Journal November, 25, 2015 - Completed Fairy Garden

Ava was here today and she completed her domed fairy garden.  We have a layer of gravel for drainage,  landscape fabric to prevent the soil from getting into the gravel, soil with charcoal for odor control, gravel to maintain moisture and prevent fungus gnats.  In addition, we added Osmocote timed fertilizer, so it is a very low maintenance garden.

She is really really really proud of her project, and well she should be.  As for me, it made my day so see her  so enjoy working with plants.

Grandchildren are the best!
 

Journal November 24, 2015 - Fairy Garden Started

On her last visit my granddaughter Ava wanted to speak to me in private, so I knew something was up.  She wants to make a present for her parents for Christmas, with of course my help.

We have kind of settled on a Fairy Garden, so the above photo shows the preliminary arrangement.  On hand, I had the container, ground cloth and figurine, however, it was necessary to purchase the plants, activated charcoal and cacti and succulent planting mix.  Making a short trip to the local reservoir, I was able to collect several niece pieces of drift wood for accent pieces, so on her next visit we will put the finishing touches on the garden.

At this point the olive and fig trees are still in the greenhouse getting their chill, and last night they got a good one, as the temperature went down to twenty degrees F.  Even with the heat on low the water in the watering bucket had ice on it this morning.

Last Thanksgiving we had a snow storm, but this year the forecast is for the temperature to be a mild fifty degrees or so.

We  have had several calm sunny days, which were ideal for getting in a few more drone flights before the weather turns nasty.  

I wanted to take a photo of my drone in flight, but when I returned home and was putting the drone away I found that while I was photographing the drone, the drone was photographing me.

Below is a photo of the Hudson River valley looking west.  The photo was taken at the Frear Park golf course in Troy, New York.  Just about the lake, slightly to the right of center, the large waterfalls at Cohoes, New York are just visible.  They were a major attraction in this area in the 19th Century.