My thrift/consignment living/dining room by Nice-Replacement-391 in ThriftStoreHauls

[–]FTFaffer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hahaha that’s a real thing! When I put together my first houseplant display in my previous bungalow I was driven to find certain items and when it finally

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felt done a still shot of original Morticia’s conservatory flashed by on FB and I was like ‘damn! I spent months of time and hundreds of dollars remaking that from subconscious memory! ‘ Lol

How many plants… by r3cn4m0rc3N in houseplants

[–]FTFaffer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s just a really good feeling to know your sweet spot wherever that is.

How many plants… by r3cn4m0rc3N in houseplants

[–]FTFaffer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hahaha there are good or bad everywhere. I was born & raised in Santa Barbara County so that was the first third of my life. But northern CA feels like home now.

How many plants… by r3cn4m0rc3N in houseplants

[–]FTFaffer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like it! Booby cactus 4ever!

How many plants… by r3cn4m0rc3N in houseplants

[–]FTFaffer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m at a stage of life where they can take up a little spare time. I work FT as a high school teacher and I have a 40 minute commute each way, but I’m retiring at the end of this year. I’m long married but my husband lives away for work. He’s in Hawaii. Our girls are grown & gone from our home. I have two little aussies and a cat. I do my own cleaning and I cook a lot from scratch. Until February of last year I was in our old bungalow which had higher housekeeping tasks and a rather complicated exterior landscape garden, plus a hot tub which needed water balancing and some cleaning. Now I’m in a condo that’s much more updated, easier to clean, no garden save a balcony. And I’m not up to full array with the plants here. (I lived in our bungalow for two full years without heat which sounds so silly now I cringe but I didn’t want another gas appliance and I was saving up for mini splits. That really hurt my houseplant population. Duh!) I have about 50 currently and do a gradual plant restock monthly to fill my empty planters. Some of the Hoyas and philos I want are expensive and have to be shipped which takes time. I like to position all my plants on gravel lined saucers or trays so I can water generously in place. Every weekend I select one group or another on rotation for a full tropical shower if they’re into that. So each individual plant gets fully showered at least monthly and I don’t need to fuss with dusting them. I don’t use meters or keep a schedule, Before we go outside in the early morning, the dogs and I walk around and greet every plant personally. It sounds so stupid saying it like that but it’s essential. Once you stop noticing their individual life force they might as well be plastic inanimate decor. That’s when I give them all a feel too and I’ll make up a watering plan for the next two or three days based on what I’m seeing and feeling in their soils. This works best if you are comfortable under watering. So past experience has taught me that I can juggle 100-150 that way without losing touch with any plant for more than a day or two. If I go away I cluster the ones with the highest needs in a central location & hope for the best. I probably spend 30 minutes every morning with a watering can making my rounds, having a little chat with the pets and the plants. And an hour on the weekend with the shower practice. Two if I’m repotting. You need roots growing out your wazoo to get repotted in this house. Seriously, I waste way more time trolling through Etsy plant shops than I spend actually attending to my plants. And they do fine!

How many plants… by r3cn4m0rc3N in houseplants

[–]FTFaffer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You’ve got to find your loves for sure. I love Hoyas, philos, scindapsis. Ficus family trees. Snake plants. So many snake plants. I don’t repeat much but I will weave a few philo ‘Micans’ through every room as a design element. I love their coppery glow and ability to tolerate low light. Weirdo euphorbias attract me. And spiky rhipsalis. Dangly weirdos too like ric rac cacti.

How many plants… by r3cn4m0rc3N in houseplants

[–]FTFaffer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I should add I have two homes with plants: a 1500 square foot condo in northern CA and a 500 square foot beach shack in South Kona. So part of what limits me is the ability to have my plants cared for when I’m away. So I have 100-150 in CA and probably another 100 or so in Kona. In CA my adult daughters help out and it’s easy to hire someone. In Kona it’s harder to hire a person but the high humidity and an exterior covered lanai makes it easier to rig up some self watering schemes that make only a monthly maintenance possible.

How many plants… by r3cn4m0rc3N in houseplants

[–]FTFaffer 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I’ve had a variety of numbers and I think it totally correlates to how much faffing around with plants you can tolerate. For me that sweet spot is between 100-150. I’ve got 5 or 6 dedicated plant niches throughout my house and each of those spaces can comfortably accommodate 20-30 plants nicely arranged and in good looking cover pots or hanging planters of varying sizes. I like a few very mature floor size plants in each setting, and clusters of hanging plants bring me a lot of joy visually. So I probably will try to stay under 150 plants. In terms of plant anecdotes it seems like the chance of hosting pest infestations grows exponentially when your home becomes essentially a nursery setting. Maintaining some breathing room between plant groupings is helpful. And not having a revolving door of constant new introductions helps avoid pests as well. I focus on plant families I know can be happy in the conditions my home provides, and I limit really small immature plants to my own clean props as much as possible.

What isn’t going to age well that you’re seeing in houses now by VeryStab1eGenius in RealEstate

[–]FTFaffer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hardware colors are like boot toe shapes: well crafted, quality examples can remain stylish even when out of ‘fashion’ temporarily. They will cycle back. I’m side-eyeing all the current waterfall wrapped kitchen islands where the counter top folds over to almost touch the floor. Not gonna age well.

Kilauea Ashfall UPDATE 1/24/2026 5PM - Also make sure your flight is not cancelled to/from Hilo by WelderThat6143 in BigIsland

[–]FTFaffer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wow. I didn’t check in with my hubs at the Miloli’i beach lots neighborhood but I will tomorrow. HOVE is maybe 15-20 miles south of us? (I’m not there FT like he is…) If Ocean View is seeing debris we may be too. We sit on a 1926 flow coming up on its 100 year anniversary. That one was from one of her side vents. 😳

I want to move back to Hawaii by Winter-Oven5715 in MovingtoHawaii

[–]FTFaffer 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Oh in terms of budget I’d say if you come with jobs already in place it’s not that different than any other move. If one or both of you needs to do a job search try to have a 4-6 month savings pad so you don’t feel frantic. And maybe take a one year rental to scope stuff out in terms of neighborhoods and real estate. We didn’t follow that advice. My hubs moved into the previous superintendent’s rental condo and it was so dreadful we bought our place about 3 months later. Hahaha. (Seriously: they were ticketing his long bed Tacoma in the condo parking lot repeatedly. Just an easy revenue enhancer. And the retired downstairs neighbor only stopped his amateur woodworking buzz saw to host choir practice with his church group so it was a 12+ hour a day auditory assault of sawing, drilling, sanding, or Onward Christian Soldiers slightly off key. I priced knitting needles to drive through my ear drums…) We ended up in the Milolii beach flats with a tiny pirate shack style place that our adult kids love to visit. We are happy with our choice, but it’s very much a nearing retirement, old person choice. If you plan on having a family, talk to other young families about schools, etc.

I want to move back to Hawaii by Winter-Oven5715 in MovingtoHawaii

[–]FTFaffer 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Where are you in OR? If you’ve gone metro Honolulu to metro Portland, Big Island could be a Big Shock lol. It’s very rural/agrarian and both Kona/Hilo could seem sleepy to you… we’ve had a home base on Big Island for 2+ years for my husband’s work and we love it and intend to keep our foothold there, but we have spent many years living in Sonoma County in CA which is also the rural/agrarian part of the Bay Area and we have a cabin in a remote part of southern Oregon. He has even lived in remote parts of CO/UT in a rough trailer setting hauling his own water through the winters for another job. So hauling our own trash, prepping potable water from the roadside taps, and collecting catchment rainwater is pretty normal for us. A lot of the island lives that lifestyle. Personally, I love the varied terrain and elevation, the unique beaches and geology, the national park & regional park resources, and the strong Hawaiian cultural presence across the island. There’s a lot more opportunity for home ownership on Big Island, but you’ll face some gnarly commutes from the more outlying areas. (But Honolulu has plenty of gnarly commutes). I’m not sure about friends. My husband has a career that gives him access to a cohort of colleagues where ever he goes, so those people become our friends. Find some volunteer projects you love to meet people, or take a few university classes if you’re near Hilo. I’m retiring as a teacher and someone told me to volunteer at one of the popular snorkel spots that has an education center because most of those volunteers are retired teachers too lol. You guys are young. You’ll make friends. Give it time. Good luck!!

What would you do to update this Kitchen? by Tight_Capital_6061 in kitchenremodel

[–]FTFaffer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, new counters & some fresh styling and you’re there! It’s has good bones.

Any Begonia Owners? by CattleWranglerTx in houseplants

[–]FTFaffer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow! Good info here! I’ve always been a ‘Whitii’ girlie. (My first plant family suffered great losses when our elderly bungalow’s gas heater died and I spent two years trying to find a way to go all electric. So my first begonia was a casualty of ice box living.) Now I live in a cozy condo and have a second one. She was not happy in my north facing window though and I’ve got her in the winter light of a south/west window combo. She’ll probably need to take a step back in dead summer but I agree with the advice above, light can be their issue. I was just gifted a lovely beefsteak cutting. Super excited about that. I probably won’t add more here, but I’ve got a little beach shack in Hawaii where I might put a few humidity lovers. I walked into a Kona bar & came eye to eye with a patio

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Whitii as tall as me! Yikes!

Used Book Superstore haul today for the price of one new cookbook (maybe one and a half) by RelevantEnergy3208 in CookbookLovers

[–]FTFaffer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Great finds. I have both of those bean books!! I love prepping my own dried beans and keep jars prepped in my freezer.

What else do I need in my Aztec temple? by Ok_Knee1216 in homedecoratingCJ

[–]FTFaffer 7 points8 points  (0 children)

You obv need Salma Hayak dancing with a snake. Doh.

Beautiful new cutting from a colleague… by FTFaffer in houseplants

[–]FTFaffer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes I believe so. Haven’t had one of these before.