Kaseys Korner

How to thrill your cat

in one easy step ~ no subscriptions to "cat TV" required.  Here's how ~ you're on the edge of your seat, aren't you!??  Sow some cat grass seed.  No matter what other expression you think you might see, let me reassure you, this is the face of one ecstatic cat:

Oh yeah.  He's just discovered a brand, spankin' new container of freshly sprouted cat grass.  Planted with love.  By his human Mom.  :-)  Life is good.

Chow time. 

"Mom" is happy to do this for him.  It keeps him from snacking on her other houseplants (with exception of occasional deviate behavior ~ remember when he chewed the orchid buds???)  And grass growing in a glass container is pretty: 

Don't you think??  (Check out the water droplets clinging to some of the blades)  It also keeps his digestive track healthy so "Mom" doesn't wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of vomiting...  You all know the sound.  Ugh.

 

Let's not forget how therapeutic it is.  Sowing seed off and on all winter keeps a gardeners mind healthy, wealthy and sane.  Cheers to that.

Everyone's happy here...at least until the grass is gone.

a little bit about moi

A few weeks ago Racquel of the lovely Perennial Garden Lover blog tagged me with a meme to share seven little known facts about myself.  I've been such a bad blogger lately that I'm just now getting around to it ~ sorry Racquel!  Aside from being a lame poster (of late), I've also been very hesitant to share much personal info (aside from the garden) so participating will be a big step out for me.  But *deep breathe* here goes.
1.    I am a girly girl to the max.  Love the make-up, nail polish, jewelry, etc. but never fear ~ I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty ~ I'll just cover the dirt under my nails with polish afterwards.  Just kidding!  or maybe not...

2.    I'm a freak for Persian cats.  You would think I'd have a few having said that, right?  The odd thing is I don't.  I used to have two ~ a Blue Point Himalayan and a Silver Tabby Persian.  Both were gorgeous, sweet girls that have both passed away.  boo hoo.  Luckily I'm not "catless." ~ as you've seen pictured many times ~ I am now the proud "mom" to one Persian-mix "boy" compliments of the pound.

 

3.    I am a self taught sewer.  In fact, I even considered starting my own business sewing for people a few years back but decided I am really not that good at it.  Well, good enough for me, but maybe not for paying customers.  I had no interest in sewing until I got married and went to order a custom valance for my living room and suffered sticker shock.  That was the moment I decided Singer and I needed to become best friends.  The wonderful thing about sewing is you can make-over an entire room (on a whim) with just a little fabric and imagination.  This summer I did just that to my kitchen sewing the valances shown in the photo below:

I also made the seat cushion and all the accompanying pillows for the window seat in my daughters room:

4.  I practically live in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and have never set foot (or tires) into them.  *gasp*  Every year I say I'm going to pack up the car and venture up but I never do.  In all reality, I think I'm perfectly content to just look at them.  Now if there were an ocean in the same proximity, it would be a completely different story.  

5.  I have single-handedly painted the whole (aside from three rooms) interior of my house this summer.  Now you know why I haven't been blogging!  In case you're interested, the color (that I see even while sleeping) is "warm sand."

6. I have a secret, longtime dream of writing a novel or childrens book.  It's one of the many reasons I started my blog ~ to get me into the habit of writing on a daily basis.  (and here you thought I just wanted to swap garden photos/stories with you!!)

7.  I must be one of only a handful of people in America (or the world?) that is not infatuated with cell phones.  Mine is rarely on and I can count on one hand the people who even know its number.  If you're one of them, I highly doubt you feel lucky, probably more like frustrated since I'm horrible at picking it up.

Okay, that's it in a nutshell.  If you've stuck with me till the end, kudos to you ~ it's a quiet, simple life I lead.  Now I'm going to disregard the rules and not pass the meme along because I never know who wants to participate.  Please feel free to pick it up and play along if you're so inclined ~ it's always fun to learn a little something about an Internet buddy.

nest round-up

I've been egging the season on the last few days, doing a few odds and ends in preparation for the days ahead.  I decided to go ahead and hang my spring wreath on the front door. 

 

Just seeing it there, feels better somehow??  I tied the little basket on with a raffia bow the other year and a finch family took an immediate liking to it.  I've gotten a nest (or two) each year (in the basket) ever since.  Although it's a little inconvenient, it's also fascinating to watch the whole process of nest building, egg laying, incubating, hatching, feeding then fledging right before our eyes.  So I don't discourage them. 

 

Sometimes having the nest so visible is hard tho, especially when casualties occur.  The eggs in the nest pictured above were abandoned and I never figured out why.  There are always a few snakes that try to climb the side of my front door to get to the nests too ~ amazing to watch the contortions & shapes they can morph their bodies into if you can get beyond the predation.  Anyway, I think the birds are making me think spring ~ I've noticed them pairing up already on warm days and checking around for nesting sites.  Since they're in that frame of mind, I thought I'd better do my part to help them out.  I probably should have cleaned the old nests (like the robins nest below) off the ledges last fall, but somehow I never got around to it.

Is anyone else doing these kinds of chores?  or do you do all your nest box/ledge clean out in fall? 

spring cleaning

I know the calendar says it the first part of February but yesterday I got in the mood to spring clean decorate.  So forget the date, I'm moving forward into the next season.  Inspired by this photo in a recent Pottery Barn catalog:

 

I decided to create a few little "gardening" vignettes of my own.  Starting with the buffet:

 

Okay, so not a good photo, but included in the arrangement is one pot of amaryllis bulbs, one vintage watering can, some old glass bottles, my cats oat grass and one mini vignette inside a cloche ~ here's a better look at that:

 

Isn't that bird in the nest the sweetest?  I think I'm "into" birds.  I mean I have been outside for a while but I've never brought them inside before.  Now I see them everywhere (and eggs too) and I wonder what took me so long.  Combining them with the greenery really makes me think of spring and "fresh" and alive.  I'm so glad I did this, it's making me happy today.  Here's another little scene I compiled on my coffee table:

Surprise, surprise, another bird!  With my new "Christmas" gardening books, another cloche & a birdcage.  Love it too.  Isn't it funny how just small changes can really perk up a room?  I'm so glad that catalog came in the mail.  It sure inspired me and got rid of the winter blues. 

extreme or fair??

Did any of you happen to see this article?? 

http://realestate.aol.com/article/_a/birmingham-woman-to-be-arrested-for/20081106110909990001?ncid=AOLCOMMre00dynlsec0003&icid=200100397x1212550285x1200809722

Apparently the homeowner is being fined (downgraded from arrested) for taking her environmentally friendly, drought tolerant yard too far.  Is there such a thing?  The city of Birmingham is willing to compromise with her if she trims everything back to within 4".  Now, I know even in my yard, that would be a horrible compromise.  I also understand not everybody is into gardening, native plants, etc., so if there is a line, where do you draw it??

And just because I can't post without a photo, here's a pink mum from the garden for your viewing enjoyment:

 

Happy Friday everyone!

Gardeners early Christmas

The day before Halloween, my dear friend MaryBeth, surprised me by showing up with an early Christmas present ~ that's what I call being on the ball.  She knows how much I like to garden and how I dread the winter months so it was no surprise when I unwrapped the box, it contained the perfect gift:

 

Two "Red Lion" amaryllis bulbs, the soil and container to house it all:

Pretty sweet, huh?  I love amaryllis bulbs and keep them from year to year very successfully.  Some of my bulbs have been with me for 10+ years.  Prior to receiving MaryBeth's gift, I had decided to add to my collection and purchased the two pictured on the tags below:

 

I've never grown either of these before so I'm looking forward to watching them bloom.  Since the container that came with the gift was fairly large, I decided to plant all four bulbs together:

 

Here they all are tucked snugly into their new home.  The elegant black pot that came with the gift did not have any drainage.  Since I don't have much luck with pots like that (I guess I'm a little heavy handed with watering), the solution for me was to plant the bulbs in another container (with drainage) that would fit unobtrusively inside the black pot.  or maybe not so unobtrusively...  That's where the moss came into play.  Thank you MaryBeth for the much appreciated, thoughtful early gift that we will most assuredly enjoy for the months & years to come. 

repurposing garden urns

Just because the garden season is over, don't think you have to put all your beautiful garden pots into storage until next spring.  I use particular favorites all year long (after a thorough cleaning, of course) and if you haven't considered it, I urge you to think about it now.   What showcases summer annuals:

 

can also be a gorgeous container for a fall centerpiece:

 

and it doesn't stop there!  Intrigued??  Last year, I used this same urn as a base for one of my holiday trees:

 

(the photo is a little dark, but I think you can make out the shape of the urn).  It turned out to be a great alternative to the traditional tree stand, skirt, etc.  Never be afraid to think outside the box.  Stack pumpkins on them or in them, pot up a little tree (fake or real) and string lights on it for a holiday decoration, etc., etc.  The sky is the limit.  If you do this already or try it for the first time, send me a link, I'd love to see your ideas.

Halloween parade marches on

Isn't today All Hallow's Eve??  or did I make that up?  Could be completely made up since we're giddy with excitement over the holiday tomorrow.  In keeping with my post from yesterday, I have more Halloween decor pictures for you.  You must think we are absolutely, over the top, crazy by now??  The answer would be yes to that (I suppose) but it's fun.  :-)

 

How about making some black & white "twizel" sticks for your apothecary jars??  These are so fun.  They look good enough to eat, don't they??  I wish I had columns on the outside of my house to wrap black & orange around (with lights of course, everything is more spectacular with lights).  Because we like lights so much, we've draped them on the backyard arbor:

 

It's so fun to go outdoors at night and walk back & forth underneath them (now you know we're certifiable, don't you?!!).  A little midnight gardening, anyone??  by the light of some glowy, orange Jack O'Lanterns??!!  The racoons messed up my careful arrangement of the pumpkin lights one night when they climbed the arbor on the right side (after the peanuts I had left on top for the blue jays).  I should have expected that.  Peanuts are not left outside at night anymore.  and finally our newest Halloween item:

 

a six and a half foot, prelit, black tree!!!  Yes, BLACK!!!  How cool is that?  I saw black trees all over last Christmas and immediately fell head over heels in love, but they were expensive and I didn't want to shell out the cash.  Thanks to a very dear person, who found me one on clearance after the holidays, we now own one.  I'm over the moon ecstatic about it.  Since we've never had a big tree for Halloween before, my ornaments are limited but we're going with a hot pink & orange theme (with a sprinkling of silver stars thrown in).  I will buy more when they go on sale and dude them up with glitter and rub on's:

 

Expect greatness from this tree in the years to come, I'm telling you.  The fabulous thing about putting up a black tree for Halloween is when the 31st has come and gone, the first tree of the Christmas holidays is already up (we'll undress it and redo the theme).  Now that will be some serious fun.  I think we've already had a pre-Halloween fly by.  The first clues were two items left behind:

 

I'm sure the owner of said items will be back to collect them.  What else can I say??

Halloween on parade

It's all Halloween, all the time for the next 72 hours at our house!  Oh my ghosts and goblins, can you believe it??  We are holiday "freaks" and Halloween kicks off a six month decorating season (thru Easter) which I am absolutely convinced, helps us survive the winter.  I know many people who hate detest Halloween but we fully enjoy the fun aspects of it ~ candy, costumes, decorations, etc.  The devil worship, sinister side of Halloween (which many people are opposed to) doesn't phase us, we are unabashedly 100% commercialized.  What I'm leading up to, in a not so very eloquent way, is if you are not a fan of October 31st, you may want to avoid my blog for the next two days (three including today) as I'm going to devote the next few posts to it.  Now that we've got that out of the way, I thought we'd share a few of our Halloween decorations with you starting with a little 18" black tree that adorns the buffet:

 

Every year we add a couple more items to it ~ some homemade, some store bought.  My favorite is the owl topper which I added a witch hat to (after snapping this photo):

 

How cute is that??  and doesn't he look realistic??  Next the mantel which won't return to "normal" now until long after the New Year:

 

The bare tree branches (on the right) are stuffed into a green bead garland (that's crammed into a glass vase) and then the metal bats and the large feathered crow were hung from them.  Maybe you can see it better here??:

 

To the left of the branch assemblage, are five, black, dancing, glittered, witches back-lit by candles.  The candles are really effective at night, their flickering light creating the illusion that the witches are actually dancing/moving:

   

Cool, huh?  Finally to the left of the dancers is the "matriarch" witch, ever observant of the celebration in process:

 

and that's where we'll call it quits for today.  We'll pick it back up tomorrow.  A little hint of what's to come (in case you're wondering), think sparkle & shine. 

digital garden memories

Lately I've been feeling a lot like the bees I see pictured on other blogs.  While they're busily collecting all the pollen & nectar they can before the end of the season, I feel almost frenetic collecting images with my camera.  Snap, click, snap.  I don't want to regret not capturing a view or a plant after the predicted frost (this weekend) wipes out the 2008 gardening season.  This morning I thought I would share some of the images I've collected this past week.  If you were to drive by my house the picture below is what you would see looking toward my front patio area:

 

It's hard to tell there is even a patio behind all the lush growth and that's exactly how I like it.  (My daughter and I have sat outside many an evening and no one even knows we are there).  Now, if you were to get out of your car and walk toward my front door, this is the view that would greet you:

 

In the foreground, you see many of the containers I've featured individually forming a "screen" of sorts with our kiwi lime chairs behind them.  I have so many mixed emotions just looking at this photo.  I'm happy because we've enjoyed this season and the container combinations so much but sad that its about to end.  Do you see why I've been "snap happy?"  The next and last view is from inside my house.  It's what I see every day when I open my front door:

 

I bet you know why I leave it open all day??  Every time I walk by, I look out and smile.  I have a narrow strip of grass between my front flower bed and the street.  So narrow, it's not even visible in this photo (also maybe because my yard slopes down in the front).  I realized looking at these photos that as much as I'm a "pink" fanatic, 2008 could be the year of "orange" in my garden.  The overviews sure indicate that.  Hopefully all will not be lost with the expected initial round of frost.  If it is, I will have to content myself with how to make it even better next year.  Have a great weekend everybody!