Make Your Own Neck Tie Snake

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HT to MJ

Colonial Bird Bottles, Natural Insect Control

In colonial times, people used to hang these bottles, "martin pots" for purple martins and other small birds. This was natural bug control. Now if I could figure out how to attach this to the house without putting holes in the siding, we'd have some birds nesting. I may just attach a few to the oak trees, but the squirrels seem to bother the birds. Another option is to hand them on a secure pole.

These could get pretty expensive for purple martins because they nest in colonies(or so I've read), but great for other birds if you want something decorative.

The Jefferson Monticello Shop in Charlottesville, Virginia sells these online. They have a hook in back, and the little tab with the hole in it is to thread a stick through for a perch.

Here's a good example(pictured) of a bird nesting in a jar. These are reproductions of the jars excavated from Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia.

DIY Kusamono Japanese Flower Arrangement

I made this today with a little terracotta tray which I got at the thrift store for .75 cents. This took literally ten minutes while I looked around the yard for treasures to fill the dish. The moss was growing along our gravel patio, so I just used the sandy soil that the moss was naturally growing in for soil. We have a good number of oak trees, so mossy tree pieces are every where. In the past, I've placed collected driftwood in among the plantings, so there are little sea rolled pieces of wood among the mulch.

I could not find any small plants to add with height that were small enough, and I would have liked to place a large piece of driftwood at the edge, but I couldn't find just the right size and shape. I compromised with a piece of mossy bark and a chunk of insect eaten wood(interesting tunnels) from a log. In the end, I figured this was a better representation of my woodland garden. And that is what Kusamono is all about, trying to recreate natural environments in miniature and in an abstract manner emphasizing simplicity.

The moss will fluff up and the stones will settle in time. I haven't watered it yet because it's been raining outside, so it's nice and moist. This arrangement is so easy to maintain, just mist it every few days. It will fit on one of my window sills which doesn't get direct sun, far away from my little girls fingers.

Hmmm, suddenly I feel like eating sushi.