Picture of the Day: Flying Over the French Alps

French Alps, France
3.26.2012 

Picture of the Day: Nuns in St. Peter's Square

Vatican City
3.2012

Spice Organization

I am overwhelmed with the unorganized disaster zone that is my home so I am trying to get some sense of accomplishment by attacking some easy items on my list. First up, I present my spice shelf in my kitchen.

At first glance it isn't so bad but since my kitchen upper cabinets are glass fronted I wanted things to look a little nicer and more uniform. The biggest issue was that I have a lot of bulk spices in bags that I just ended up storing in a heap in a mesh colander which was not so convenient.

As a solution I ordered a bunch of spice bottles from Specialty Bottle. I got 6 oz French square glass bottles for most of my spices with a few 16 oz French square bottles for my larger quantity bulk spices. For my baking extracts I bought some 4 oz Boston round glass bottles.

The glass bottles came with black lids which didn't really go with the red lidded glass jars that I use for storing my dry goods. As luck would have it the red lids from my McCormick spices fit perfectly on the 6 oz spice bottles. For the 4 oz and 16 oz bottles I used some red spray paint to transform the lids. I haven't decided if I want to add labels to the front of the jars but in the meantime I cut down some cheap labels and put them on the bottom of the jars with each spice's name and expiration date.

Everything is much neater plus I can find what I am looking for quickly now. There's nothing better than a project that is both pretty and functional.

Have you been tackling any organization projects? How is it going? Are you naturally neat or naturally messy like me?

Picture of the Day: Market in Antigua Guatemala

Antingua Guatemala, Guatemala
7.03.2010 

June Garden Update: Successes & Failures

As June is drawing to a close I thought I would share what is currently happening in my vegetable and herb garden. I love my garden but I do not have a green thumb so I have some failures as well as successes. Being away a lot I haven't tended to it like I should and the searing temperatures that we have had in Southeast Michigan in May and June this year have not helped things at all.

I'll share my bad news with you first. My sweet basil, purple ruffles basil and the star sister dahlias that I planted in my front bed were incredibly tasty to some little critters and got pretty munched up. They are all now practically dead and I am really disappointed. I'm planning on pulling up the plants and replacing them with something else but don't know what yet.

Despite those disappointments I have lots of great things happening in my garden as well. My lettuce has flourished and there are some little beans are growing on my bush bean plants. Some of the beans are even almost ready to pick. I really can't wait to eat some.

My zucchini plant has bloomed and little tomatoes have popped up on my tomato plants.

In the herb section of my garden my lavender plant is full of flowers and this year I will finally be able to harvest and dry some. I replanted my mint in sunken containers earlier this spring which has seemed to keep it from overtaking my whole garden.

The rosemary, oregano, chives and sage have been in my garden a few years now and have become so prolific that they are overcrowded now. I plan to transplant them with some added space between the plants, but I am not sure if it is better to do it this fall or next spring. I also need to trim out some of the rosemary branches that have died out.

Overall I am happy with how things are going and I have had a chance to use a lot of my herbs in my cooking so far this year.

What is growing in your garden? Has anything not worked out like you planned? What has flourished?

Picture of the Day: Pink Bougainvillea Blooms

Codrington, Barbuda
7.2009 

New Dining Room Chairs

I am so excited that I got new dining room chairs yesterday. Well, they aren't brand, spanking new but they are new to me and I couldn't be more thrilled.

For the past several years I have been using Terje Folding Chairs from Ikea as my dining room chairs. I have also used the chairs outside and between exposure to the elements and the number of years they have been in service the chairs have been looking quite rough. I have wanted to get some nicer chairs that were more durable and comfortable, but everything that I liked seemed to be a minimum of $200 per chair. I wanted a set of eight and I couldn't justify the expense.

Yesterday morning as I was perusing Craigslist before work I found a posting for a set of eight Lowe Chocolate Leather Side Chairs from Crate and Barrel for $500. These chairs sell for $199 each so after tax the set would have been nearly $1700 for me if I bought them new. I quickly emailed the seller and anxiously awaited a response. I finally heard back that someone was going to stop by to look at them the next day but she would sell to the first offer.

As soon as I got out of work at seven yesterday evening I headed over to check out the chairs. They were in mint condition and the seller mentioned that they barely use their dining room. I was sold on them, but could only fit two of the chairs in my little hatchback. Luckily, Frank has an SUV so he helped me pick up the remaining six a bit later in the evening.

I love the chairs and they instantly made my dining area look nicer. They are also really comfortable and I just couldn't beat the price at over 70% off. The only issue is that the chairs don't fit well at the heads of my table with the way the table legs are angled. It is a junky laminate top table that I bought for $10 several years ago so this just gives me a good excuse to look around for a replacement.

So what do you think of the new chairs? Have you gotten any killer deals lately that you can't believe?

Picture of the Day: Windmill at Zaanse Schans

Zaanse Schans Open-Air Museum
Zaandijk, The Netherlands 
8.2004 

Self Watering Planter Using a Soda Bottle

I am terrible at keeping my potted plants alive. A few long days at work where I forget about them or a trip out of town and they are dead as a doornail. I've seen some links about using a soda bottle to make a self watering planter like this one and this one I thought I would make my own variation.

I started by cutting the top third of the bottle off with a pair of scissors. It was a bit tough to get a straight edge but I cleaned it up after the pieces were separated. Next, I needed to have something act as a wick for the water. I cut four small slits in around the neck of the bottle and then took two unused paint rags and poked one end of each rag through the holes. I wet the rag and filled up the bottom of the bottle to act as the water reservoir. It is important that the water is high enough that the ends of the rag will sit in it but not as high as the slits. I then placed the top of the bottle inside of the bottom and then planted a petunia plant inside.

The roots of plants don't do well if exposed to light so I wrapped some duct tape around the bottom of the bottle to block the light. I wanted something that looked a little cuter than the soda bottle and a $2.50 metal floral container that I bought at Target was the perfect fit to place my new self watering planter inside. 

I decided to put the plant outside on my front porch. With the cute plant I decided to also spruce up the little table I have out front. I bought an inexpensive Lindved table from Ikea several years ago and the white finish was showing its age from being exposed to the elements. With a few thin coats of teal outdoor spray paint it looks brand new and makes a great place for my petunia plant. So far it has been a week and the plant is still alive and kicking. I'll have to see how it goes...

Have you had any luck using self watering for your plants? What are your tricks for keeping your plants alive?

Picture of the Day: Ship Transiting Through the Pedro Miguel Locks

Pedro Miguel Locks
Canal Zone, Panama
6.2012