So excited this weekend we found a wonderful deal at Menard's! We had to go there in order to fix our bathroom fan that was broken and of course as long as we were there I had to check out the gardening isle and boy oh boy am I glad I did! Each little greenhouse in the above picture was only $4.99! and they are from one of my favorite companies dunecraft! I could hardly wait to get these little ones going so I will post below the pictures as I started them!

Each of the little greenhouses came with the seed packets and this round pod, Just add about 1.2-2 cups of water and within just a few minutes you have beautiful planting soil. With a little stirring and mixing to ensure all pieces are broken up I planted each and everyone of them.

Tomato was planted!

Mini Melons were planted!

                                                     Strawberries were planted!

                                                       
                                             Sugar Baby Watermelon were planted!

All planted and have their spot next to the growing light!

Another great deal at Menard's only $4.99 each for these Himalayan Pink Salt. Great things can be made with these!!

A very dreary day and still dealing with some sickness around here. I decided what better way to get a more calming feel in the house then to diffuse a little peppermint! Ahhh! what a relief! 

Well the peas have been planted in their new home! I was able to find some old chicken wire, cut it to fit in the box and then carefully transplanted the peas in! Wow were they rooted! Those poor roots were screaming for a new home. So hopefully they will enjoy their new place and continue to grow!

I could not leave all that open space in the middle so I planted some carrots! Yep that's right I'm actually going to see if I can get some carrots to grow inside!! I also had some new sprouts coming up in the flower area!

You may have to really zoom in to see these little sprouts but they are there! At first I thought it was just the morning glories but on further inspection I spotted these little guys. So excited to see some more sprouts!

Tomorrow these poor tomatoes will be getting their new home! They are really looking pretty hardy so I think it is about time they get their individual spots so their roots can expand as well! I also had help to day from my son he planted his Carolina Reaper peppers and hopefully they will take off soon. He's a great gardener and the proud owner of his very own banana tree right here in WI! we have several little sprouts from his banana tree that we have replanted so now we can have more! Not only does he enjoy working with plants around the house, he loves the greenhouses and also took a class at his high school where he works in the school greenhouse as well. We just love growing things as a family! Hopefully you will follow the blog and see all the updates of our growing, and even some of our family fun trips!!

Look at these pea pods! Lots to update you on. First as you can see from the above picture the pea pods are coming along great! However, the cucumbers did not take after the fur friend incident so I decided it was time to take action and start something else in that area.

Here is a peek at the new starting kit, I planted four rows of cucumbers, four rows of cantaloupe, and four rows of eggplant. We have never had much luck with melons so I am hoping by starting them inside we will have hearty little plants to put out this summer!

I also started some zinnias in hopes that they will be looking good around Mother's Day! Trying to think ahead a little bit here and stay on top of the growing! Searching for an idea to vine the pea pods with, if you have any you want to share feel free to leave suggestions in the comment section. 

A quick update on the doll, still rooting hair and breaking needles, but I think she's getting close. Going to add a little more weight to her limbs and body; looking for her to weigh about seven pounds or so. The outfit that she is wearing now was one of my daughters so that is neat!

So excited to see the Cilantro has finally sprouted! These poor plants have had a rough start as my fur friends like to jump up on the garden tables and knock them over. But this herb looks like it's going to make it! Hopefully when it get stronger and bigger we will be able to make some salsa!

Time to turn these tomatoes they are reaching for the artificial sun that we provide for them. So happy to see the growth, they are just about ready to go into their own little pots! Our goal is to plant a garden outdoors with just the plants we have started indoors! You can see that the little fur friends did get one of the seedling pods but we keep trying and after these get transplanted we will start a whole new crop!

Quick update on the doll, after breaking two more needles she is half way done with rooting. I would have liked to use a smaller needle but considering I have already broken so many I will just stick with what I have and continue to work on filling in the open spots later.

I picked Melaleuca for the month of February and so I wanted to share a quick little recipe for homemade hand sanitizer. I used half cup of Aloe Vera, one teaspoon of witch-hazel, twenty-five drops of Melaleuca and twenty-five drops of Lemon.

Melaleuca is known to have the following properties, antibacterial, antiseptic, antiviral, antimicrobial, expectorant, fungicide, insecticide, and stimulant. information from Shareoils.com  

Aloe Vera has been on my mind as I had mentioned in an earlier post we had a really large plant that was in need of getting cut back. Today I did the cutting back and transplanting in to other pots to share and then decided I should harvest some of the gel from the plant so nothing went to waste.  This proved to be very interesting. I started by just cutting the leaves, and scooping out the gel, I was a sticky mess and only had two drops in the bottle. I then used a vegetable peeler which worked much better but still proved to be tricky trying to get the gel into the bottle. I think buying aloe may just continue as I don't think I am very good at this harvesting yet. Any suggestions?

On a much happier note the indoor garden is comping along most splendid! Things are really starting to pop up. The little pea pods were very busy over the weekend and almost all of them are as tall as the cover.

I was also able to replant some of the little greens that my son Toby started and took out those that were not growing. That left me some valuable real-estate to put in  more tomatoes, cucumbers, and 2 different types of flowers. Very excited to see if these  take off as well.  I also started a brand new self-watering seed starter kit by Burpee. Nothing planted in that one as of yet due to trying to follow the directions and let the little pods soak in the water first. Hopefully they will be ready to go tomorrow and I will be able to fill them up as well.  

Today our Christmas Cactus received a brand new home. She started looking a little sad so I thought maybe she was trying to say "I need a bigger pot for my roots" and sure enough those poor little roots were wrapped very tightly all the way around, so now she will have room to grow! Its been a fun filled planting day! 

I have been thinking a lot about chickens in the garden. I researched some pros for having chickens in the garden and found that they not only give you fresh eggs they also keep your yard free of nasty bugs. There is the droppings to think about but again if they are in the garden their droppings will add much needed nitrogen for a more healthy soil. Chickens that we have had in the past were also great little scrap eaters, meaning when you have some kitchen scraps they will gladly gobble them up for you. Taking care of chickens is not a really difficult job, but it is a good way to teach children responsibility.  They also provide great outdoor entertainment, our chickens had free run of the entire back yard. They would often follow us where ever we were especially if we were weeding I think they thought we were looking for a treat, when we would find a worm or grub they were very excited to come over and get it for us. Another favorite was to watch them take a dust bath, they would find a sandy spot in the yard then roll and fluff their feathers to get the sand all over. They would also come when called and enjoyed a little snack of bread or corn, Well I think I have talked myself right back into getting chickens, I truly do miss the little flock that  we had! We will need to find a better way of protecting our little flock, there seems to be a raccoon, weasel, or mink we are not sure what it was because we never saw the nasty varmint  we were just grief stricken to see what had happened to our beloved little flock.

A quick update on the doll, I have a long way to go but thought I would add a picture of what it's looking like right now, Today I was able to finish the nails, the dry matte finish and start to add some of the weighing material. I also added the eyes because I know looking at a doll with no eyes seems a little bit freaky to some. Now I will be able to start the rooting process for adding a little hair.

 Adding a few drops of Melaleuca to your diffuser will help to freshen and purify the air, adding a few drops to a water spray bottle will give you a cleaner to spray on surfaces to help protect from environmental threats

 I really enjoy flowers and because it's freezing outside I decided to garden with crepe paper and these carnations were the result of that! I'm thinking of making more and stinging them to create my own carnation vine. Looking so forward to spring when I can be working with flowers for real!

 In keeping up with how it feels outside I tried my hand at rooting wool to make this little penguin. He's not completely finished still needs some flappers and feet, and a nose job, due to his being so crooked.

Still working on the doll, I was able to finish the mottling, veining, and some of the creases today. I must say the mottling really does give the skin a natural look.

• Rub Frankincense on your hands after a long day of gardening for a warming and soothing effect.
• Helps reduce the appearance of skin imperfections.
• Can be applied to the bottoms of feet to promote feelings of relaxation and to balance mood.
• Take one to two drops in a veggie capsule to support healthy cellular function.              information provided by: https://doterra.com/US/en/p/frankincense-oil                          picture provided by Google images

Having a great time with the gardening in the house! Just love getting the chance to plant! Could not spend a whole lot of time with the gardening today because I am also in the process of re-borning! (A reborn doll is a manufactured skin doll that has been transformed by a reborn artist to resemble a human infant with as much realism as possible.) Wikipedia

 I just started the process today and it takes a while, but I will do my best to keep you updated!

I washed all my brushes to make sure that they are all clean and ready to go, washed the kit, and began the mottling 

To mark with spots or blotches of different shades or colors.

1. A spot or blotch of color.

2. A variegated pattern, as on marble.

(Free Online Dictionary)





It's been a few years since I have made a doll so hopefully I will be able to do this kit justice! Shout out to Bountiful Babies for making such great kits! I tried taking pictures that show the kit but also keeping in mind that not everyone is ok with the look of an unfinished doll. So please come back and check the progress!

The Winter berry also called Gaultheria Procumbens is a creeping wintergreen ideal for ground cover. It's leaves are dense and glossy looking, turning a reddish hue towards fall.In June this luscious little plant will produce white to pink flowers then later turning to the red berries as seen in ours which is in our indoor garden area. These berries are edible. speaking of the indoor garden, today I was able get the tomatoes planted in addition to cucumbers, peas, thyme, and lavender. I also added this adorable little planter as seen in the picture below, Giving a shout out to Family Dollar for providing such a lovely little addition for our indoor garden! Please follow this blog so you can see just what happening with our indoor garden and what we will be featuring next!

To help your body focus energy and to help with concentration while also helping your body by easing restlessness, irritability  and much more use the king of oils Frankincense use with a diffuser give your entire family the same benefits!Shout out to doTerra for their great oils!

Pretty excited about today! I was able to put together this little shelf and also do a little shabby chic decorating, With the help of my sister I realized I have always loved this kind of decor. So you can just imagine how my pinterest board is starting to overflow with all things shabby chic! Would like to give a shout out to Michael's they have a wonderful selection shabby chic decor! I was able to find the most perfect little tin for our parsley plant as soon as we were home my daughter made sure to get the chalk out and write the name of the plant on the chalk board label. I am thinking this will be the first of many adorable little tins. The indoor greenhouse area is coming along very well we have added a few more seeds and hope that soon we will be ale to start seeing the growth! So make sure you follow and come back often to see whats "popping" up around here!

After looking on google for another image of Frankincense, I came across this beautiful tree. If you ever wondered where Frankincense comes from well here is your answer. This tree is called Boswellia sacra and Boswellia carteri.  In order to get frankincense the sap from the tree needs to be extracted and harden which takes a few days. 

The Frankincense that I use is from doTerra, I have tried other brands but must say I find myself dedicated to the doTerra brand. So a shout out to doTerra for making one of the best essential oils available to use. Frankincense is uplifting, healing, and can also aid the body in reducing stretch marks, scarring, and acne, Using a diffuser and a few drops of Frankincense might possibly make your entire home feel relaxed and less stressed!

Our newest arrival for our indoor greenhouse! We have just added a new Parsley plant to the already growing area in the room which we call the center,  It is called that because for 10 years we did own and operate a daycare center from there, now instead we have a large room we call the center and Toby our middle son is turning into his greenhouse. The benefits of growing plants and your own food are astronomical! There is great satisfaction when you realize what you are eating is something you have grown.  We are so excited for spring to come so we can start working in the yard, but for now the center will have to do. We ensure that our plants have enough sun even on these dreary Wisconsin days by providing them with a "Happy Light". Yes that's right we use artificial sunlight and it works rather well for our indoor greenhouse. You may be surprised to see how much we have growing and what exactly we have growing, so please check back in as we share our green delights with you!! If you have any ideas or questions please feel free to comment and I will do my very best to answer them.

My plan is to devote one Month for each oil, however being that Frankincense is like the king of oils I may spend just a bit more time on this particular oil. Some of the key uses for Frankincense is to help your body take care of itself by aiding in respiratory issues, emotional needs, and also promotes wound healing as well as reducing inflammation. You can find out even more by going to doTerra's website. I use doTerra, I feel it is the best oil out there and Frankincense is definitely a family favorite!  In weeks to come I will share how  my family has benefited from the use of oils and also some ideas for share but for now I just want to share the joy I find in using oils! There's no doubt in my mind that essential oils are definitely a gift from God!

Make sure to check back as I plan to add even more information about Frankincense and also some  DIY projects that are not only great for personal use but make wonderful gifts too!

image of Frankincense from the following link:

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRqpElMCFWUCrx7Ulvh8P6E_HIZxT8PiwlMZaFl1ll0hkQmkydz