hanging pots

I like succulents. They are so unfussy to grow and fun to propagate. I'm always on the lookout for cuttings and have pots of baby succulents hidden all over the garden. This project was a perfect way for me to get them potted up and looking great - and brighten up a boring side garden at the same time. Succulents are well suited to hanging pots as you don't need to water them very often and, even when they're not flowering, the foliage is interesting. For hanging pots I think the trailing ones look best - like the burro tail (photo top left). You could also try jellybean or baby's necklace. Or a small-leafed ivy if you're not a fan of the succulent.

To make some hanging pots you will need:
plastic pots with drainage holes in the bottom
a one-hole punch
"S" hooks - available from hardware stores and/or gardening centres
plants
potting mix
drainage material

Punch a hole in the centre of one side of your pot.
Add some drainage material to the bottom of the pot.
Add potting mix and pot up your plant.
Poke the hook through the hole and attach to your trellis or fence.

If you're in need of plants or inspiration the Auckland branch of the Cactus and Succulent Society of NZ are holding their biennial show and sale from 4-6 November. There is usually an amazing display of weird plants and bargains to be had. See you there.

four

Today's post has been inspired by Pip Lincolne from meet me at mikes. She does a "One + Four = Life" post every now and then. The idea is that once a week you post four photos to document your life. I don't think this will be a regular thing for me but ...
- purchased today - a yellow striped t-shirt in anticipation of summer
- jasmine - it's in bloom all over the neighbourhood
- Spaces by frankie magazine - for some voyeuristic reading pleasure

And a new project making granny squares that will grow miraculously into a blanket. I don't crochet very often and always need to get out the book to learn all over again how to do it. There's also a very good tutorial over on meet me at mikes. I like the randomness of crochet blankets - just making it up as you go along and not really knowing how the whole will turn out.

Reading: A little life by Hanya Yanagihara
Changing: "just one thing" to help save our planet. Instructions here.

iceland

I finally got to Iceland - somewhere I've wanted to go to for a very long time. We spent six days there driving around the island on the ringroad, aka Route 1. It's a bleak but beautiful place. Not many trees. But fjords, glaciers, waterfalls, emptiness.

Best things:
- soaking in the milky blue, mineral-rich, geothermal waters at the Nature Baths at Lake Myvatn
- driving 25km along a narrow unsealed road along the coast to dine at Geitafell restaurant
- Jökulsárlón where great chunks of ice break off the Breidamerkurjökull glacier, fall into the lagoon and float out to sea
- Icelandic sheep
- misty days
- skyr

Reading: My brilliant friend by Elena Ferrante. I know this is a very poplar book and I tried to like it. It wasn't bad. I finished it because I wanted to know what happened. But it wasn't the right book for me.
Reading: A manual for cleaning women by Lucia Berlin. Funny, sad, insightful short stories.

Watching: Life, animated. Tender documentary about raising an autistic child.
Watching: Mistress America starring Greta Gerwig who also starred in Frances Ha. I love both these films. They're kind of similar - about finding a place in the world. Funny, idiosyncratic, ridiculous and full of over-the-top characters. Incidentally the guy who plays the small part of Harold is New Zealander, Dean Wareham.