What Shall We Make Today?

How about a terrarium? Recently I became aware that terrariums are all the rage these days, which doesn't surprise me; pretty much everything makes a comeback. I can clearly remember making one in a large brandy snifter during our first year of marriage, which for those of you who don't know, was 37 years ago.

Here's what I gathered for mine:

We had a hard time finding plants small enough, and to tell you the truth, these are a tiny bit larger than I would have liked. I bought some from Jim at the market, however, when Bruce was out and about on Sunday, he stopped by a garden center, buying me a few more, including the tiny little podacarpus I used. So, mine looks like this at the moment:

After watching this slideshow, Terrariums on the NYT site, I'm thinking I need to do better. I was lucky to find this lidded jar at Marshalls, however I think I'll be on the lookout for something more creative.

Monday night was bridge class. It was pretty good actually. In the afternoon I dealt out the cards as if there were four players, practicing my arranging skills before heading to class. No need to make a fool of myself. I'm happy to report that somehow, when it was my turn to be the declarer, I actually won my hand. Beginner's luck for sure. Trish is in the bright pink top in this shot taken before class started. I'm telling you, I'm definitely getting my money's worth with the class costing $100 for 13 weeks. Mind you, Mr. Perry Poole teaches the entire two hours, making the cost somewhere around $4 an hour. Now that is a bargain, don't you think?

There is but one student under 50 in the class! Some of the folks mean business, which is why I did my little home practice session.

Earlier on Monday I stopped to see my friend Lois who was in her yard gardening. Showing me around, she pointed out the tulips and daffodils peeking up through the soil, as well as the poppies and anemones. Showy days are coming! I brought home this incredibly delicate, and more importantly, fragrant pink rose:

After photographing it in the gorgeous light of my brand new office, I moved it into the kitchen for water. This morning I found all the petals on the counter, which knowing me as you do, means photography!

I absolutely love how the petals are shaped like little hearts!

After a somewhat busy day at the Polasek, and some errands following that, I came home just as the predicted rains began. Apparently, along with the rain, there were tornado warnings for late in the night or early morning, however, as far as I can tell, none materialized.

And I should know...reverting to my childhood ways, I stayed up WAY too late reading. Try as I might, I have not been able to get into The Girl With the Dragon Tatto. I know there are people who are wild about the series, however, after reading 50+ pages, I just didn't care enough to continue. What I did devour is this:

More than a year go my friend Linda suggested I'd like this book. Knowing our tastes are pretty similar, when I saw it at Borders for $4.99 I picked it up, and am I glad I did! Baxter, on the other hand, had no knowledge of my nocturnal ways, whimpering at his usual time. I'm afraid to pick it up today because I know I'll never get anything done. I remember reading another novel by this author, who is female by the way, titled Prep, which is just as much of a page turner.

Actually, for some reason my left heel is hurting very much, so I doubt I'll be going anywhere today. Sounds like maybe it is a good day to put up my feet and read...