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!