[Tuesday] Greetings from the Foyer Plants

Thanks so much for everyone’s input and kind words yesterday. I decided not to quit the blog, but it’ll be undergoing some changes. Not sure what those are gonna be, yet, but I’m confident in my ability to figure it out. Especially with your support, ya’ll are awesome!

If you have anything in particular you’d like to see, lemme know. (Thanks, Charlie, for your suggestions!)

Rather than fretting over the blog yesterday afternoon, I decided to spend a little time reconnecting with the plants in the foyer. It helped.

They say hi, and Happy New Year! (They would, that is, if they could speak English.)

Do you remember the Desert Fairy Cactus Garden I made back in August of 2011? You can read about it here.

Here’s what it looked like when I first made it:

(Desert Fairies are like regular fairies, except they accept cacti for who they are, thorns and all.)

I made the garden to appease the seven-year-old girl in me.

Back then, I really wanted a Barbie, but a brand new one was unthinkable – we were a family on a budget, I got hand-me-downs. Instead of a doll, Dad decided we were going to make a cactus garden together.

I was excited – as the fourth of five kids, I relished any time I got alone with Dad. I had a crafts book that showed how to make a cactus garden, using a beautiful ceramic pot and colored stones and glass.

Right away, Dad started taking short cuts. The beautiful ceramic pot was replaced with a yellow tub. The colored stones became gravel from the driveway.

My little girl heart turned off after that. Take away the sparkly and I am not interested anymore.

I know we finished the garden, and I’m sure I enjoyed the time with Dad. But I never connected with the garden in the way I’m sure (as an adult looking back) he hoped I would. I remember feeling disappointed when I would look at the garden, so I avoided looking at it.

Planting this modern cactus garden was my way of saying, “Sorry, kiddo,” to my younger self. I figured anything with rhinestones would be curative.

And I think it was!

Now it’s time for all of us to move on.

Here’s what the garden looked like yesterday:

It served its purpose, and I really enjoyed it all this time.

Except watering it. Watering was messy. And it was heavy. And some of the plants died.

So that the remaining ones may grow, I dismantled the garden and started anew.

Moving on does feel pretty good.