I have no knitting worth showing you today, so I'm going to attempt to distract you with the fruits of my trip to Ikea & our fresh cut Christmas tree.
So, we dumped out the back door planted this tree about 7 or 8 years ago. It was a sickly looking seedling that came free with our Christmas tree. It turns out that the thing lived & loved it's spot just a few feet from our back door. Well, little white spruce grew up & up & should have been cut down last year... now he's just a bit to big to fit in the house. I guess we have some more trimming to do. (don't worry I've planted several trees in the last few years in parts of the yard that are large enough to support them).
One thing many of you probably don't know about me is that I grew up on a Christmas Tree farm. Well... we grew Christmas trees... we moved before any of them got even close to a respectable size. Still, I remember summers of our assembly line like planting. Dad digging the ditch, mom walking behind popping in the seedlings, my brother & I kicking in the dirt and stomping it down. I also remember walking behind the tractor picking up rocks, but with slightly less fondness. So, the point of the story is that, despite growing up on a Christmas tree farm this is our first home grown tree! Now mom & I just need to hash out which set of ornaments to use... her Hallmark or my glass.
We took a day off today to drive down to Ikea. I had a special shopping list for the store & some exciting things are brewing in our store room. Also, the pattern section is being reorganized! Our big surprise today was the small business displays scattered about the store. We spotted a check out counter that is so perfect for the store~
Were hoping that some version of this counter will be gracing our store (maybe in the spring?) I love the red lacquer finish & that little glass display section in the front!
I stocked up on candles... lots of candles.
They had all these lavender pink & purple tea lights. Plus, I had been just placing tea lights right on my table so I invested in some pretty tea light & votive holders.
When I lived in my apartment I did pretty good keeping house plants (mostly Hoya plants). I had a big east facing window. I don't have great lighting here, but I decided to give it another go around. Meet my little succulent plant in his pretty blue glass pot (I'd love to know more specific information if anyone can identify him! My best guess is that it's a member of the crassula genus).
I spent so long choosing a plant. At first I was leaning toward an Aloe (also a succulent I've found out, as is Jade which is another plant I'd like to try growing). This little guy was hiding in the back of the bottom shelf. When I saw the 2 stalks ready to bloom there was no more contest, he won. Maybe he'll be easier to identify once the blooms open up?
Wish us luck~
Comments (4)
I love that counter! That *would* be perfect!!
I was going to guess Jade, but obviously that's wrong!
Posted by bezzie | November 29, 2006 9:03 AM
Posted on November 29, 2006 09:03
Don't you just love IKEA? We have one right up the street from us and I just love to wander around looking at things.
It's very cool that Michigan finally has one.
Posted by Ruth | November 29, 2006 5:48 PM
Posted on November 29, 2006 17:48
This looks like a plant that is often called a Christmas catus as it blooms around the holiday. The flowers are fushia in color but they had been bred to produce other colors. My mother has one that is over 50 years old and is hugh. To get it to bloom next year you need to put in the dark and not water for a period in the fall. Check with the people in the green houses at MSU. The leaves on yours are a little different than my mother's but it maybe because of the size. Enjoy.
Posted by Judy Schimmel | November 30, 2006 7:48 AM
Posted on November 30, 2006 07:48
Yes, good luck with the jade. I lived in Lansing for three years and managed to rot the one I brought with me and another one I bought to replace it. And I only watered them every week or two, whenever I remembered. They like a much dryer climate than Michigan. The Christmas cactus (zyga something) bloomed the first year, then the cats started chewing it and it's a mere stick of its former self. :(
Posted by sue | December 2, 2006 8:37 PM
Posted on December 2, 2006 20:37