Adventures in Spontaneous Gardening

It was an average Thursday morning. I woke up, got the kids ready for school and dropped off on time, ran my errands. I was bored and had no other plan for the day, so I decided to poke into my local thrift store.

So there I was, standing in the aisle rumaging through some stranger's odds and ends, killing time while looking for something... I wasn't totally sure what it was, just that there was bound to be a cool thing. Some treasure. The start of an adventure.

I moved an old backpack out of the way, and there it was staring back at me...

The thing I had been searching for. The adventure.

The fat stone dragon.

How could anyone pass this guy up? He was perfect. Perfect for what? I dunno, thats the adventure. For only $5, how could I not bring him home with me?

I lovingly named him Norbert, and decided I was going to shove flowers in his butt. Because, really, who doesn't love flowers being shoved in their butt? Most people. Whatever. Moving on.

So I had my new companion and a vague idea of what I was going to do with him, off to the hardware store we went! After more than an hour of deciding whether Norbert was going to gaurd the house outside or keep me company inside, bouncing between plant selections and so forth, we were home, where the fun could begin.

I may have bought a few more plants than I originally planned. We will get back to that.

Mmm, dirt.

For Norbert, I decided such a fercious stance begged some terrifying dragon fire. What better than a beautiful begonia rex?

And since poor Norby was designed to be a downspout water guide and thus was lacking a tail, a right and proper jubilee ivy, hedera helix, was in order.

I'd say he's never looked better, honestly.

I spent $5 on Norbert, $12 on his plants, and $4 on a bag of potting soil I'll use with other plants as well. So for a total of less than $30, about two hours, and some luck, I had a pretty fun afternoon and gained a new housemate.

I highly recommend anyone try having plants in the house, it makes life happy. Unless, of course, plants aren't your cup of tea...