursday, March 26, 2009

EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT

I've been getting a lot of emails asking me to give up dates on different posts of mine. Sometimes I can be so bad about posting follow ups and for that I'm sorry.

First, I wanted to thank you all for caring enough about what I post to even want the follow ups. It's nice to know that there are people out there who really do enjoy my blog and think about what I write about.

Prayers do get answered! My friend Renee, the pregnant girl that fell down the flight of stairs at Disneyland, is doing fine. Her baby is also fine. She ended up having to stay in the hospital for a few days so they could watch her and make sure there were no problems with her baby.

They were unable to take x rays due to her being pregnant so they gave her an MRI. It didn't show that she had a broken hip. But they still were not sure. Since they don't really do much for a broken hip, unless it's bad enough to need surgery, they sent her home with a walker and told her to take things easy and rest.

She is now feeling all better and her baby boy is doing great. So thank you everyone for your prayers.

My brother, Gene, who had a major stroke, is also doing well. It's been almost a year since his stroke. His life has changed drastically since that day.

He still can not use his right arm or hand. Though he does have a little bit of movement in his shoulder area. Just not enough to really make a big difference.

He is able to walk on his own and has even been able to walk up and down the stairs. However, it is very hard for him to do this and he gets super tired. He still has gained full use of his right leg and foot. He had to learn a whole new way of walking. Mostly using his hip to move his leg forward.

So, unless he is doing his PT or practicing at home most of the time he is in a wheelchair.

His speech still is not 100% back to normal. Though you can understand him just fine until he gets tired or feels lazy and then you may have to ask him to repeat what he said.

He still has double vision if he doesn't wear his glasses. But, he did just get new lenses and was told his eyes are continuing to get better each time he goes.

He has his ups and downs as far as his moods go. I'm sure it's super hard to deal with all the changes he has had to go through. He also gets a bit depressed that his recovery has not gone as fast as he had hoped for. However, he does still see small improvements every week so he has been very good about trying hard to stay up beat.

I'm super proud of my brother. He has worked long and hard hours every day trying to get better. His outlook has been very good and he has not given up.

I can't even imagine how hard it would be to be perfectly fine one day and then wake up the next day and you are paralized on your right side, have double vision and can't talk. Talk about scary!

It would be great if you keep him in your prayers! He still has a long way to go.

No, I have not found a vintage travel trailer yet. Still looking. But, I'm really kind of happy I have not found "the one" yet. I'm still waiting for our house up North to sell so I'll have the money to get it.

The house I'm talking about is the one my Uncle left to my sister, Maureen. and me. It's been on the market for a long time and finally we got a buyer. We were in escrow and all was going well. Then it fell through at the last minute.

We were pretty lucky though, because, right after it fell through we got another couple that wanted to buy it. They want to build a preschool on the property. So they went to the county to make sure they could, got the approval and made us a bid which we accepted.

It's now back in escrow and if all goes well we should close mid April. So please, keep your fingers crossed that it finally goes through.

On the bird cage garden I did... I'm so excited so many of you are going to plant one of your own. I hope you post about it so I can see how it turned out. Or at least email me a picture.

I did not add any special drainage to the cage as there was an area the water could drain out of. If your cage does not have that, then you would either want to drill some holes or put some rocks down before you add your moss.

Thank you for all your compliments on my cakes. I don't really decorate that many any more. I started out doing them for fun. Then people started to contact me to buy them. Selling them was an honor but it quickly turned into a "job" and became very stressful, which in turn, made them not fun to do any more.

So, I raised the prices up really high thinking no one would want to pay that amount for my cakes. Well, they did. Talk about stressful! I thought I would have a heart attack. I was worried about making sure the cakes came out perfect because people were paying so much money I couldn't give them a bad cake.

Then I quit selling my cakes all together. I would only make them when I wanted to and for my friends and family. Once in awhile I will do a cake for pay but not very often.

I took all the Wilton Classes at Michale's and then I joined a local cake club where I learned about classes offered by some of the top cake decorators. You know the ones you see on The Food Network. I took several classes from the best of the best decorators.

So for those of you who want to learn how to decorate cakes I would advise to do the Wilton classes to see if you even like it. If you do, you can always take more advanced classes other places.

I think that should about do it for the questions and updates. I'll try to be better in the future about my updates.

If you have any other questions, about me or anything I post about, I hope you will continue to email me or leave me a message asking your question and I will be more then happy to answer them for you.
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Friday, March 20, 2009

FINALLY THE BIRD CAGE IS PLANTED

It seems like I've been talking about this bird cage garden forever! I finally got it planted today and I love it.

It looks so cheerful outside in the back garden.

Our weather has finally gotten to where we have spring like days now so, I figured it was safe to plant without risking the poor flowers getting blown to bits or rain pouring down on them.

Once they settle in a bit they will be fine.


I lined the whole bottom of the cage with moss first. Then I put good potting soil in and planted the plants. I topped it all off with another layer to moss to help keep the moisture and to give it a finished look.
I was lucky because this cage has 3 doors and it made reaching to the back and sides very easy.

I have 7 different kinds of plants in there. Some just for greenery and some for the flowers.

I think I'm going to have to keep my eye out for more cages now. I can see putting these all over the garden. Even one at the front door to greet company. Wouldn't these make wonderful gifts too!

Smaller cages could be hung from the tree, put on a patio or even kept inside by a window.
I can even see them planted and changed for each season. Wouldn't they be pretty with Poinsettias for Christmas time or fall flowers and pumpkins for Fall.

I have a cherub to put inside but I wanted to wait until the plants take root and settle in first. Then I'll find the perfect spot to add the little figure.

Signs are also cute put inside or hung on the outside. Oh there are so many things that you can do with these. I hope you will plant your own Bird Cage Garden and share it with us when you do.
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Sunday, March 8, 2009

BIRD CAGE GARDENS

Do you remember when I posted about finding these bird cage gardens? If not you can click on the link and read all about them.

Well, ever since I first saw them, I fell in love with them and knew I had to have one of my own.

However, they cost way to much for my budget.

Not having much money was not going to stop me! I knew if I kept looking and looking I would find a great cage and then I could just add some moss, dirt, flowers and a cherub that I already had found at a thrift store.

Well, let me tell you, it's not easy to find a nice bird cage in my area. I put an add on Craigslist and Free Cycle. I did get one reply from Free Cycle and I drove a few cities away to pick up the cage.

It was not very nice. It was just a plain cage for a cockatiel bird and not well taken care of. But, I thought I would still plant it and could make it cute. After all, it was free.

The cage has been out there for weeks waiting for me. I just wasn't excited about it. So off to the thrift stores and antique malls I went to find me a different cage.

I was shocked to find out even really small ones at the antique malls ran $45 - $100+.

All of my thrift store shopping found not one bird cage!

That is until....

I found this one! I saw it and almost ran to it, trying to not knock over anyone that got in my way.

I couldn't believe the price was only $5.99! Could that really be the price? After all the thrift store I was at was known to be a bit on the high side.

I just knew that if I carried it all the way up to buy it I was going to be told I must have switched the tag because the price was really $30.

So I left it there. I KNOW! What was I thinking?
That night I couldn't sleep. I just kept thinking about how crazy I was for not getting it.

It had a cute little top. It was white like I wanted. It was a good size. It even had little hearts on the doors.

Plus it had a great iron stand!

I just knew that if I went back it would be gone! Yet, I had to go see.

I almost fainted when I saw it was still there. That's it! It was meant to me mine!

So I grabbed it and went to the front. Guess what! That was the price after all. I was so happy!

So now I have my own bird cage and I'm excited about turning it into a little garden. I just have to decide where in my yard I'm going to put it so I know if I should get shade plants or sun loving ones.

Either way, I know it's going to turn out cute.

Oh, by the way, I will still plant the other cage too. Who knows, it could turn out to be darling too!
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Thursday, January 22, 2009

VINTAGE LADY

Today, my sister, Maureen and I decided to go to old town Tustin to walk around and see what fun things we could find.

We came across this great shop called The Vintage Lady. Not only are there wonderful items for sale but the store itself is fun. Why? Well, because back in the 1800's the building used to be the 1st doctors office in that area.

As you walk through the shop you notice there are several small rooms. They used to be the examining room. The floors are very uneven and have not been leveled. They are just as they were back then.

All of this gives to the charm of the shop.

Inside you will find a wide variety of lovely items. The shop owner told us she was in the process of changing the shop from a winter theme to more of a spring atmosphere.


There were lots of whites, plants, flowers and colorful items. Every nook and cranny was laid out with charming items.

I fell in love with the beautiful window pane hanging on the wall.

This is a shop you could get lost in day dreams in. The products are romantic, feminine and have a touch of a vintage past to them.

Look at that beautiful rusty crown next to the little bird nest. I love the contrast of the old to new.

There are also wonderful garden items. I couldn't decide which items I loved the most.

The little sign here says "This is fabulous on the patio full of candles". I have no doubt that is 100% true.

There is also a wonderful garden area outside. Not the normal plants you find at most places. These also lend a touch of romance and mystery.

There were lovely baskets hanging from the trees. The planters had statutes of cherubs, fairies, birds and other fun treasures.

While everything was not planted that long ago, they appear they have been growing for years and years.

I just adored how the owner used old bird cages to plant little mini gardens in.


The wire cages looked beautiful with the moss and flowers peaking out.

Some of the cages were big and had their own stands, some were smaller and hanging and some were sitting on table tops.

Each one was more lovely then the next.

I noticed some of the bird cages held little fairy gardens. They made you want to shrink down like Alice in Wonderland and go exploring.

The magic of these little gardens are they make you believe in fairy tales.

Since I'm on a budget I wasn't able to buy my own bird cage garden.

But, I did put a request on Craigslist and Free Cycle asking if anyone has a bird cage to give away. I'm keeping my fingers crossed because if they do I'll be able to plant my own little magical garden.
I'll show you another darling shop we found tomorrow.
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