Hi !

I hope this finds you safe, cozy and planning your crafty-garden adventures for the New Year! 

And now that the new year has begun, this is the perfect time to set yourself up for the coming year to enjoy more miniature gardening. With this hobby of ours, and with some planning, you can create opportunities to practice your gardening in miniature AND create wonderful, thoughtful gifts throughout the year. 

It doesn't have to cost a lot and it doesn't have to be a big potted miniature garden either. In this Gazette, I've got some tiny gardens that I made years ago (2018) with Sedum Cuttings  - that are still thriving. 

By adding a small patio, a piece of fencing and a wee accessory, you've got a truly unique and unusual gift to give! You can put them together months in advance if you like, or the day before - it's all very doable in miniature as nothing takes very long once you have your plants and materials in front of you. See more details about the gardens below. 

I've got some new things growing the New Year that I'm eager to share with you so - watch this space! :o)

Also, find below my way of staying safe online and offline - just my two cents worth because I worry about keeping you, my fellow MGs, safe too. 

Need any help with anything? Hit reply! 

Happy Full Wolf Moon! 

Make your world a "little" better every day, 

**All links open to our own websites.**

Aaaaw Daisy!! That dog is ALWAYS digging! If not this mini garden bed - then it's another mini garden bed!! Well she IS called Daisy the Digging Dog for a reason! :o)

First planted with Sedum Cuttings in 2018, whenever there was a gap in the plants or one of cuttings died, I just poked another cutting into the garden bed as needed. 
 

Those "big" rosettes are Hens & Chicks, the stems with the spindly leaves on them are Sedums that I'll leave until I see new growth along the stem because I know they've rooted themselves - then I know to trim them back to a bud. They'll flush-out come spring. 

The tiny spikes you see behind the Hens and Chicks are the spent flowers from the natural / volunteer moss that has accumulated in between the plants over the years. You can see how it has colonized in the corner of the brick patio. (We'll have more Dwarf Hens and Chicks further into the spring season.)

The White Wood Picket Fence was cut from a longer peice and staked into the soil with a couple of of our hooks that we include with the fence. Daisy is staked to stay put - STAY Daisy! STAY! - And that wee bricks was cut from a Small Brick Sheet and "locked-in" with our Mini Patio Mix. 

It's almost the same M.O. for miniature garden below, but accessorized differently and I used the Square Brick Sheet instead. You can see how it's the accessories that change the personality and whimsy of the garden. 

A Note About Staying Safe

Your Amateur Consumer Advocate...

If you've been following me for awhile, you probably know that I'm an amateur consumer advocate that rails against people taking advantage of the innocent and unsuspecting. Lately, I've been getting a lot of clever emails AND phone calls trying to trick me into engaging or responding. 

"They" are getting even more clever - BUT - there is ONE THING you can do to arm yourself against these people that, quite frankly, need a hobby. 

~> KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE OUT THERE <~

My latest example:

I got a phone call today that went to voice mail (which prompted this alert!) where the woman was already talking when the recording started. She sounded really nice, yet concerned - you know, a voice I wanted to trust. All I heard on the message was, 

"... to clarify this so we're trying to reach you, please use the reference number 40402 when you call back so we can take care of this. 855-512-0660 - I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you." 

Wait. What? Delete. 

#1. - I knew I didn't have "anything out there" that would elicit this kind of call. If I know I'm current on all my bills, I'm not expecting anything from anyone nor did I reach out to anyone recently - so no, this is unexpected and a major red flag! 

#2. - If it was valid, she would have waited for the beep to start her message because I didn't hear where she was calling from, nor did she repeat her name and who she was with. Red flag #2.

And #3. - If it's really is important, they'll call back, or find some other way to get in touch with you.  

ICYMI - Know that anything important, like your bank, the IRS, utility companies, anything to do with Medicare or the government will not be a phone call and more than likely probably not an email unless you've agreed to communicate that way. They will snail mail it to you. 

If it does sound like something that might be a concern to you, leave it go to voicemail and YOU call THEM directly and ask what is up. Never hit reply from someone you don't know, never click on a link from someone you don't know, never answer an 'unknown' caller or number you don't recognize and never automatically call back unless you are 100% certain that the caller is valid.

Spread the word. There are more of us than them - let's bore them to death by not taking the bait at all - and like the unwanted pest that they are, they'll move along... Stay Safe! <3

FIND your small pots at your local independent garden center. They are everywhere these days as the indoor plant trend is still growing on... Find the Miniature Staked Mushrooms here. The instructions for that garden sign is in our Gardening in Miniature Prop Shop book, in the birthday chapter. Or, check out our miniature sign posts here. The plants are miniature Hens and Chicks - if you ever see them - BUY THEM. They last forever, grow super-slowly and are the cutest ever! 

Thank you for reading!

Remember to water 
your outdoor miniature garden too. 

It's better for the roots to be frozen than freeze dried.