Welcome to month two of Our Favorite Things, 7 Delightful Finds In February! I started this series last month and it was a huge hit with my readers. Since these are so fun to do you can bet I’m going to keep these posts going as long as everyone is enjoying them!
Our Favorite Things, 7 Delightful Finds In February
Favorite Discovery
This month one of our favorite things was discovering a beautiful garden nursery 1.5 hours away from us. I did not expect they would have much since it’s still winter and since we live in the Northwest, but I was wrong!
As we walked inside and turned the corner we were so surprised to be greeted by the most beautiful and big nursery we had ever seen!
The kids loved every moment there, it felt like a magical micro tropical vacation to us after being cooped up all winter!
Garden Nursery
I limited my self to only around 6 new plants, which is not bad considering I would have bought at least 20 if I could have! I was careful to select only plants I knew would do well in our home, and that I could keep alive too!
I’m so excited to make a YouTube video for you and introduce you all to all of our new plants!
For now meet these new additions, including a Ficus Repens, Peace Lily, Ivy, and the wild looking one with the green, pink and red is a Stromanthe Triostar.
Plants
Stromanthe Triostar
Stromanthe Triostar
Favorite Fun Item, Self Watering Planters
Okay. It’s official. I am a crazy plant lady. This month after visiting the nursery I crossed over to 60 plus plants!
Granted, over 40 are babies from the first dozen I bought over a year ago, but still, 60 plants!
I’m pretty pleased with myself because I’ve only killed a couple. I almost killed a third last year but I was able to bring it back.
As you can imagine it’s a bit of a chore on watering day. I actually do enjoy the process though, it’s like therapy to me.
I’ve noticed some articles roaming around about how plants are good for calming anxiety and I would have agree! They’ve definitely been good for me in this area. Of course the kids love them too, and I think all the plants really help keep things cheery through the long, dark northern winters.
I did spring for a few of nifty self watering pots to help me keep up with watering though. The design for these is quite brilliant, be sure to click my Amazon link below to see how they work, it’s super interesting.
It’s been about three weeks and the plants I put in them are very happy! They work especially well for plants you are in the process of propagating since many plants in the propagation process need to stay in moist soil until the roots really take hold.
I especially like that these get the plants off my surfaces and puts them on the wall. Of course they are so pretty too!
Favorite Drink
I love coffee in the morning, and herbal tea all afternoon. I don’t like little cups of tea either. I like big honkin huge cups of tea. That means I need to buy tea in bulk.
Lately I’ve had a thing for Hibiscus Heaven Tea by Starwest Botanicals with red raspberry leaves added.
Favorite Book
I got some books from the local library to help me learn to keep all my plants alive. This book, below, is one of them. I haven’t bought it yet, but I am thinking about it. It’s a beautiful book with an easy layout, and is packed with so much helpful information. I’ve learned a lot from it.
(aff. link)
I’m also eyeing this one too though. I have been enjoying it from the Look Inside feature on Amazon. I’m waiting till next month (budgeting) but I’ll be choosing between these both March 1st! If you have either of them let me know your thoughts!
Favorite Essential Oil
This month it’s a single oil. I’ve been loving Frankincense and have been using it for some issues I’ve been having. I noticed a difference the day after I started using it. Did you know that Frankincense is one of the resins brought to Jesus by the three wise men when He was born? It’s also an extremely difficult oil to harvest.
According to my research, frankincense comes from places like Oman, and must be harvested by locals who know what they are doing, and know the land.
First the locals must trek across rocky regions where venomous snakes are common to where the frankincense trees are growing. Then they have to cut the trees and wait for the sap to seep out.
A week later they return to harvest the resin. Once the resin is collected it is brought back and can be distilled for the oil.
This explains why true, pure frankincense is so expensive!
If you are interested in knowing more about essential oils contact me, I have my masters in herbology and have used/studied oils since around 1996 and would love to help you start using them!
Favorite Bargain
I was at our local dollar store and was surprised to find bamboo toothbrushes with charcoal infused bristles! I had just read a few days before about how unsustainable plastic toothbrushes are, and how they are a huge contributor to plastic waste considering how many most people go through in a years time. The report I read suggested using bamboo toothbrushes instead.
I was tickled to find these for just a dollar a piece! So if you have a dollar store near you you might head in and see if yours has any. FYI, they also have charcoal toothpaste for a dollar as well and it really does whiten teeth!!
If you cannot find these at your local dollar store I did find some footwork and I found some that are fairly close in price on Amazon. I linked to them for you below.
Favorite Homeschool Product
Our favorite homeschool product would definitely have to be Math U See’s newly released Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) program!
We’ve been using it for almost two weeks now, and it’s definitely working! I’ll be publishing a post on it on Thursday so look out for that.
AIM is a program to help kids learn and retain math facts. Not only are we finding it works, but it works quickly!!
That’s all for this month! Stay tuned because I’ve already got some great idea’s for you for next month!