Dipped Flower Pot

Three things happened last weekend:

1.  We drove about an hour out of town to check out a possible wedding venue.  Everything was going well until we headed home and Terry got lost without realizing he was lost.  "Why didn't you tell me we were going the wrong way?!" he asked me.  I thought the Welcome to Pennsylvania sign was a clear indication we were not heading in the right direction, but I was wrong.  Apparently when he said "Right now, we're going towards Pennsylvania" and I affirmed "Yes, we are headed towards Pennsylvania" he took that mean we were supposed to be going towards Pennsylvania.  But we don't live in Pennsylvania so I'm not sure how one would derive returning to our home in Maryland via Pennsylvania.  Unless of course we were returning home from maybe Vermont?   

2.  I attempted to eat more veggies and was successful!  I really do enjoy vegetables, but I'm a fan of summer vegetables.  Fresh tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, zucchini, that type of thing.  So in the winter I struggle.  The night after our trip to Pennsylvania I prepared roasted broccoli and eggplant with a tomato and mozzarella salad.

No, my tomatoes cannot touch my broccoli and vice versa.  But wait, what's that hanging out with the tomatoes and mozzarella?

AVOCADO!  I'm surprised at how much I enjoyed it.  I like avocado; it's my mouth's way of craving summer.  It really worked well with the creaminess of the mozzarella, and the balsamic reduction blended all the flavors nicely.

3.  I re-potted by button fern.  The poor gal was all but packing up and moving out of her old pot all on her own, but before I could do anything I needed to find a bigger pot for her to relocate to.  Flower pots and planters are one thing I'm always on the hunt for at thrift stores.  They're so unbelievably expensive at nurseries and garden centers.  I recently purchased a pot from the Goodwill that still had the price tag on it - $44.99.  I paid $2.96.  And now it's housing my begonia bulbs.  Larger pots can be harder to find so I'm always keeping my eyes peeled for a comparable alternative.  This weekend I didn't find any large pots, but I did find a small trash can...

So when life gives you a trash can - make a flower pot!

And a dipped flower pot at that! To be fair, this trash can was cuter than the average trash can.  I toyed with the idea of spray painting it when the weather turns nicer, but ultimately impatience won out. 

"Dipping" this guy proved tricky.  And I have to give credit where credit is due, Terry took over this project and I was grateful for it.  Really what was required was lots and lots of tape to maintain a straight even dip line all the way around.  If you look closely you can see the pencil where we traced the outline for the tape.  Once painted, all that was left to do was drill some holes in the bottom, and cross my fingers for a successful pot transition.  

Fresh potting soil and a shot of Miracle-Gro - my sweet little bigger button fern looks super cute in her new home!  It's been three days now and she seems to be holding her own, so hopefully she'll take to her new digs just as well as she took to her previous residence.