The other day Ms. Jeannie came home to this scene…
A visitor.
That’s Nyle, as you’ll recall from a previous post, the neighbor’s goat. The flora and fauna feast he’s enjoying are Ms. Jeannie’s scrub bushes in her side yard.
On first glance she thought “Oh look how handsome that goat is!” A second later she realized that seeing Nyle standing there in her yard chewing on her bushes, meant that he had jumped the fence and decided on a visit.
Ms. Jeannie called her neighbor to let him know that Nyle had a bit of wanderlust and was traveling southbound via the sideyard shrubbery.
While she waited for her neighbor, Ms. Jeannie went out to visit with Nyle, who of course, was perfectly pleased to share stories of his adventure…
Hey, Ms. Jeannie!
After recounting the experience, hoof by hoof, Nyle decided that the ice cream topper on this festive occasion would be a good old fashioned game of hide and seek.
“Here I go , Ms. Jeannie. I’ll hide and you find me,” said Nyle.“Can you see me now?”“How ’bout now?”
Nymph looked on from her side of the fence (the right side!) like she was watching a movie unfold.
“These leaves are just as tasty as popcorn. “
Even the chickens were captivated…
“Just where will Nyle hide next?”“Can I fit in a bucket?”
Just as Nyle was debating such proportions, Ms. Jeannie’s neighbor came to collect him.
There’s no hiding from the hand that feeds you.
Back over the fence went Nyle.
See ya later, Ms. Jeannie.
“That’s one special character,” said Ms. Jeannie to her neighbor.
“Yeah that Billy Bob, he’s just about as friendly as goats get.”
And that’s the moment when Ms. Jeannie learned that her Nymph and Nyle are actually named Billy Bob and Betty Boop. She also learned that they go bananas for Saltine crackers, that before the end of the year Nymph (aka Betty Boop) will be a mom and (thankfully), that these two are bound for breeding and not table food. So we can all rest assured on that point. Ms. Jeannie can hardly wait to see the little tiny baby goats these two produce!
The other day, Mr. Jeannie Ology feared the worst. That Ms. Jeannie wound be done in. In the night. By the toppling tower of books that has taken up residence on her tiny night stand next to the bed.
“One wrong flip of your hand and you’ll be dead.”
Ms. Jeannie hadn’t even considered these possibilities. There are a lot of books. But Ms. Jeannie has plans to read each and every one this summer. Mr. Jeannie said it was an ambitious goal.
Ms. Jeannie’s summer reading.
Perhaps. But Ms. Jeannie is of the ambitious sort, so it is only fitting. Besides, she tells Mr. Jeannie – there could be worse things in life than death by books:)
Ms. Jeannie promised her handsome husband that after reading each book and thoughtfully thinking about it – she’ll retire it to the towering stacks on the dresser far, far away from the bed. By September, she should be out of harm’s way. Quite possibly, also by then, a new batch of handmade bookshelves will be finished. (hint, hint, Mr. Jeannie!).
Photo courtesy of HookedOnHouses.net. Click the photo to see the entire house.
You don’t have to worry about any sudden death here! Perhaps one day, Ms. Jeannie will be appropriately organized with her book collection. Until then, she’ll just have to take it one story at a time.
What’s on your summer reading list? If you’ve read any of the books in Ms. Jeannie’s list above, please let her know which ones and what you thought.
The butterflies, dear readers, are born! Here’s their first photo shoot. Each butterfly emerged on a different day so Ms. Jeannie named them appropriately.
Meet Wednesday – the first butterfly…
Brand-new!
Wednesday was the one, if you recall, who chose to cocoon underneath the flower petals of the gerber daisy. A most pretty spot.
Ta-dah!
Here she was stepping out of the cocoon. Ms. Jeannie just missed her actual emergence by sheer minutes. She had just checked on all three of the cocoons (status quo) and had gone around the corner to cut some herbs for dinner. Five minutes later – here was Wednesday fanning out her new wings.
It was a slow-going little journey up the stalk of the flower while she figured out her legs and the tricky business of holding on. But by the time Ms. Jeannie took this aerial view, Wednesday was an expert!
Hello butterfly!
Because Ms. Jeannie had missed the actual moment of Wednesday unzipping the cocoon doors, she was determined to at least catch Wednesday’s first moment of flight on camera. She didn’t how long this would take. So she waited. And she waited.
Ms. Jeannie’s cat, Satchem (incidentally named after a butterfly, herself) even waited with her for awhile.
oh the anticipation…
This gave Ms. Jeannie some time to explain to Satchem that there would indeed be no butterfly dinners in her future. She seemed to understand. Eventually though, she lost interest in the butterflies altogether and fell asleep underneath the tulip tree.
Meanwhile, Wednesday just stayed in her same spot, fanning those wings and taking in her new surroundings.
After 25 minutes of waiting, Ms. Jeannie got side-tracked and went on to other projects – but she came back to check every few minutes. Going into the second hour, Ms. Jeannie came out to check and there was Wednesday on her petal and then in a flash of a second, there she wasn’t.
She flew off into the garden so fast it was all Ms. Jeannie could do to frantically photograph her flying through the air. Unfortunately this is the best photo she got…
First flight!
You can just make out the fuzzy swatches of orange as Wednesday flapped her wings. So long pretty girl!
The next butterfly to emerge was Thursday…
Like Wednesday, Thursday also chose the afternoon hours to emerge – although this little butterfly decided to come out just as the storm clouds started to rumble. The wind picked up considerably, and Ms. Jeannie feared that Thursday would get blown away before he had any sort of chance to get his bearings.
You can see him sort of half-hanging there – it looked perilous for a moment…
But Thursday knew what he was doing. He was being blown about quite a bit – but he para-sailed through the high winds like a champ. Apparently, those stickly little legs are a lot stronger than they look!
Then the rains came – torrential downpours so heavy Ms. Jeannie considered clipping the stalk he was on and bringing it onto the screened porch just to give him a chance to get his act together.
But again, Thursday, adapted. Although this time, he crawled back down to his cocoon and hung onto both the casing and the stalk for extra support.
The rain came down for hours and Thursday hung on. The moment the sun came out, he fanned his wings out a few times and went in search of sunnier skies. Again – Ms. Jeannie managed to grab her camera in time for the first flight – but Thursday was fast – so this is the best she could do…
Only a slight improvement was Wednesday’s photograph!
The next day it was back to full hot Georgia sunshine and Friday decided that this was his day to join his pals. Friday was the one who chose to cocoon behind the wooden spinach sign – in what Ms. Jeannie thought was the most disguised location of the group.
Ms. Jeannie was most curious about this one’s color pattern since he had a different color cocoon than the others. But he turned out just the same!
If Friday picked a shy spot to nest, he certainly wasn’t shy about coming out. He immediately started climbing up the wood spike…
So long cocoon, Friday’s on a mission!He climbed…
…and climbed…
and climbed…
All the way to the top of the sign, he climbed. And then do you know what he did?
He climbed over the other side and gave Ms. Jeannie the most beautiful display…
Ohh…
So handsome and so perfectly balanced, he almost looked fake. Like someone had positioned him there on purpose!
And then, just like the others he was there one minute and off exploring the world the next. This time, Ms. Jeannie was sort of ready – but boy is it hard to capture these little fellas when they are flying!
Definitely, the best of the flight pictures – but no photo awards for Ms. Jeannie on this front:)
So there it is – the tale of the three black swallowtails. Most likely, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday will stay close to the garden enjoying a bevy of summer flowers before finding their own loves and making more swallowtail babies. Ms. Jeannie hasn’t seen them since their birthdays – but she feels like they could be close by. Of course, if she sees any fluttering about the garden, she will photo them for you to see too. Hopefully by that time, she’ll have improved upon those flight photos!
Watching these little guys grow was a completely amazing experience for Ms. Jeannie, packed to the brim with hope and wonder. If you missed the previous posts, read about the beginnings of the butterflies (as caterpillars) here and (cocoons) here.
This time, Ms. Jeannie’s interview series takes us to the very big city of Chicago, to a very big closet, powered by a lovely lady with a very BIG heart. Meet Nicole of Dotto, vintage fashionista and volunteer extraordinaire.
Nicole runs the sunny vintage clothing shop Dotto, on Etsy. It’s so full of personality, Ms. Jeannie can’t help but think that Nicole is bringing a much needed breath of fresh air to dusty cellars and attics all over the city. She’s the shop model, the copy writer, the clothing scout, the photographer and the coordinator behind her brand. And as if running a successful Etsy shop isn’t accomplishment enough, she also donates proceeds from her shop sales to not one but seven local charities that she’s affiliated with. How does she do it, you ask? Let’s find out…
Nicole modeling a 1940 Peter Pan collar dress. Click for more info.
Ms. Jeannie: Oh Nicole – you sound like such a fun person and incredibly nice to be donating shop proceeds to charity. Please explain a bit about how you came to make charities a theme for your shop.
Nicole: AW. I’ve been a pretty serious volunteer for years that probably started with the peace corps, but no wait. I volunteered a little in college too. When I moved to Chicago I spent the first few months going to as many volunteer orientations as I could and was blown away by how many really good- like really good- organizations there were here and at one point had to start cutting back because I was volunteering more than I was working. Anyway, I went to a small business expo about a year ago and was asked what makes my business different and I remember thinking ‘oh my god NOTHING. it’s just clothes’. I decided to show in my shop what I am able to do by making my own hours and working for myself. Whew!
Vintage 1970 Scout Leader Vest. Click for more info.
MJ: Tell us a little about each of the charities you are involved with and why you chose them.
pawschicago.org
Nicole: PAWS Chicago is a no kill animal shelter. I volunteer on the dog side and lately have been fostering cats!
sitstayread.org
Sit Stay Read is a literacy program that enlists dogs as volunteers TOO. kids get super jazzed about reading to the dogs during classroom visits, it is pretty adorable and their reading scores show a vast improvement.
826chi.org
826 Chicago is a creative writing and tutoring center. They offer field trips to elementary school kids during the day and tutoring to older kids afternoons and evenings. Right now I am working online with four AP history students to help them pass the exam at the end of the year.
Side Note: 826 Chicago was recently part of a TED talk. For a quick, interesting little video about how the 826 concept started click here.
keenusa.org
KEEN is an exercise program for kids and teens with disabilities- IT IS AWESOME.
littlebrotherschicago.org
Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly reaches out to isolated seniors all over the city by getting them to senior parties and/or visiting them at home.
juddgoldmansailing.org
Adaptive Sailing helps people with disabilities learn how to sail. It is even more interesting than it sounds.
Side Note: If you are interested in learning more about this program, you can watch this 7 minute video. It is inspiring to see how challenges are turned into rewarding opportunities for both participants and program coordinators. And spending time on the water?! Who couldn’t benefit from that!
workingbikes.org[/caption]
Working Bikes fixes donated bicycles and ships them to countries in need or sells them to the community at a low cost.
MJ: What is your process of determining how much donation goes to which charity? Nicole: If I’ve missed volunteering with an organization that I usually volunteer with, I’ll donate to them first when extra money comes in. but I try to volunteer with each group at least a few times a month, some of them weekly. When a ‘disaster relief’ item sells, that money goes toward something that is currently going on in the world through www.globalgiving.org
Vintage Christmas Angel Nativity Dress. This is one of more than a dozen pieces in Nicole’s shop that contribute to disaster relief funds. Click here to see what catches your eye.
MJ: Your photographs are full of personality – do you work with a photographer or do you arrange all the sets yourself?
Nicole’s clever spin on a vintage 1960’s sheer black slip.
Nicole: I use a timed camera in all of the photos with a white background. The professional outdoor photography is done by my verrrry talented friend Rodion Galperin.
It’s hard to figure out what’s prettier – Rodion’s photograph or the dress! Mid-century lace wedding dress. Click for more info.
For one year, Rodion traveled across the US with a red paper heart. Watch the beauty of this amazing project unfold here…
MJ: What’s your most favorite decade of vintage clothing? Nicole: ooooh. It changes all the time. Currently the 1940s. I love the fitted waists and powerful shoulders that evolved with women entering the workplace.
1940 Wool Fitted Suit
MJ: What’s your most favorite item in your shop right now? Nicole: The white sequin dress with pink flowers. People always ask if I wear things that are in my shop and I feel kind of weird that I don’t (except wouldn’t it be kind of weird if I did?) but it’s true. I do, however, put things in my shop that I’ve worn before… this dress is the ultimate. I wore it to a dive bar for New Years a few years ago (true story) and for my birthday one year. I am going to cry a river once it sells but I always feel a little bit like I am getting married when I wear it, so. . .
1950 White Sequin Dress.
MJ: Every once in awhile we see a cat or a dog or another person pop-up in your listing photographs. Tell us about your fellow models. Nicole: Oh the muffin butts? They make the best models. the dogs are from my hometown in California, they’re in the backyard photos… right now I am fostering a tabby cat from an animal shelter- he only enters the picture if treats are involved. A few months ago I fostered brother cats who looooved posing. Or sleeping along the wall by my feet while I took photos for hours, the lovers.
With kitty and the pink Mid-Century pajamas.
MJ: What is the strangest thing you have come across in your vintage adventures? Nicole: A friend found a guy on craigslist in upstate New York who ‘had a lot of inventory’ that turned out to be a huge barn FILLED with vintage clothing. I tell you what. We thought we’d walked into heaven when we entered that barn. A dark musty old clothing filled heaven.
Side note: This story reminded Ms. Jeannie of Julie’s interview from Fishs Eddy – she discovered a treasure trove of vintage china in an old barn in upstate New York too. Maybe these two barns knew each other:)
MJ: Ms. Jeannie loves Chicago! She has many ancestors from there and her father grew up in Oak Park. Are you from there? What are some of your favorite things about living there? Nicole: I am with you, girl! I love this city, I moved here on a whim two and a half years ago. The architecture and snow and the Colombian Exposition of 1893 are what initially drew me here. But the FOOD! What a pleasant surprise, I had no idea it was such a dream food city before I moved here.
Chicago Photography by Rebecca Plotnick. Click for more info.
MJ: When you are not Etsy-ing or volunteering, what else do you like to do with your time? Nicole: I love to ride around on my bicycle, which I initially got into to impress a guy. Ugh, good thing bikes are so awesome. Every once in a while I design and sew clothing- it’s actually why I originally signed up on Etsy. And then vintage clothing ended up taking over.
MJ: It looks like, from your previous shop move, that you have been affiliated with Etsy since almost the beginning, back in 2007. How did you discover Etsy? How has it evolved since 2007 and why did you decide for a change from gimmeNicole to Dotto? Nicole: I get asked about Etsy a lot and it’s kind of fuzzy. I think I heard about it through someone on Ebay. Weird, right? Remember when listing an item on Etsy used to take several pages? And you had to add photos one at a time? I remember the day they rolled out the one page listing template and everything was like MAGIC.
MJ: What is your favorite type of vintage clothing to scout? Nicole: I don’t have too much of a filter, I will go for anything. I physically cannot stop myself from grabbing anything neon or glittery, sheer or with matching belt. I used to get anxious when I shopped, like if I didn’t do it fast enough people would find things that I was meant to find but that has changed completely over the years. I’ll totally give someone something from my cart if they are eyeing it (okay. within REASON)
MJ: Do you wear a lot of vintage clothing yourself? Nicole: Ugh, I don’t. And I have kept some really beautiful things since I started my shop! I’ll wear vintage for special occasions or anything where I have to think about what to wear beforehand, definitely. I love over dressing for an event. But daily, I almost always wear a t shirt and jeans or skirt.
Vintage his/hers reversible soccer shirt.
MJ: It seems that your shop clothes are full of American nostalgia from camp t-shirts all the way down the line to prom dresses and ballet costumes. Do you look for items that are reminiscent of a traditional American past or does it just happen to work out like that? Nicole: Oh it just happens to work out like that.
Vintage Ballerina CostumePossible former prom dress?! Vintage 1980’s Mermaid Green Party Dress.Vintage Figure Skating Dress
MJ: Do you sell most of your items to customers in the US or overseas? Nicole: I think it’s split pretty evenly. I sell a lot to England and Australia, I always wonder if those places are especially void of vintage clothing or if they’re just more inclined to shop online. Stateside, more orders than I ever would have bet on are from Texas. but really, it’s just so spread out.
Side note: Ms. Jeannie also sells a lot of vintage to Australia. She recently spoke with a customer who shed some light on the subject. It seems there is just not a lot of vintage or antique items in Australia. And what they do have is really really expensive, so for collectors it is much more cost effective to purchase vintage from the States. Even with our high shipping prices to their neck of the woods, it still works out in their favor.
MJ: Buying from your shop is almost like receiving two gifts! You give something back to the community and you receive a fabulous vintage item at the same time, do you think people respond to that and do you think that affects their purchasing decisions? Nicole: AW. I feel like that’s split too. but always if someone didn’t notice that their purchase helps organizations around the city, they’re pretty jazzed when they find out afterward.
MJ: Have you seen the impact that your charitable contributions have made? Is there a Nicole Cat Hospital somewhere in Chicago or a statue of your loveliness downtown?! Did the mayor give you a key to the city?! Nicole: whaaaaaaaaaat an enormous key to the city? Who wouldn’t want that. It would have to be enormous, otherwise the deal would be off.
MJ: If we were to come spend a day with you in Chicago, and you were to act as tour guide, where would you take us? Nicole: WELL. every old theater we could get into, most of them in Uptown. I am just slightly obsessed with atriums and glass ceilings- Harold Washington Library, the Cultural Center, the Rookery. You would have too ooh and ahh at architecture along the river with me, naturally.
Harold Washington Library Photograph by Carolyn Jane Photo. Click for more info.Chicago Cultural Center Tiffany Dome Photograph by unfinishedphoto . Click for more info.Rookery Building photograph by photoasylum. Click for more info.
MJ: And last but not least…the universal questions: What book(s) are you currently reading? And what music are you listening to? Nicole: I’ve been listening to a lot of Lissie and old Ratatat lately and reading a book that my sister recommended called The Secret History. It’s by Donna Tartt and is pretty excellent.
Mustard Corduroy Vest.
With over 190 items in her shop you most certainly might find a new treasure for your wardrobe. Ms. Jeannie encourages you to help the helper, by visiting Nicole’s shop on Etsy or by passing along this post to someone else who would enjoy it. Best case scenario, you might aid in helping a shelter dog find a new home or a withdrawn senior find a smile. Worst case scenario, you keep Nicole afloat so that she can continue to be a working wonder in the windy city.
Ms. Jeannie is never one to toot her own horn, but having prefaced what she is about to say with that disclaimer, she is adding a new category to her blog entitled Press Mentions, which will organize all the places around the web where Ms. Jeannie has popped up in conversation.
She likes this category not for the “look at me” neurosis but for the ability to showcase other talented creatives who have stumbled upon Ms. Jeannie’s shop and and interpreted her vintage items in their own unique way. Ms. Jeannie discovers so many fascinating people through these features, so many new ideas, so many new viewpoints, that’s what she’d like to pass on to you in these monthly round-ups. Possibly you will discover something new and exciting for yourself.
All of the photographs are clickable links that go directly to each source’s site so get your explorer hat on and ready yourself for a little getaway. In this round-up, you’ll head to to Britain (twice), fall in love with flowers all over again, be introduced to what is fresh and new in beachy cottage decor and be inspired by the possibilities of paper.
Jocelyn is an American expat living in London. With a beautiful eye for interior design (see her portfolio here), her blog offers a calm, thoughtful and artful approach to living graciously.Freedom with Flowers follows the adventures of Rowan, who just celebrated her 20th birthday and has a gorgeous appreciation of all things floral.Mickey has been involved in the advertising and design industries for over 30 years. She recently started her own decoupage plate and home decor business. With the relaxed, coastal type feel of her designs, they would be perfect additions to your beach house or country cottage.Peta is also based in the UK. In addition to selling vintage jewelry online she also is the editor a new free vintage magazine, which is gorgeous in both layout and design. Content ranges from vintage recipes to howto tutorials to interviews that recall all the glamour without all the fussiness of vintage style.Martha needs no introduction! This feature was thrilling for Ms. Jeannie because she has always been inspired by Martha’s entrepreneurial spirit!
Happy inspiration! And a great big THANK YOU to all the ladies above for inviting Ms. Jeannie into your thoughts.
Also on quick side note: Ms. Jeannie just joined bloglovin’ which is a handy little organizer that allows you to collect, follow and read blogs from all over the internet in one handy little spot. It doesn’t matter if its a wordpress blog, a blogspot or a personal website – you just gather all the ones you want and every morning your bloglovin’ feed is updated and emailed to you.
Oh the butterflies did not prove to disappoint, dear readers! Three little caterpillars built their nests in Ms. Jeannie’s garden, and they did it, so kindly, right where she could see them!
On Tuesday, she went out to water and noticed that all the caterpillars had vanished. Well, all except one who was still hanging out on the parsley. He had been in that same spot for quite a few days although this day, Ms. Jeannie saw two little spider web like threads projecting from each side of his bright little body. When she checked on him in the evening, this is what she found…
A cocoon!
If she hadn’t known exactly the spot to look for the caterpillar she would have missed him completely. He has built a cocoon which totally blends in with his surroundings – an overturned parsley sprig – so he matches the pale underside exactly. Here’s another view…
Would you have noticed him in a passing glance?
You can see the little threads here too that keep him anchored to the stalk. This sort of reminds Ms. Jeannie of rock climbers who propel mountains with their thin little safety ropes.
Knowing that all the other caterpillars might have gone on their search for long grasses or house foundations or dead tree limbs to find their nesting site, she looked in all the areas around the pots. Not sure how far a caterpillar could travel or would travel for such a task, she just looked a few yards around each pot. Guess where she found caterpillar number 2?
On the back of her spinach sign!
Ms. Jeannie thinks this one might be the Einstein of the bunch. That was a pretty good place to nest as it backs up to the side of the house. Here he is…
Check out his color!
Notice how he has completely camouflaged himself to match the wood grain. There are even little striations in his cocoon that match the light and dark veins of the wood. Even more amazing is that from an aerial viewpoint, the “belly” of his cocoon matches the green leaves of the gerber daisies down below, so again if you were passing by quickly you would just think it was a leaf or something similar.
From a different angle.
Caterpillars build their cocoons to protect themselves during the chrysalis stage. Sometimes the cocoon shells are hard and sometimes they are soft (Ms. Jeannie is afraid to poke at her three in case she breaks the threads, so she hasn’t investigated this aspect further) but they are all made out of silk produced by the caterpillars.
Now knowing that they are such good camouflagers, Ms. Jeannie made one last careful check of the pots to see if she could find any others. That’s when she found this last one…
The prettiest spot!
If Ms. Jeannie was a caterpillar she would have picked this spot too – right underneath the flower petals. Clearly, this little one was all about having a lovely view! She gets an “A” in the camouflage department too…
Notice the sun stripes!
They create cases that blend in to their surroundings so that hopefully they can go unnoticed by predators such as birds and lizards. It’s amazing to think that they will live in these cocoons for a couple of weeks when all that tethers them are those two thin strings. Hardly, it seems, they would be able to stand up to a wind storm or even a summer rain storm. Ms. Jeannie has even taken to watering her containers down at the base, just so her sprinkler wand won’t interfere! Of course they must be strong little threads, just like the webs of spiders, but still, Ms. Jeannie would hate to be the cause of their demise.
So the next step in the butterfly cycle, if all goes well, will be the emergence of each butterfly in the next 10 days or so. According to research, most butterflies like to emerge in the early morning to give their wings a chance to dry out in the weaker light of the morning sun before flying off. Ms. Jeannie would love to capture that moment on camera so she is crossing her fingers (yet again!) for that experience.
It appears as if someone’s dived into the salad bar in the garden! The feasting is happening in the parsley plant that Ms. Jeannie just blogged about the other day. Do you remember this…
That was the parsley plant just 9 days ago. And now this is what it looks like today…
it’s a stem garden!
Oh dear! What happened you ask? Well, my darlings, it seems Ms. Jeannie’s been invaded by these little characters…
The culprits!
The swallowtail butterflies. Or, to be more exact, the infants of swallowtail butterflies.
Upon first spotting them, Ms. Jeannie had to make an immediate decision – save the parsley or propagate the butterflies. Apparently in nature you cannot have both! This turned out to be an easy decision for Ms. Jeannie. After all, parsley is not nearly as exciting as a butterfly (sorry green leafy friends), even though her herb did look beautiful and bountiful next to the gerber daisies and spinach.
Once she became pro butterfly, Ms. Jeannie began to thoroughly enjoy her new dinner guests. They are quite cute in that young baby way, with their fat bellies and their energetic ways.
This is the last stage of babyhood for these guys. They are ferociously devouring the parsley (oh the eating habits of teenagers!) so that they can build enough strength, stamina and sustenance to cocoon themselves for the nest few weeks while they grow into butterflies.
Ms. Jeannie is seriously hoping that they cocoon in the pot, but she’s not sure what the game plan is for that stage. Research says they like long grasses or house foundations, somewhere away from the birds. Ms. Jeannie has both of those nearby but how would she ever find them in the long grasses?
Ms. Jeannie looks forward to seeing the butterflies emerge and hopefully spend a little time in her garden once they’ve winged out.
Once they are at that stage, they’ll look like this…
Swallowtail Butterfly photograph by Michelle Reynolds. Click for info.
Butterflies in mythology have long symbolized renewal. Perhaps Ms. Jeannie is cultivating some new changes in her life, or perhaps it’s just nature taking its course. Every summer it seems like there is some magical event that occurs over and over again in Ms. Jeannie’s life, a theme if you will, or a special situation that heralds that specific year with a specific reference. Last year it was the summer of the cows, the year before that, it was the summer of the fireworks. Ms. Jeannie would be thrilled if this was the summer of the butterflies:)
If all goes well with her brood, she’ll have just under a dozen butterflies, floating on the mid-summer breeze. Keep your fingers crossed! Adult butterflies impact the environment most actively by pollinating plants and flowers which is why they are beneficial to have in your garden. Even though they have short life spans, most just a few weeks, they can bring endless joy to a garden for seasons and spirits long after they are gone.
Ms. Jeannie never fails to be amazed and surprised by the sight of a butterfly. For such a fragile creature to last for weeks, let alone minutes in our environment astounds her. Perhaps that’s why they are so magical. They start out camouflaged en masse, creeping and crawling, but one by one they turn inward, wrapping themselves in their own comforter, stewing in their own protection, before emerging a changed creature, light and independent. They are the best case scenarios, the happy endings, the freedoms of ability that is at the root of all human yearnings.
Ms. Jeannie is glad to have a little part in the continuation of such symbolism and hope in her little corner of the world.
Oh, dear readers, the great big fig tree experiment has just gotten a little more interesting. It’s been a little over two months since Ms. Jeannie last reported on the status of the fig tree that she’s trying to grow from a clipping.
To refresh, this is where we left off…
After 2 months in plastic bag hibernation, the fig clipping sprouts! Here is how it looked on March 9, 2013.The clipping was then incorporated that same day into a potting soil/peanut shell mixture.
Since early March, Ms. Jeannie has been watering it and keeping her eye on the progress. Only it’s been difficult to see what’s going on in there, even though the cup is clear. The peanut shells have little threads on them which can look like roots if you are an optimist like Ms. Jeannie! So yesterday, Ms. Jeannie decided to dump out (carefully) the contents of the cup to check on the status of her little sprouts.
This is what she found…
Before the dump.
And after the dump…
Hmmm…
Not a sprout in sight! Where oh where have they all gone? Now the only thing in their place is a mysterious white powdery fungus, and shriveled, wrinkly bark.
what happened?
The little sprouts had been doing so good in the newspaper and plastic bag leg of the journey. But once they made the big leap to the cup, it seems things went awry. Hmmm…
After some discussion with Mr. Jeannie Ology, it was discovered that the peanut shells may have been the culprit. They were whole roasted peanut shells, lightlysalted. Ohhh. Ms. Jeannie hadn’t even considered that aspect before she added the shells into her soil mixture. Oops. Essentially, she “salt cured” her fig clipping. Which evidently, newly formed sprouts do not favor.
Too much salt in soil causes water to move outside of plant cells, so even though Ms. Jeannie was watering her clipping occasionally – the plant cells weren’t getting the proper amount of hydration causing the sprouts to shrivel up and fall off. This also explains why the stem looks dry and wrinkly.
As for the fungus, Ms. Jeannie could have removed it with a little toothbrush cleaning – but she felt awful about the salting, and the clipping looked pretty much done in, so off it went to the great garbage can graveyard. Sorry clipping – we’ll do better next time.
But funny enough, do you remember the other fig experiment? The one where she was trying to root the clipping in water? In March this is how it looked…
Method 2: Rooting a fig twig in a container of water.
And now in May…this is how it looks…
On top it still looks exactly the same but…
Look at the underwater view…
Roots!And not just one or two – but many, many roots!
So many roots and so little effort!
This is by far the easiest way to grow a fig clipping. No maintenance involved here – just clip and store in water for about three months. Now all Ms. Jeannie has to do is figure out how to handle these sprouts best. Should she pull it out of the jar and plant it in plain potting soil? Or should she leave it to linger in the water longer?
She could also dig up a few scoopfuls of dirt from underneath her well established big fig bushes in the yard. Clearly they are happy with that type of soil, so that could be the base for her potting soil mixture. Common sense tells her that in the wild, these fig bushes would not have been coddled so much! It’s not rocket science after all, but Ms. Jeannie would hate to lose two fig clippings to carelessness. Such decisions!
While she decides what to do about the figs, let’s look and see how the homemade newspaper seed pots are holding up. Six weeks ago, they looked like this in all their brand new beauty…
Aerial view!Side view!
And here they are now, after surviving out of doors, for 40+ days including 7 days of continuous rain…
Aerial view!Side view!Close-up with spinach sprouts.
A little more crinkly, but other than that practically as good as new! Ms. Jeannie really thought that after that week-long rain event last week that they were going to be a soggy mess! But they weren’t at all. These newspaper pots held up beautifully. Ms. Jeannie speculates it is because she double wrapped them using two sections of newspaper instead of one. If you’d like simple step by step instruction on how to make these budget friendly seed pots, click here.
Now all we have to do is wait for the spinach to grow, grow, grow. Ms. Jeannie planted some seeds directly in two of her flower pots as well. The pots were supposed to be spinach, parsley and basil but, the Gerber daisies from last year over-wintered and now decided they were ready for round two!
Parsley, spinach and gerbers!
Ms. Jeannie’s hoping that there is room underneath the soil for all three! The parsley is taking off like wildfire and the gerber daisies are an inch taller every time Ms. Jeannie looks at them! To encourage her vegetable – Ms. Jeannie painted a sign and stuck it in the pot. Maybe it will help inspire the seedlings:)
So there you have it, two garden experiments both turning out differently then expected. That is sort of the thrill of gardening though, isn’t it?
When you are playing games with Mother Nature, you just never know exactly what could happen. You may have a general idea, or a general course of action, but Mother Nature likes to play her own hand from time to time as well. She’s quite a card shark that one. And talk about a poker face? She’ll bluff with the best of them:)
Vintage Floral Playing Cards from 2BlueDogsDesign
Are you experimenting with (or gambling on!) anything in your garden this year? If so, please share your adventure in the comments section!
The other day, Ms. Jeannie’s next door neighbor came home with two new additions.
New neighbors!
Ms. Jeannie heard them before she ever saw them. Crying and bleating for two days straight, Ms. Jeannie thought that what she was hearing were actually small children playing in the yard. Relatives, she assumed visiting their family. As it turns out – it was a different kind of kid altogether!
To give you an idea of what they sounded like, Ms. Jeannie found this video on youtube. They sounded exactly like that (minus the chickens!).
Poor things. These two were making so much noise because they are little baby goats and they were missing their mom and trying to adjust to their new surroundings. On day 3 though, calm came, they settled in and were as quiet as can be. Which is the preferred way to keep goats. Apparently a silent goat is a happy goat!
It always look likes they are smiling!
These two are Boer goats which is a meat goat, as opposed to a milk goat, that originated in South Africa. Ms. Jeannie really hopes that her neighbor has no intention of putting these two on the dinner table. They’ve only been in the neighborhood for less than a week, but already Ms. Jeannie loves them.
At first they were very shy and skittish and stayed back near the tree line on the other side of the pasture, far from Ms. Jeannie and the fence. But it just took a little bit of time and some natural curiosity before they made friends. Now whenever they see Ms. Jeannie, they come hopping, like bunny rabbits, over to the fence and let Ms. Jeannie scratch their noses. She hasn’t spoken to her neighbor to see if they have names yet – but Ms. Jeannie has given them pet names of her own. Nymph on the left, Nyle on the right.
Boer goats have only been in the United States since 1993, so they haven’t been around long. But they are gaining fast in popularity because they easily adapt to their environments, have docile temperaments and grow quickly. Ms. Jeannie was surprised to learn that these two will weigh anywhere from 190lbs. to 340 lbs. pounds once they fully mature. That’s one big goat! (or two in this case!). Right now they are the size of a medium sized dog and weigh in the 30-50 pound range. It’s hard to imagine them growing five to six times bigger!
Because Ms. Jeannie shares a fence-line with this neighbor, she sort of feels a little bit like these are her goats too. It’s fun to have new faces in the side yard! Ms. Jeannie will keep you posted all summer long on the progress of Nymph and Nyle as they grow up. Until next time, they both send a few bahhhs your way!
Ms. Jeannie was over the moon that a set of her children’s books were mentioned on marthastewart.com yesterday! The piece was about a 17 year old paper artist named Lova, who creates all sorts of paper art, flowers, gift wrap, dioramas and such from vintage paper.
Nature Study; Featuring the amazing work of Lova Blavarg
Lova chose Ms. Jeannie’s Etsy shop as one of her favorite sources for inspiration!
There’s Ms. Jeannie’s vintage children’s books! And a nice quote from Lova:)
As a big lover of both paper art and Martha, Ms. Jeannie was doubly thrilled! To read the entire article, click here. To see more of Lova’s work visit her website.
A big BIG thank you to Lova and to Taylor at Martha Stewart!
In the Vintage Kitchen: Where History Comes To Eat 