Promises Made In Haste

Ah, the sweetness of Spring! Daffodils blooming, lilacs budding, bird songs increasing, and the promise of fresh strawberries.

Had to go in to the local big box home improvement store last week to purchase caulk so that I could once again fill the ever expanding spaces of the crown molding in the oldest daughters bedroom. Front and center of the entrance were the bulb displays, 1/2 of them filled with strawberry pips.

$3.98

My youngest -LOVES- strawberries. Cries for them. Has fits for them. Wants them in cereal every day. Will gladly get a tummy ache from eating too many of them. Warning Mommy moment coming ..........Said she will poop in the potty for them. Light bulb moment!!!!!

No big deal right? Yeah, well the small challenge of living in zone 5 could pose a problem. Nothing that tender is going in the ground right now unless you want to kiss it goodbye. March is our largest snowfall month.
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Answer! We'll get a strawberry jar, plant it and set it inside in the loft which faces West. Put it outside when the threat of freeze has past. Strawberries by May! Maybe by then the 3 year old will be out of pull-ups.

You would think that if the big box home improvement stores are putting out strawberry pips that they would also have the pots to plant them in, right? So very wrong you are. Went everywhere looking for them - Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. Even those places that we never go because I don't believe in their business practises - ie K-Mart, Wal-Mart, etc. NO FRICKEN STRAWBERRY JARS TO BE FOUND.

$127.00 - soil, plants, jar

So off to the high end garden shop we go. A place I LOVE but is expensive. Yep, they have strawberry jars. Nice ones at that. Cheapest one there is a terracotta one for 69.00. For another 20.00 I can get a glazed one. What the heck - what's 20.00 when your looking at 70.00 already? . . . . . . See above for purchase.

$9.95 a bag

On the way out the door, after I already paid, I see a display for Strawberries In A Bag .... 10 plants, bag, and soil ...$9.95

Them better be some damn good strawberries !!!

Follow up forthcoming.....

Never Intended To Be ...

I so want this for my entry way by the front door. What a statement piece. The colors in this buffett are amazing - so warm and lovely. It screams "Touch Me"!!!

Daniel Pohl never intended to be a furniture artist. He'd studied drawing and painting at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and collected folk and outsider art for nearly 30 years. He began making furniture ten years ago to display his collection, and became intrigued by the way the furniture could become almost sculptural and canvas-like.

Pohl works from his home studio in central Wisconsin, using traditional cabinetry techniques, mortise and tenon joints, and dove-tailed drawers. Most of the pine and poplar he uses comes from the woods outside his back door.

The painting of the piece is where Pohl's experience as an oil painter takes center stage. He applies layers of traditional paints, made of powdered pigments, corn syrup, and vinegar, over a primed and detailed base layer, increasing the complexity of the designs until a kaleidoscope of colors emerges to greet the waiting eye

Pohl likes to think of his finished pieces as "functional art" rather than "furniture," as his work doesn't seem to sit in a room so much as breathe and, he hopes, inspire.

All photos and verbage from The Artful Home

MIA

Yo Ho, Yo Ho - been MIA for the past 3 weeks due to that dreaded crud that went around the entire familia unit.

Then my BFF and her two little sweeties from Chicago were here for 2 weeks - Good Times!

I've got some great ideas for posts - hopefully back up and running at least a few times a week.

Happy Spring

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