Terrarium Inspired by Real Life

 I was given 2 terrariums for Christmas , thank-you Jim ! I restrained myself and asked for only two. I love terrariums and knew I would easily fill them with plants , moss, and whatever else struck my fancy to add to them. Ever since I can remember, glass containers of any kind with even a hint of greenery or a small wiggling creature contained within just drew me in and captivated my attention and inspired my imagination. They still do. As you can see ( above ) from my planting table where I have unused pots & outdoor stuff waiting for me to put to use, moss just crept in and made itself at home, as it is wont to do in the western part of the Pacific Northwest I call home. Moss is magical to me because it thrives in almost any indoor planting , and if it doesn't , I can go outside, grab some more and replace it. ( Did you know dried moss makes a great fire-starter for the woodstove ? )

 Here is a miniature garden I made almost 3 years ago with my granddaughters. I leave it outside all year and it sits by the fire-pit near the pond. The plants are getting so large I might need to replace them  in the spring. But look at the moss that moved in with the fallen leaves.

 Here is a birdhouse that sits on a very old Cedar stump overlooking the fire pit and surrounded by the branches of a young Cedar tree that has probably sprung up from the tree the stump used to be.

 I found this little mouse in the front yard. It was already dead, probably played to death by our resident mouser, Miss Marple . I don't know what kind of mouse this is, but it was a very cute mouse with extremely large pink ears and the most exquisite feet. Each dainty foot had such pretty toes and fine, almost invisible silver-white fur covered the legs. I could not get a picture of the face to do it justice, but for a mouse, it was a very pretty face. She ( for it was a she ) probably left behind a lot of little mice hungry for her milk , but what is that to a cat ?

My treasure hunt around Cedar Pond garnered me many little treasures and a lot of inspiration. I gathered moss, plants from outside, soil, rocks, a little resin mouse, my terrarium, and happily set about creating a terrarium . If you are interested in the finished result you will be able to see it in my next post.