Gollum

Last night we watched the first two Hobbit movies for the first time (aside from my husband having seen only the first one). My youngest has such a sensitive heart that immediately went out to Gollum. She was very upset after Bilbo had stolen his precious ring, leaving him so distraught. This in turn had my husband revealing more of his story, trying to convince her that Gollum shouldn't have the evil ring, and that he ends up being more of a hero of sorts. My youngest then proceeded to ask why there wasn't a Gollum day, leading us to declare the day before Easter, Gollum Day, to celebrate the eerie awesomeness that is Gollum. So, today was Gollum Day for us, which meant ordering pizza and watching the last Hobbit movie and the first two Lord of the Rings movies. I am wondering if we will actually remember Gollum Day next year, but I have to admit, it was kind of a fun random day to celebrate. The day before Easter? Why not! Anyways, so I decided to write up a quick Gollum acrostic poem to go with our lovely Gollum Day: 

Gently creeping, following
Over the craggy rocks
Lulled by his own voice as he
Longs for his precious ring
Urges of violence rising from the other
Man dwelling inside

Written by K, Copyright 2015

sea witch

Simply calm, wandering about the beach
Energy flowing through her
As the Ocean calls

Willowing fingers skimming the waters
Inching deeper to find
That hidden treasure
Carefully placed by the Sea's frothing fingers,
Her silky hands caressing the sands

Written by K, Copyright 2015

beach and gardens

Well, I went on a basil hunt yesterday. I visited two Lowes stores, a Home Depot, and Wal-Mart with no luck. How is that even possible? I will be keeping a close eye on the plants at these stores until I can get a basil plant. I am determined! I did, however, accumulate a couple new plants. I came home with a chive plant, which is pretty adorable. My youngest is quite taken with this plant, especially loving that it has two buds. 

I also picked up an air plant (which are plants that do not require soil, just sprays of water to survive). I have been wanting to give an air plant a try for some time, but just haven't been really lucky in finding them. They were a bit pricey I think, about $8, which was a little surprising to me. But I got one anyways.

It is a creature full of character! It came cramped in a teeny tiny cylinder (about 1-1/2 inches wide), but once I removed it and soaked it in water for a couple of hours, it almost double in the space it takes up! It spread all out, plumped up, and is now so bright and green! I am loving it. It is an odd beauty, but beauty all the same.
We also went to the beach yesterday, which was a bit spontaneous and fun. We basically just combed an empty beach for treasures.

My girls found so many huge shells! I was compelled to collect white beach rocks, I was just drawn to them I guess. I wished I had something to put them in so that I could have collected enough to use in the bottom of my plant pots, but all I had was my pockets. I did collect quite a few though! I used a few of them in the bottom of the jar for my air plant. Right now I just have all the white rocks in an extra canning jar amidst my herbs, but I have something else in mind I would like to do with them. We will see if it works out!

I also found a beautifully perfect worry stone on the beach. I stepped on it and it felt funny beneath my shoe, and when I went to look at what it was, I knew it was a worry stone planted there just for me! I have been looking for the perfect worry stone for several years whenever I go to the beaches or souvenir shops. I use to have a beautiful marble one when I was a kid and have been wanting one again.

I also replanted all my herbs into canning jars. I love having indoor plants in glass jars because I think it is fun to see what is going on beneath the dirt, and it helps me to make sure I am not overwatering them. I used white aquarium gravel in the bottoms for drainage, and now they look all beautiful! I love seeing all that green nearby, it is so uplifting. Not sure if you can tell, but my first plant, the mint plant, is not doing so well. It almost has no leaves anymore. I've had to keep cutting the plant back further and further because it just keeps turning brown. I went to get another one at the same place and saw all their other mint plants were the same...brown. So it must be something wrong with them from their history. I am hoping I can bring it back and have it full and thriving again soon. Fingers crossed! My herbs now consist of: mint, rosemary, oregano, parsley, and 2 chive plants (I had to split the chive plant in half to plant it into the canning jars). I am feeling a little overwhelmed, but hoping I will succeed!

beach

Breezy sea air, filling my lungs
Edging through my body
Always that lull, that swooshing of the waves
Ceasing my worries and pains
Honoring the slippery spirit within

Written by K, Copyright 2015

fingers

Firmly grasping the needle, skin cracked and peeling,
Instinctively weaving through the fabric, over and under;
Never straying from its path
Gingerly creating a masterpiece
Engraved upon the quilt with thread that catches the
Rays of the sun, glistening with a
Story that will warm others for generations

Written by K, Copyright 2015

National Poetry Month!

Since April is National Poetry Month, I am thinking that I will celebrate it on my blog by trying to write some new acrostic poems. As I was exploring different types of poetry at the birth of this blog, I grew quite fond of acrostic poetry, amazed at how such a simplistic form can be used to create such wonderful images. Plus I love how it feels like you are piecing together a puzzle when you write an acrostic poem. I would love to say that I will post a new acrostic poem every day throughout the month of April, but I have a lot of doubts I will be able to accomplish that, as I have been struggling lately with dedication to things. But, I will try to post as many as I can.
If you would like to join in, please feel free to leave a link in the comments to your own poems for me to check out. If you you'd like to write your own acrostic poem specifically, here are some instructions and three examples in case you are unfamiliar with them:

Steps:
1. Choose a word (or phrase) and write it down the left side of your paper.
2. Create each line of your poem now using each of the letters down the left side as the first letter for each line. Easy-peasy!

Examples:

Bauble

Broken pieces

Amongst the carpet

Underneath the tree

Bleeding toes

Lights aglow

Evening time for tea

 

Written by K, Copyright 2013 

 

Lamentation 

 

Listlessly rocking, keening
Against the rocks
Memories flooding
Engulfing her while she watches
Nymphs swarming, slithering
Through the waves
As waters rush aboard
The ship, his ship
Insensible, the scene before her
Offensive waters pulling him down
Never to be seen again

by K, Copyright 2013

 

a new mini garden

I am back a tad bit earlier than I thought I would be. I just thought I might share that I have decided to start an indoor herb garden. I have been wanting to do this for several years, though my OCD has prevented me from taking on the task of caring for plants again.

We were in the grocery store this past weekend and I saw their little stand amidst the produce full of small herb plants. They actually had a mint plant, which I have been looking for over the past year. I really love the smell of mint plants, and my last one died when my OCD set in quite severely and prevented me from tending to it. So, my giddiness had me snatching it up immediately. I was a little bummed to see that most of the leaves turned brown within a couple of days, so today I spent some time plucking off a ton of leaves and parts of the plant that looked unhealthy, and gave it a kick-start of some seaweed mixed in water. I am hoping that it will survive and flourish now. You can also see my amaryllis bulb in the picture, my only surviving plant after my OCD became so severe. I am happy it is still with me...though it did not grow very much or very long this year and is back to its stubby bulb appearance.
My husband went to the grocery store today, so I asked him to peek at the herbs and pick me up a few more to get my little indoor herb garden started (they were only $2.99 each). I was really hoping to get a basil, but they were all out. My hubby did bring me home a rosemary, parsley, and oregano, so I am quite happy. I plan to go out later this week and try to hunt down a basil plant, and possibly one other herb to round it out to 6 herbs. I also moved a non-working portable fireplace we have (that sadly stopped working last year and for some reason we have yet to get rid of it) in front of our only useable tiny window in the living room to have a nice spot for all my plants. I will also be replanting them all into something nicer; I am never fond of those cheap plastic pots they come in. For now my set up is a little kooky, with a laminated bingo sheet beneath all the plastic pots to prevent any water leaking onto the fireplace, but I am hoping it will do awesome and look awesome in the near future!

I also dug out a couple of wonderful books I was pretty excited to snag at our base library when they were giving all the books away for free. I really enjoy looking through any gardening type of books, so I am please to now own The New Kitchen Garden by Anna Pavord and The Complete Book of House Plants by John Evans. So I will be much enjoying the beauty of my new plants and enjoying learning about the art of growing things....so that maybe my thumb will actually turn green this summer!