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In the Garden
This undated photo shows a Wardian case in New Paltz, N.Y. Plants in a Wardian case, now usually called a terrarium, can live for months, or years, with little or no watering or other care. (AP photo)
Plants can thrive with no care at all in Wardian cases I
n 1827, a London physician with an interest in caterpillar metamorphosis built small glass boxes to contain the cocoons and emerging butterflies. Peering into the “dirt” in one of the boxes one day, the physician, Dr. Nathanial Ward, noticed that a fern spore had germinated. Ward became so enthralled with the way the developing plant was able to flourish without care in the box that he changed his course of study. In 1836, he published a book entitled “On the Growth of Plants in Closely Glazed Cases.” Wardian cases, as the glass boxes came to be called, became all the rage in Victorian England. Plants were proLEE REICH tected in the cases from the chilling drafts, dry air and gas fumes of Victorian homes. Plant explorers also found a use for Wardian cases. Live plants from exotic lands could be transported by ship to England, protected in the cases from salt air and changing climatic conditions. Today, we usually call such plant cases “terrariums.”
CARE-FREE GARDENING Whether in the home or on a ship, plants in Wardian cases need little care. The small amount of water that the leaves give off in their humid environment condenses on the glass and dribbles back to the roots. Oxygen released each day from photosynthesis is used each night in respiration. Ward reputedly grew ferns in one of his cases for 15 years without any care at all. A Wardian case full of lush green plants is a yearround oasis, even if today's homes are less drafty and the air is cleaner than in the homes of Victorian England. Aside from decorative value and ease of care, a terrarium provides the humid, boggy environment essential to the cultivation of certain plants.
MANY OPTIONS FOR A WARDIAN CASE Many kinds of containers can serve as Wardian cases. I have made my own, using glass and silicone glue. Other possibilities include 5-gallon water jars, 1-gallon canning jars, aquariums and oversize brandy snifters. Large plastic soda bottles are easily converted into small terrariums. Some bottles have a dark plastic piece that covers the domed bottom. Pry that plastic piece off the bottom and then cut the bottle in half crosswise. Invert the dome over the base you initially pried off, and you're almost ready to plant. Once you have settled on a container, wash it thoroughly. You won't get another chance once it is planted.
SOIL, PLANTS, WATER To plant, start with a layer of charcoal, which will keep the soil “sweet.” Next, add potting soil, the amount depending on the container, the plants and the type of “landscaping” you want. Perhaps, depending on your “landscape,” one or more rocks also. Finally ... the plants. Dexterity with chopsticks helps in planting. Choose plants that thrive in high humidity and will not grow too fast. A spider plant in a terrarium I made for my brother a few years ago has pushed off the wooden lid and now is climbing out the top. Good plant choices for larger terrariums are dracenas, diffenbachias and palms. Low-growing plants include English ivy (choose small-leaved cultivars), prayer plants, ferns, baby's tears and mosses. The climate within a closed container allows cultivation of insectivorous plants like the Venus fly trap, See Garden p. 2D
This undated photo provided by Wayfair shows a room decorated with Global wallpaper available from Wayfair. (AP photo)
Travel becoming prime inspiration for home decor By MELISSA KOSSLER DUTTON Associated Press When Melissa Smuzynski learned that she was expecting, she wanted a nursery that reflected her family's love of travel. But when she and her husband, Damon Lane, went shopping for appropriate decor a few years ago, they didn't find much. So they improvised, using luggage tags and airmail envelopes to create wall hangings. They found a fun suitcase to display in the room, and decoupaged a table with maps and travel-oriented scrapbook paper. The look came together pretty easily and inexpensively, said Smuzynski, who gave birth to daughter Avery in February 2015. “It was more budget-friendly than if we had gone with a pre-assembled theme. This reflected who we are,” said Smuzynski, who wrote a blogpost about the effort on her w e b s i t e , parenthoodandpassports.com. “Travel has always been a significant part of our lives.” In just a few years, the trend seems to have taken off. “When I go into Hobby Lobby, there's an entire
This undated photo provided by Melissa Smuzynski shows a framed poster paper of vintage luggage tags hanging in a travelthemed nursery. (AP photo)
section that looks exactly like her room,” said Smuzynski, of Oklahoma City. Many interior decorators, home goods manufacturers and trend
spotters have embraced the travel theme. Some people decorate with pieces they bought on vacation or See Travel p. 2D
RIGHT AT HOME:
Time for a cuppa? Teaware steeped in style By KIM COOK Associated Press Tea lovers are inclined to brew a cuppa any time of year, but especially now, in the dead of winter. Time to put the kettle on and savor the warm, soothing flavor of steeped tea leaves. Luckily, supermarkets and specialized shops are full of the fragrant dried leaves, in both loose and bag form. And there's gear galore for those interested in preparing and savoring a delicious cupful. Yixing Chinese teapots are made of organic zisha clay that's free of lead, arsenic, cadmium and other toxic substances, and has a natural plasticity that makes it easy to mold. Mrs. Lin's Kitchen offers one with the spout and handle crafted in the shape of a branch in winter. Good Life Tea has a smart and sturdy teapot with a simple modern design. It comes in fun colors like mandarin, lime, turquoise, purple and blue. Here too is a range of tradi-
This undated photo provided by CB2 shows a an iridescent reactive glaze teapot which gives it a lustrous finish. (AP photo) tional Japanese iron teapots, including a gift set that includes a cast-iron teapot with a dragonfly motif, a trivet, two cups, and two tea tins covered in handmade washi paper and filled with Jasmine Pearls and Gyokuro green teas. CB2's teaware collection includes a reactive, iridescent, glazed teapot and a stainless-steel canister fin-
ished in either copper or gold for storing your teas. You can put on a show at teatime with the Betty teapot, made of ultradurable beaker glass. A removable glass infuser perches in its belly, ready to be filled with loose tea. A pretty addition to a clear pot: Good Life Tea's flowering tea — a blend of lily, jasmine and osman-
thus dried into a pod that unfolds into a mini garden in the pot when you add hot (not boiling) water. Stovetop or electric kettle? There are stylish options either way. Smeg's retro-style kettle comes in colors like cream, red, pastel green and black, and in an electric or variable temperature version. The latter is good if you brew a lot of different kinds of tea; herbal teas brew best in very hot water, black teas slightly less so, and green and white teas a little cooler still. Stephen Twining, a 10thgeneration member of the Twining s tea-making family, has some pro tips for perfectly brewed tea: — Use fresh, cold water. “Never reuse already boiled water.” — Never let the water over-boil. “In doing so, you'll cause the oxygen in the water to be reduced, making the tea taste 'flat'.” — Pour the water over See Tea p. 2D
2D The Mining Journal
Thursday, February 1, 2018
House to Home
Mortgage Index 30-YEAR Rate-Fee/Pts.
15-YEAR Rate-Fee/Pt.
High rate
4.500
1
3.875
1
Low rate
4.000
1
3.375
1
Average rate
4.250
1
3.656
1
This undated photo provided by Melissa Smuzynski shows a capital A decoupaged in a US map on the wall in a travelthemed nursery. (AP photo)
Tra ve l
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that remind them of past trips. Others simply go to the store for furniture, lighting and other elements that evoke the look and feel of places they've visited. It's all part of a trend toward making decor personal and customized, said Donna Garlough, style director for Wayfair, an online home goods store. “These days, people crave homes that speak to them and their interests rather than one that was decorated in one fell swoop. And travel is one of those things that can really shape you, so it's no wonder people want to reflect their favorite memo-
ries and destinations in their home's decor,” said Garlough, whose book, “Your Home, Your Style” (Rizzoli USA), will be published this spring. Laura Casey of Laura Casey Interiors in Charlotte, North Carolina, designed a dining room inspired by a zebra photograph that clients had purchased during a trip to Africa. She incorporated complementary colors, textures and patterns, using Moroccan-inspired tiles to help the room feel travel-inspired and eclectic. Wall hangings are an easy way to add travel elements to a room, Casey said. Consider framing one of your photos or buying a print or art piece while traveling, she said.
This graphic represents a Tuesday survey of regional lending institutions. Figures are based on rates at Range Bank, First Bank of Upper Michigan, the Marquette Community Federal Credit Union and mBank.
“One of my clients has family photographs from many countries they have visited. In their kitchen and den we made small gallery groupings to represent each trip,” she said. “It keeps the room casual and family-friendly, while also allowing the family to be reminded of their adventures.” Souvenirs are an obvious way to reference your travel, said Danielle Whitburn, a freelance writer for Home-Designing.com. But there are other options, as well. “I love pieces that make a subtle nod to another place or memory — a bicycle bookend that reminds you of riding by the shore, for example, or a pillow that reminds you of the color of a certain lake or sea,” said Whitburn, who lives in Auckland, New Zealand. Garlough agrees. “Rather than collecting souvenir spoons and refrigerator magnets like their parents and grandparents, today's shoppers are incorporating their travel memories in bigger ways, such as an abstract landscape that reminds them of a hiking trip, or whimsical pillows with a beach motif,” she said. “It's a subtle, constant reminder that they can appreciate every day.” Of course, it's also possible to achieve this look without ever leaving home. Moroccan leather ottomans, Persian rugs and Mexican artwork are distinctive elements that evoke a sense of place and can be bought online or at a store, Whitburn said. As for souvenirs, today's travelers often have a more global approach than in the past. “As travelling increases (in) popularity, we are seeing more pieces outside the traditional tourist haunts in Europe and North America,” she says.
Garde n
from 1D
pitcher plant, and sundew, all of which need moist, boggy soils and very humid air. (And perhaps a fly every now and then.) The final step, watering, is the most critical. Add water gradually so as not to form puddles in the soil. Add enough water to moisten the soil without making it sodden. Then set the terrarium in its permanent location, in bright light but out of direct sun, and watch for condensation. If the right amount of water has been added,
there should be slight condensation on the glass each morning. If you have overwatered, let the case dry out for a few days with the lid off. Note the succession of plants and perhaps other organisms that thrive in the unique ecosystem created within each terrarium. Something always thrives. My first terrarium was far too sodden, but it did grow an attractive and interesting crop of mushrooms, in addition to the plants that survived. Online: http://www.leereich.com/blog http://leereich.com
This Monday, Jan. 8, 2018, photo, shows an existing home for sale in Walpole, Mass. On Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018, the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index for November is released. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
US home prices post 6.2 percent increase By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON — U.S. home prices rose a sharply in November, lifted by a shortage of homes on the market. Standard & Poor's said Tuesday that its S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller national home price index increased 6.2 percent in November from a year earlier after climbing 6.1 percent in October. Seattle saw 12.7 percent price increase, Las Vegas 10.6 percent and San Francisco 9.1 percent. Washington D.C. prices rose just 3.3 percent, lowest among the 20 metropolitan areas
measured. The national housing index has registered annual gains of 5 percent or more for 16 months. David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, noted that housing construction is running well below historical levels. "Without more supply, home prices may continue to substantially outpace inflation," he said. The national index is running 6.1 percent above the peak it reached in July 2006 — before prices went into a 27.4 percent freefall — a collapse that tipped the
American economy into the worst recession since the 1930s. The national home-price index hit bottom in February 2012 and has bounced back 46.2 percent since then. The higher prices and shortage of inventory may be denting sales. And a December cold snap may have kept buyers out of the market. The Commerce Department reported last week that new-home sales skidded 9.3 percent in December. And the National Association of Realtors said sales of existing homes dropped 3.6 percent last month.
1900 Presque Isle Ave.
228-7255
Te a
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the tea bag. “Place the bag in the mug first, and then pour the boiling water over it.” — Let the tea bag sit. Twining says it's best to let it sit and steep rather than dunk it or squeeze it. — Be patient. “I recommend letting it steep for a full four minutes.” However, green tea is ready in two, oolong in three, and chai in five. Impatient sorts should go with white tea, for which a quick one minute of brewing will suffice. Twinings has some interesting herbal teas, including Buttermint, which blends peppermint and vanilla flavors. Berry Fusion brings together strawberry, blueberry and blackberry, along with This undated photo courtesy of SMEG shows SMEG's retrorosehips, apple and licorice inspired kettle which comes in a palette of hues, and is availroot for a complex, flavorful able in either electric or variable temperature models. (AP phocup. to)
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The Mining Journal 3D
Thursday, February 1, 2018
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4D The Mining Journal
Thursday, February 1, 2018
Northern
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Waterfront home with 225 acres and over 3,000 feet of frontage on walleye-filled Clear Lake. 2384 W Co Rd 432 Gulliver MLS #: 1089456 $699,500
5389 Champs Elysses Gould City MLS #: 1100558 $299,000
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Acreage with cottage and huge garage on Sundog Lake. 908 Blackbird Lane Republic MLS #: 1084633 $239,900
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3557 Co Rd FFB Champion MLS #: 1102975 $445,000
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Lake Michigamme waterfront home with 3 car garage, boat launch and lift. 454 Cardinal Red Road Michigamme MLS #: 1096536 $299,900
Contact Sue Feldhauser Agent Cell: 906-360-2891 Office: 225-LAND (5263) suefeldhauser@sbcglobal.net
Contact Bob Sullivan Associate Broker/Owner Cell: 906-361-4212 Office: 225-LAND (5263) LandCoach@aol.com
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6343 F Road Bark River
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Contact Bob Sullivan
Bob Sullivan
Associate Broker/ Owner Cell: 906-361-4212
Rob Sullivan
Associate Broker, Office Manager Cell: 906-362-3337
MLS #: 1105519 $160,000 ROB SULLIVAN
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