plant this!

many years ago manlyman realized he would be happier if he just accepted my love of containers & my ambition to have the largest collection ever. baskets, wooden boxes, metal buckets, enamelware: the more utilitarian, & rustic the better. oooh that gives me the chills.

he still does not understand my love, nor would he mind were i to wake one day & decide to toss the lot. that's ok with me though, because i don't need him to understand. i do need him to keep bringing home cool baskets & tins that his co-workers don't want. (they receive a lot of gifts in containers from the club's members through the year.)

***

months back he brought me a wooden planter that had been filled with jams. i liked it, but couldn't figure out how to put it to use.


there is a plastic lining, so i briefly considered actually planting something within - shocking i know. i'm not big on using things they way they were intended to be used. so the planter just sat there, working as a temporary, dust-collector. until...



i realized file folders fit perfectly! i'd previously kept the files stacked on a small, low, wire table beneath my computer table (i use a farm table instead of a desk) but the stack was forever falling over. the planter fits perfectly in place of the stack. i put those fuzzy little disks beneath the little table's legs, so i can easily slide the whole thing beneath the larger table when i don't need the files.

***

i did some experimenting for you: spiral notebooks, magazines, construction paper, or printer paper all fit nicely as well. you needn't stick with wooden planters; metal, or wicker would work splendidly. i personally wouldn't use wire, because i think things would not slide in & out as smoothly; but if you don't mind that, you can use a wire planter. if you haven't a planter of any kind, check out thrift shops. i'm forever seeing them there, & for a few dollars at most.

happy planting :-)
~peace.