This arabesque motif is one I’ve eyed for years. There’s a cool tile manufacturer in Los Angeles called Arto Brick and they make some really great arabesque designs, but they’re better used on floors. I originally sourced a marble backsplash that I loved, but it was way too spendy, so I gave up that dream and chose something else…until I found this Elida Ceramica Arabesque Marble tile at Lowe’s, of all places! I think Arabesque is coming into vogue right now as I’m seeing a ton of it in just the past 6 months. It was virtually impossible to find 18 months ago!

I didn’t give up on Arto Brick, though, as they have a semi-annual garage sale that never disappoints. I met up with my friends Randi and Sam from Freckled Californian last fall at the garage sale and they were like the best junking friends you’ve always wantedt! They helped me dig through pallets upon pallets of tile to find these perfect hand-painted French gems.

I spent quite some time laying out the tiles in an imperfect pattern that showcased country animals found in Wyoming. Hello horsies, deer, bear, and chickens! These tiles serve as the stove backsplash and add some whimsy!

I don’t love stainless appliances, but in 2022 when the world’s supply chains were snarled, those were pretty much the only options offered. Appliance packages are taking upward of 20 months! Lucky for me, all of our stuff arrived within 9 with the exception of our fridge…still waiting! I found the last two Bosch quiet dishwashers in their entire inventory…in neighboring Idaho. Road trip! BUT, I did get a la Cornue fé stove in navy blue….I mean a French kitchen deserves a French stove, right?! The 60″ stove had two very small ovens and there’s now way it would fit a large turkey. Apparently the Europeans don’t cook 20 lb turkeys like we do here!

↓↓↓ So without further ado, this is what we built…I’ll update photos once I get a chance to dial everything in! ↓↓↓

They were stunning. The land. The mountains. I could smell the fresh air through the photos.

Before anyone blinked, I called my husband to inform him that we’d bought a piece of land in Wyoming.

He thought I was nuts. I am.

Through the years, I’d collected so many images of Provence style country aesthetics. I don’t know what my fascination is with that region, but there’s something special about the stone, reclaimed wood, green fields and lavender, and of course, simple and natural wood furniture.

We had no plan to build, but we love hosting and bringing people together. So, I started dreaming…and pinning….

Here were my key inspirations.

My mind was racing. I somehow stumbled into Billy Esperson, a highly-regarded builder who’s lived in the area for 20+ years. He understands how to build in zones 3 and 4, and specifically in this area which has seismic and considerable weather considerations. He was honest, knowledgeable, and let me blather on and on about my dream home. I could tell that he was collaborative and there were only solutions, not problems. My kinda partner!

Simultaneously, I’d started reading Fine Home Building magazine. I don’t know why as I only understood about 10% of what was written. But I just liked seeing what other experts were building and their tips and tricks for how to build just the right cold roof. What’s a cold roof??

The front page of the magazine is always an ad for Chief Architect. Hmmm…I spent a big part of my career designing software. Tiny screens, user interfaces, how people should interact with software. How fun would this be…to build a house!? Worth a try!

So I got a one month subscription and stayed up all hours of the day and night designing…dragging walls here, placing walls there, figuring out how much space a bedroom needed… The most exciting part is clicking the render button which creates an entire 3D model of the house!

I learned a lot about roof types, pitch, roof drainage, support walls, footings… At one point when I clicked render, I had an unexplained 80′ wall! I still have no idea what happened, so I ignored it and kept at it. I studied the sunrise and sunset with this nifty tool. I didn’t want to have a south-facing home due to the glaring light that streams in. It’s a shame to see all of these gorgeous California beach homes that have their blinds drawn in the afternoons.

By mid-month, I had a pretty solid layout with an attached hot tub room, man cave, and kitchen near the garage/mud room entrance.

I consulted two friends; one who’s built beautiful properties around the world and another who remodeled an abandoned Provence farmhouse into an insanely gorgeous home. Their questions and comments were invaluable.

Where’s the view? People don’t like to walk in and see a kitchen. Look at this valley….showcase the view! Do you like the smell of chlorine? Check out this bathroom I just saw in Mexico!

Can we get a load of this bathroom? I mean, it’s breathtaking, right?! I spent the next two weeks revamping the plans based on my friends’ feedback, then canceled my Chief Architect subscription and moved onto other things.

This is the first in a long series of posts about mas d’étoile. Thanks for following along on this journey!

Bita is an enigma. Photographic memory. Terrible driver. Very much like my mom in that regard.

Anyway, she always wanted to be a dermatologist. While she was born in Chicago, she was raised abroad. She and her family moved back to the US when she was a freshman in high school. Imagine that! She had to learn a new language, definitely had no idea what American teen life was like during the big-hair-scrunchie-wearing, Madonna era, and was thrust into high school.

And guess what? She didn’t give up. She worked hard. And she thrived.

So much so, that just 4 years later, she found herself at the University of Pennsylvania studying pre-med. As she navigated her way through Penn, we somehow stumbled upon each other and became fast friends.

She’d crack us all up with her incredible medical knowledge…always using the Latin for every body part and medical term. Never did she do this to be funny. She just learned the information and it’s stored in her brain that way.

Our paths have weaved in and out, but always in similar cities. A few years after college, I went back to Penn for my MBA, where Bita was in medical school. We became roommates again during that era…until she met her husband. And it was like a Grey’s Anatomy scene. The elevator doors opened, she walked in, and there he was. Hello McDreamy!

After that, we both ended up in NYC, where I worked on building websites for NBC and she was doing her residency at Columbia. No big deal…just chief resident at an Ivy League teaching medical school. She worked on Park Ave. after that as a board certified dermatologist and developed a reputation for being the kind, thorough doctor who really knew her medical dermatology. In a fortuitous turn of events, she was recruited to practice on the west coast…in the town where my new husband and I had moved.

So here we are…both in Orange County. Sunny southern California, where my skin has taken its abuse during my entire childhood and early twenties playing beach volleyball and traipsing around on roller blades. Casual.

Through the years, Dr. Bagheri has taken so many calls from our immediate and extended family – pre skin cancer, burns, weird and serious injuries, rashes and conditions only seen in preschools. You know, life stuff.

Never in a million years would I have known that having a trusted dermatologist in my inner circle would be so important…especially with kids. The amount of time our kids spend outside makes it extra important to start skin checks at a very young age. Between swim team, baseball, soccer, the beach, golf, and just playing outside at school, they get a lot of sun exposure.

And while she’s going to kill me for posting this (shhhh, don’t tell her!), I’m thrilled that Dr. Bita Bagheri has finally hung her own dermatology shingle (wow, that was BAD!) in Newport Beach. If you’re seeking a top dermatologist in Orange County with deep knowledge and experience in both medical and cosmetic dermatology, I encourage you to call Dr. Bagheri.

Dr. Bita Bagheri (949) 236-7900 520 Superior Ave. Suite 335 Newport Beach, CA 92663

It’s not easy focusing a 50mm lens on these little critters, so apologies that some aren’t quite in focus. I was practicing my manual focus skills…need more practice!

4 years ago, I designed this table and asked my carpenter friend to build it. And this lonely post has sat in drafts ever since.

It’s such an old post that WordPress has since changed its complete layout and I have no idea how this post will look once published. And it was so long ago that I still had a little workshop to build and paint furniture. 

Anyway….this piece started out as brand spankin’ new wood. I bought the fun mid-century legs on etsy.  

I started by staining the wood in a dark stain. Then I dry-brushed with various colors of white, off white, grays, and even some hints of blues.

Dry-brushing is when you make the paint very watery…like the consistency of milk. You dip your paint brush into the paint, then wipe the paint brush on the side of the paint can to get most of the paint off. In fact, I often take a rag to remove most of the moisture from the brush. The effect is that you’re barely brushing any color onto the wood.  

To achieve a layered look, continue to brush various colors onto the wood, then wipe it off with a rag to get the bottom colors poke through.

I took the photo below just a few weeks ago as I re-finished the table. This table gets daily use and suffers the abuse of syrup, juice, ketchup, bbq sauce and whatever else the kids can offer up during meals.

After several layers of different colors, I sealed this piece with 3 coats of Modern Masters’ Dead Flat. Then 2 coats of Annie Sloan Clear wax. The mix of these two products has held up and this table doesn’t get water ring stains or other stains. I expect this top coat to last at least 2-3 years, but could easily re-wax if needed.

As you can see, the finish is absolutely matte. No shine, no shimmer. Just looks like the side of a barn. Hope you enjoyed this walk back in time with me. I’m sure I’ll find a few more neglected draft posts to publish soon!

I’ve always loved orchids, but was always intimidated by them.

Last year, a neighbor gave me the most gorgeous Phalaenopsis orchid (the most common variety you see at grocery stores), stuck it in a southwest facing window nook and it bloomed for nearly a year!

I thought “Self, you’re good at this!”

Then….I stumbled upon a YouTube video about replanting orchids.

And I was humbled. Deeply.

And let me be clear…I’m still a complete orchid noob, but I’m documenting my journey so that I don’t make the same mistakes in the future.

Around Halloween (3 months ago), I transplanted all of my orchids. And with the exception of the orchid above, I realized that most of them were in very bad shape.

Root rot. Ice burns on roots – let’s have a sidebar about this. Why in the world would anyone think putting ice on a tropical plant is a good idea!? Last time I checked, it doesn’t regularly rain ice cubes in Hawaii.

If I’m able to share anything with you today, please DON’T water your orchids with ice cubes. It will burn your roots and put your plant into shock.

Anyway…I’ve tried a few different methods to get these orchids back in shape. Low and behold…one has already sent up a flower spike! LOOK AT THIS!!!

And the air roots are abundant.

The last time I had a flower spike like this, my oldest son was 4. He snapped it off and said “Here Mommy, some flowers for you!” I nearly died of joy…but mostly shock. Let’s be honest. I was bummed, but I tried not to let on. He knows better now.

So I’ve been experimenting with different methods of reviving my orchids. In all cases, I removed all of the debris from the store-bought, overly-packed roots. I removed dead roots (dark, soft, mushy). Rinsed everything well in tepid to slightly-warm water.

On some, I re-packed into fresh orchid potting mix into an orchid pot with plenty of holes and stuck them in the greenhouse during a very cold week. The cold is supposed to stimulate flower spikes, so I figured since most of these were mostly dead (name that movie!), a little visit to the cold greenhouse wouldn’t hurt them.

After I brought them in, I watered every 10 days or so, soaking in tepid water with an orchid fertilizer for 5-10 minutes, trying to let all of the roots draw in as much water as possible until they turned a dark green.

See the right root below? There’s a section coming off the top part…that’s where the original root was when I repotted. It wasn’t looking very healthy at that spot…and since repotting, it’s now sent off a new root in a slightly different direction.

And then there’s Clint, as in Eastwood. The one below had 2 leathery leaves that reminded me of Clint’s skin in The Good, Bad and the Ugly. You know that desert scene where his lips are all peeling and cracked? Yeah, that.

This orchid’s two leathery leaves (the lower leaves on each side) reminded me of Clint. And while most people name their orchids girls’ names, I’m sticking with Clint.

This orchid seemed so dehydrated that I decided to go with a full water culture (aka FWC). It’s where you literally have the bottom parts of the roots in water all the time. Some people do a semi-water culture, which allows for 5 days in water, and 2-3 days to dry. The funny thing is that even the orchid gurus on YouTube struggle to figure out why certain varieties prefer full water culture, while others prefer semi. Go figure?!

For Clint, I decided to try full water culture since its roots were in such bad shape. I had this one about 10′ from a southwest-facing window, so not too much light, which is probably why the leaves are a dark green.

As you can see, Clint had 3 fairly healthy roots and 3 fairly-rotted roots. When a root is healthy, it’s firm and green. Once the root gets water, it immediately turns dark green. As you can see below, the roots’ outer coating, called velamen, on the right side are black and yellow. The middle one on the right was mushy.

The good news is that 3 months in, one of the leaves has completely healed and is no longer leathery. The other two leaves are shiny and very happy-looking, though growing slowly.

The bad news is that the uber-leathery leaf turned yellow and fell off and the velamen on the mushy root has peeled away, leaving just the thin, wiry root. I’ve seen some people cut this wiry root off, while others swear they can still take up water, so I’ve decided to leave this non-velamen root intact.

And…the healthy green roots on the left are starting to get black. So, I’m shifting gears a bit and will move to a semi-water culture and let this guy dry out a bit for a few days and move it into a bit more sunlight.

This next one was suffering from what I think was a sunburn. The plant below was in a directly south-facing window and I think the holes are from sun damage. Or maybe it’s some sort of fungus, but again, I’m a noob and am not really sure. Does anyone have ideas?

I replanted it into orchid mix, but it still seemed too dehydrated, so I’ve since moved it to a full water culture and it seems to be perking up a bit.

All of this is an experiment and I’ve got at least 10 orchids in my ICU at the moment. I’m trying all different methods. Some in full water culture, some in semi water culture, some in orchid mix and some in hydroton clay sitting in a tiny bit of water.

Stick with me if you’re interested in following my progress!

I’ve been stalking MHP Gardener on YouTube, and he has this incredible video that shows how he transplants store-bought tomato plants into his dutch bucket hydroponic set up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hENxzWMNNck AMAZING!

So I thought I’d give it a shot with lettuce and peppers.

As you see below, I took the plants out of their pots and rinsed off the soil.

They looked very sad and wilted after I did so, but had faith. Perhaps I should’ve been more gentle.

Using hydroton, which I soak in water before using, I placed the washed off plants into 2″ net pots. The hydroton is used to keep the plant standing upright and the roots secured toward the bottom of the net pot.

I probably could have been a bit more gentle with the plants as I transported them home and washed them…bc look at those sad leaves. Many broken and looking disheveled. Sorry little guys.

Then I placed them into my homemade downspout Kratky hydroponics system. I learned from the best… Mike Van Duzee. I highly recommend checking out his channel!

Here’s his tutorial on how to make the downspouts. Yes, I bought my own heat gun and everything! It’s so easy to build these.

The Kratky system is a ‘set and forget’ system, where you put the water + nutrients into the tray, and just let the plants grow. It’s ideal for lettuce, kale, and herbs. I keep tabs on the trays and keep the water just high enough to reach the plant roots. So far so good!

After day 2, the leaves looked pretty wilted, so I cut off all of the partially-broken leaves. And 7 days since transplanting, they’ve perked up substantially.

The plants below are those I grew from seed and successfully transplanted. Check out the green beans! This was the only seedling that sprouted and just 4 weeks later, already has beans producing. This should be good for about 1/10 of a side dish.

This is what the green bean roots look like in water. Thick and dark green.

I used Root Riot to start my seeds and I don’t know why, but the product just doesn’t work for starting seeds. The plugs get dry and the seeds sit lonely and un-sprouted. I suppose the product is designed more for clones, so I’ll save the rest of my plugs for that.

I’ve also taken some basil cuttings and placed them in their own glass jars. Is it weird that I buy marinara sauce based on the 2″ jar size opening? Perfect, I’ll take it!

And check out this mint! The leaves are growing at the roots.

This is a pumpkin plant that I started from a seed we grabbed from the Halloween pumpkins. It’s not looking too healthy, but it’s cold outside at night and this guy has no protection from the elements. I may move it into the greenhouse soon.

Anyway, check back soon as I update the progress on this method of transplanting potted plants into the hydroponics system. You can also catch my Instagram stories @meeshroom as I hang in the garden from day to day.

Thanks for reading!

Instead of plunking down $60 for it, I took a bromeliad I already had and used some decorative moss and twine to replicate the hanging beauty.

This was an inexpensive experiment that has survived the past 6 months and continues to look pretty in our front entry. I soak it in water every 3-4 weeks (yes, I neglect it and it still survives!) for about 10 minutes and let it drip dry before hanging it back in place. I haven’t yet seen any pups sprout, but when I do, will try the “apple in a bag” method to get this plant to bloom again. The moss has held up and while some of the leaves are browning, overall, the plant seems to be pretty happy.

Have you ever tried a DIY project like this to save some $…or am I the only weirdo out there?

I just love roses. I don’t know their varieties or names, but instead, I’m the gal at the nursery going around sniffing all the roses to see which ones smell best. And that’s how I decide which to buy.

Now that I have a greenhouse, I’m experimenting a lot more. Did you know that these little fruit-looking things on rose plants are called rose hips?

They’re super tricky to detect if you’re not looking for them.

But once you start looking closely…suddenly you start noticing them.

They sort of look like tomatoes or persimmons…and they contain the rose seeds!

I’ve never tried germinating rose seeds before, so bear with me as I try this. I cut a few off my rose plants around the garden. Some are green, some are dried up, some are somewhere in between.

I cut each open carefully and pulled out what looked to be the seeds.

Some were large rose seeds.

And some are so small that I’m not sure they’re in fact seeds.

I mean…are these seeds?! They’re so small!

I’m using a paper towel method in a bag. Mixing 1 cap full of hydrogen peroxide with a 12 oz. bottle of drinking water, I dampened the paper towel on which I’d placed the seeds. The paper towel should just be damp; be sure not to have any excess water in the bag.

When I popped these into the fridge, I placed them with paper towel side up so that as these germinate, the tiny roots don’t get stuck on the paper towels. Apparently, seeds germinate down via gravity, and pulling these tiny germinations from the paper towel would be nearly impossible to transplant.

I clearly labeled each bag and plan to leave them in the fridge for 6-8 weeks. Like many seed varieties, rose seeds need a cold “stratification” period before they’ll germinate.

Heh…old hip. New hip. My mom should appreciate this one…

If all goes well, I’ll be able to transplant in the greenhouse and grow some baby rose plants as gifts by spring! Perfect for teachers, mother’s day, birthdays, or house warming gifts, right?

Stay tuned as I’ll update with progress…

Here’s my favorite sweet and spicy Chinese-style recipe. YUM!

Naturally, I figured I should try to grow them…b/c why not? These are some of the coolest plants I’ve ever grown. These have been growing for about 2 years as I wanted to see what happens if you just keep letting them grow. They typically like colder temps, which is nearly impossible in So Cal, but I’ve let these go and have been harvesting year-round.

As you can see, they just keep growing and growing, with new growth coming in at the bottom where they were once harvested.

Another thing I’ve learned is that aphids absolutely LOVE brussels sprouts. I keep spraying neem oil on them, but I think it’s time to bring in some lady bugs.

That big plant on the left is over 5′ tall! (Sorry for the poor pic quality….some of these are from my phone…)

Look at how beautiful the top part of the flower is. I’ve scoured YouTube and stalked every possible person who knows about brussels. Not too many experts out there in my circles.

So I’m on a mission to experiment. Why not, right? I plucked a few off a stalk and stuck them in water to see if they’d root. 

And sure enough, they did! You can see a few garlic cloves in there, too. Yup, those are going in the ground, too.

After the brussels grew sufficient roots, I stuck them in the ground last week. I checked on them today and they seem to be doing just fine.

They look like giant cabbages, but in fact, these are about 2″ in diameter. Still pretty beefy for a brussels sprout, I’d say!

And this is where I got crazy….See in the pic below where these random flowers are sprouting down the stalk? I cut the top part of the stalk off just about those flowers to see if the bottom part will continue to grow. And the flowers that are now at the top are starting to flower more vigorously. It’s the flower leaves (which are edible, btw), that get the energy from the sun to feed the stalk. By cutting the top of the stalk, I’m hopeful that I can multiply my crop.

And to continue the experiment, I put the top part that I cut off into some hydroponics nutrients to see if they’ll root.

And they did! Check out those little roots developing…and the flower leaves are growing, too just above the roots.

I’ll keep updating this blog post with progress. In the meantime, eat your greens!

It’s so easy to use and gets a chippy, vintage look so quickly!

First, you mix the Salt Wash powder with your favorite paint (I use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, of course!) in the following ratios. If it’s too clumpy, add a touch of water. If it’s too watery, add more powder. The consistency you’re trying to achieve is a thick icing.

Then you literally gloop it on. Yes, gloop. The goal is to get you base coat to be an uneven texture on the surface of your piece. This is so that when you sand the top coat down, the base coat colors peek through, creating a “I’ve been painted a million times” look.

The more clumpy, the better. I always look for intricate details for these types of pieces. The more nooks and crannies, the better for the paint to stick and create texture.

Once it dries, you’ll see all the peaks and valleys in the dried Salt Wash layer. As you can see here, I used ASCP Charcoal Gray as my base color. We live in a pretty dry climate, so the paint dries quickly. If you’re in a humid area, I suggest thinning the Salt Wash/paint mixture down so that it’s not so thick. Then apply a few layers. That’ll help with drying time.

Then you apply your top coat color. Here, I used Annie Sloan’s Pure White. While the top coat isn’t totally dry, you start sanding.  That’s my technique on this piece, anyway. I wanted to reveal the charcoal under the white, so I started knocking down the Salt Wash peaks with my hand sander.

Isn’t she pretty?

This pic is totally blown out, but it’s the best I’ve got for now! I placed the mirror over the new vanity that I made and painted from a vintage dresser. I think it’s a perfect fit for the bathroom and particularly love the pedestal sink and new faucet. 

As this kids have gotten older, they now need their own desks. As we’ve learned from friends with older kids, it’s best to have the kids’ desks out in the open where we can see what’s happening on screen. 

I scoured Nextdoor and Craigslist for secretary desks b/c they’re narrow and can close up to hide the mess. Here’s a real antique beauty that sadly, was painted in a glossy white.  

While pretty, and probably my preference to keep white, I need the boys to want to use these desks. So I let them choose their colors. This guy was chosen to be cyan. Of course, kid chose the brightest of these cyans, but we settled on a more muted color so that our house doesn’t look like Minecraft exploded everywhere.

I started with a single coat of Annie Sloan Louis Blue. That’s a very flat, one-dimensional look, though, so I mixed a very watery wash of equal parts Louis Blue, Napoleonic Blue and Old White. People keep asking if I’d film videos, but people, it’s hard enough painting and taking pictures! Videos would require, hair, make-up, cute clothes. No chance! I get my painting in between soccer games, football practices and conference calls. Who has time to get ready!?  

Anyway…I digress…

The texture of a wash is like whole milk. Very watery, but still enough to provide some color. 

After dipping the brush into the wash, I wipe most of the paint off onto a rag, then use broad, even strokes to apply the color. Then wipe off any excess on the piece with a rag. 

You start to see the layered colors here. Then I took the famous Annie Sloan large round brush and started dabbing the brush all over the piece to get an even more layered effect.

2 layers of clear wax and voila…or as Kelly Bundy says “viola!”

I’m on the road right now, so don’t yet have a final photo of the desk in its new spot in the house, but will update this post when I’m home!

Up next…this beauty. Well, not this exact one, but one in green that I picked up on Craigslist.  

I’ve spent the better part of the past week stalking every hydroponics YouTuber out there. HUGE shout out to Mike Van Duzee and MHP Gardener. I’ve learned a ton about the various ways to grow veggies hydroponically (<– is that a word?!)

Mike shows inexpensive methods using items found around the house. MHP Gardener shows how he made dutch buckets with a water pump set up, floating hydro, and the ever-beloved BA Kratky methods.

My goal is to test my soil against hydro and see how they fare and taste. Thanks for joining me along this journey!

Mike’s use of micro-greens is fascinating. It’s how he starts his seeds as well as get micros for his juices. He literally grows these tiny things – some as little as 2″ – then transfers them to Kratky containers.

I took his method a step further. As I was cooking, I noted the styrofoam holders. Styrofoam floats, is easy to cut, and would like work.

Method 1 :: styrofoam frozen food tray (cleaned thoroughly, of course) with paper towel water wicking mechanism

I cut two slots for the paper towel wicking mechanism. Filled the bottom portion with regular water (we have filtered water at the house), and put a bunch of seeds atop.

Bok choy. Lettuce. Swiss chard.

Once the paper towel hits the water, it immediately starts wicking and keeps the seeds moist.

I didn’t have a grow mat, so just tried it on the paper towel. I have no idea if this will work, but stick with me! Then I used another dark container to cover these for the first 3 days.

Note to self….

Just 3 days later, these guys were all sprouted! I have no idea how I’ll remove the fragile little buggers from the paper towels, but I’ll try in the next few days.

This is after a full week of growth. The Swiss chard ain’t looking too strong. Likely b/c the roots have nothing to grab on to.

Method 2 :: seedling container with Root Riot

A day later, I strolled into Hydroponics, Inc, a store I’ve often driven past while headed to the Palm Desert.  They were nice as can be, very knowledgeable, and yes, I was the only person asking about growing veggies vs. cannabis. Hey, if hydro is good enough for Larry Ellison, then it’s good enough for me, right?!

I bought Root Riot b/c I’d read really good reviews on it. It’s an all-natural substance typically used for cloning plants, but I repurposed for seedlings, just to see if it would work.

I took my handy dandy chop stick and punched larger holes for good measure.

Then, using my $.99 ketchup dispenser, I watered each seed with a single drop.

Sign here, sign there…sign this, sign that..

These didn’t sprout as quickly as my first method with the styrofoam floating trays, but when they did, they sprouted quickly!

Perhaps it has something to do with the clear cover as the others had a dark lid. This system is intended for clones, so perhaps the light didn’t facilitate the sprouting as well. But as you can see in the photo below, the humidity is really good.

I popped these two tomato seedlings out.

These Root Riot pods hold a lot of water!

And roots had already poked out the bottom. So I figured it was time to test a transfer.

Wasn’t sure if I should stick them directly into my Kratky container…so I broke one apart. I’m pretty sure nothing bad would happen if I stuck this whole thing into the container give it’s all natural materials, but I thought I’d try to get as much of it off the seedlings in this test.

Method 3 :: glass container with more sturdy lid + coco coir

My next test was with a $.99 glass container. The lid was soft and seemed easy enough to cut. And it was.

Again, I used the paper towel, flying nun method Mike VD shows in his YouTube vids.

I also bought this coco coir at the Hydroponics store. The problem is that it didn’t seem to wick up any water whatsoever. And no duh…have you ever seen a coconut on the beach? None of that sand or beach water gets inside! It’s impenetrable. But I went with it as a test anyway.

Needless to say, this method was horrible. The best sprouts are the two in the dead center that are on the paper towel!

I figured I’d also try rooting some brussels sprouts from our garden. I mean, why not, right? Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zippo. Just started to get a bit mildewy.

Mike Van Duzee uses swim noodles instead of plant cups, rock wool and stones. I found these Cloning Collars at the Hydro store. 99 Cent Store didn’t have any pool noodles! This is So Cal…what gives?!

This is a pretty cool shot. God is with me, even in my hydroponics adventure!

You slide the seedling or clone into the opening and put it in the container.

So that’s what I did with the tomato seedling and a rogue tomato plant that sprouted in the soil in the back yard. See it in the background?

MHP Gardener has recently been testing transferring regular plants you buy at the nursery and sticking them in his Kratky containers, and they’re working great!

So I’m trying the same with these butternut squash seedlings that sprouted after I threw the remnants of a butternut squash in the yard. Leaves are getting eaten by snails! Can’t wait for my greenhouse to out-trick the rabbits and snails!

I dug these out carefully and rinsed them. Don’t think it’s necessary, but I did anyway.

Swim! Be free!

And I dug out some strawberry runners. These are sad and sorry, but I’m seeing if the nutrients will help in any way.

Now, let’s talk about using down spouts for kratky containers. Mike Van Duzee’s video is pretty nifty.

I thought I’d out-smarted him by using the angled pieces that fit the down spout. Look who’s laughing. Not me. The water didn’t hold!

Dripped all through my makeshift shelves.

Heh! As you can see, my brussels sprouts are growing like crazy and I didn’t want to dig them out, so I’ve created shelves for my down spout Kratky containers to work around the brussels.

Anyway, that’s the first bit of my journey thus far.

I have a greenhouse en route. I’m prepping the area for it to be constructed and will report back.

They’re located in the Channel Islands Harbor and host guests for day excursions for fishing, whale watching, and up close and personal tours of the beautiful Channel Islands.

While the Bella Luna typically hosts guests for day trips, we were lucky enough to get to sleep aboard for a few nights. What a treat!

It was particularly foggy during our visit, and after a quick early morning fishing session with Moose, Bella Luna’s ridiculously cute and funny pooch, we headed to IHOP for chocolate chip pancakes!

Getting to Bella Luna is easy with a short walk to the parking lot at the end of the dock.

Then we took the dinghy out for a delicious Mexican lunch. The dinghy doesn’t yet have a name, but I’m keen on Crescent. When we were headed home, a GIANT seal swam past and under us.

The upper deck is a perfect spot for any special occasion. It’s sunny, has plenty of seating, and provides spectacular 360 views.

We tried to go whale watching in the afternoon, but as you can see, the fog was thick just past the harbor and we opted to turn around due to low visibility. But we did see seals all around us in the harbor. Here’s Luna keeping close tabs on one swimming near us.

And here’s Big A looking out for whales while we were docked! He’s also the kid that swears he saw a swordfish when we were snorkeling in 10′ of water a few months ago!

Despite not seeing any whales on our foggy visit, Bella Luna went out the next day for a few hours and spotted some spectacular humpbacks. This humpback tail shot was from a trip in Iceland a few years ago.

Tail fin of the mighty humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) seen from the boat near Husavik, Iceland

And dolphin are everywhere, swimming alongside the boat.

On our second night aboard Bella Luna, the kids fished while we were making dinner. Literally 30 seconds after I walked into the galley, I heard “Mom! We’re tangled!” with a lot of bickering and blaming between my kids.

Standard.

I spent about 2 minutes trying to untangle the mess when suddenly one of the lines went zipping out…FAST! Being the non-fisherwoman that I am, I called for help! We weren’t sure what was on the other end, but it certainly felt big. Turns out it was a sting ray, and luckily for me, Rob came to the rescue with his gloves, headlamp and pliers. He was able to free the stingray and save me from tossing the entire rod into the water!

https://youtu.be/mM_bh-P7NAY

Until next time, Bella Luna!!

To book a day trip, visit Bella Luna or call +1 805-754-7703

And now…it feels oh so wrong.

So…I’m on a mission. Naturally, I start on Craigslist to find the perfect vanity.

But there’s something about this glaze that wasn’t sitting well with me. So I sat on the decision for over a week.

This piece is so pretty and fits the space perfectly. And I was really torn if I should even paint it.

And ultimately, I decided to go for it….because our little bathroom is very dark and our floors are dark. I needed a pick me up in the small space. And let’s be honest…I REALLY needed to try Saltwash. Jaime and Carol, the owners and founders of Saltwash, are my new BFFs. They started this fun brand and I’ve been Insta-stalking for about a year.

So I wrote them and bought some product! Look at how cute their retro packaging is. Fresh, happy, strong. I love it!

These were my inspiration pieces that I’d pinned years ago. Of course, one from Miss Mustard Seed! #love

And this dreamy, yummy piece from dreaming-n-color. I love the colors that pop through. But I wanted more chippy and physical layers.

Saltwash comes as a powder that you mix into any type of paint. And if you know me, you know that I’m partial to chalk paint, but I’ve got a lot of other oops paints and varieties laying around. So I’ve been excited to trying this new product.

For this vanity, I used Annie Sloan Graphite + Saltwash as my base on the body. I wanted the top coats to be white and blues, but with a dark gray to show through once sanded back. I added enough Saltwash powder to make the paint the consistency of cake frosting. And not the kind one leaves in her fridge for the occasional late night scoop….but the kind that’s been sitting on the counter….not that I have icing in my fridge….that you know of….

Then you gloop and dab the thick Saltwash mixed paint. I knew that I wanted this piece to be very chunky and chippy looking, so I glooped it on very thick.

Here’s a shot of the side of the vanity. Dab dab…gloop gloop.

Then you let it dry just enough so that the bumps and peaks are no longer runny, but not totally dry. Of course, the dry time depends on your temperatures and humidity. I painted this on a hot, yet unusually humid summer day here in So Cal, so it took about 30 minutes before I felt comfortable knocking down some of the peaks with my paintbrush.

I just gently dragged the brush over the bumps (this is a shot of a mirror I also painted with Saltwash…I knocked the peaks down on this more than I did on the vanity).

If you want a really bumpy and chippy looking piece, you may not want to knock down the peaks. If you’re looking for a more refined look, knock those peaks down! The more peaks, the more texture and depth your piece will have, which is what I did for this vanity.

Once the Saltwash layer of paint is completely dry, paint your top color. I painted the body of this vanity with Annie Sloan Pure White but wasn’t too careful about covering all the bumps as I wanted some of the foundation layer color to show.

See that clumpy goodness? Yes!

For the top of my vanity, I started with an Annie Sloan Pure White + Saltwash base. Since the sink will sit atop in the center, I didn’t worry about making that section too gloopy.

As the top paint layer dries, you start to see the texture from the Saltwash come through. And it’s amazing! I used a 220 grit sandpaper which worked really well to reveal the bottom Graphite color. I probably could’ve used a 180 with more grit, but 220 was all I had, and chalk paint is so powdery and easy to sand back.

Then my helpers came by to sand and vacuum. These interns are good for about 10 minutes then it’s back to their street sports.

Look at how the Graphite starts revealing itself!!

But I wanted more distress, so I kept sanding very gently.

I then started to dry brush some different layers of colors. I used Coco and Louis Blue to create even more depth.  Dry brushing is when you make the paint super watery by adding water, dipping your paint brush into the mix, then wiping most of it off so that when you drag the paintbrush, just slight touches of the color appear.

If there’s too much paint on the brush when you’re dry brushing, just use a rag to wipe it off.

Then I painted the top and drawer fronts in Louis Blue atop the Saltwash + Pure White. And sanded to reveal the chippy, chunky goodness under the top layer. 

You guys! Seriously…this turned out perfectly!

It’s so happy and beachy. 

So if you’re looking for an easy way to turn any piece of furniture into a beachy look, Saltwash + chalk paint is a great option. No need to sand or strip to get started. Just paint and sand!

HUGE thanks to the Saltwash team for creating such a wonderful product! I’ll post pix of the new bathroom once it’s done in the next few days.