The Gothic Homesteader

Having spent the last 14 years of my life as a Goth, and having been married for nearly 8 years, holidays and celebrations have taken on their own flavor. This is especially true living nearly 1,000 miles from my kin, and nearly 2,000 miles from my husband’s.  Not that we dont miss our families, but travel around this time of year just isn't  certain .  No matter if you are in an urban or rural setting celebrations play an important role in life.  So how to do it? Well, depending on it is just you and your fellow subculture family, or if you’re hosting other family for your celebrations depends on how “Gothy” the holidays will be, unless of course your family just deals with your  eclectic ness and writes it off... For Robby and myself it is how much black Robby can stand.  When back east with family, it is whether we are the cooks/decoraters that year or one of the siblings is.... it all depends on you, your family, and how much they put up ...

 Gardening inside, that is what I must do if I am to keep growing items past October in the high desert of Northern New Mexico.  Last fall I bought a greenhouse , but for some silly reason I never opened it or used it.  So it safely made the move from Arizona to New Mexico. A few weeks back, before our first snow on November 5th (a dusting), I moved my Purple Queen Setcreasea and the healthiest of my Purple Sweet Potato Vines inside for the winter.  They joined my Shamrocks and Robby's baby Barrel Cactus inside the greenhouse. Currently, we have no herbs, but I'm looking to fix that. How did I make it from a plain, boring greenhouse into a "Gothic Greenhouse"?  First, I used purple and black pots for my larger plants for both inside and outside use.  Then I gathered fun items from the Halloween, Day of the Dead, and Party stores, and combined them with a few black dragonflies from last Christmas, giving the greenhouse a whimsically Gothic feel as u...