Check this earlier blog message. Another south-side-of-my-trailer-home plant. Very few pictures. I was introduced to Turk’s Cap in North Carolina. There… the plant was enormous with an awesome array of flowers. Maybe next summer this plant will explode with blooms??
Honestly, I only took these last several pictures because I’ve advertised the plants (on the south side) for sale. For the record, I want to document the growth of the plants.
This adorable angel with bird is my favorite!! Would-a, could-a, should-a!! The solo bird was the “practical” choice because solid cement, less fragile. Frankly, I’m skeptical because the $19.00 angel statue seems “too cheap.”
Quoting from an earlier blog: “…I made a special trip to Lowe’s yesterday afternoon [8/09/15] to purchase a “mark down” Cape Honeysuckle bush. I saw it the day before but decided I have enough plants. With 20/20 hindsight, I thought it was worth a twelve-mile round trip to see if it was still available. ~~ I’ll have a new next-door neighbor soon and she wants a garden like mine!! A Cape Honeysuckle has beautiful flowers that attract Hummingbirds. I/we can hang a feeder and both of us enjoy…. (She asked for my help.) Conceivably–in time–I may have a lovely garden on both sides of my trailer home?!”
When I decided to put Cape Honeysuckle “under the magnifying glass,” I discovered that very few pictures had been taken. Why so few?? Perhaps, in part, out-of-sight out-of mind? I only “see” the several plants when I’m watering, weeding, or fertilizing. The neighbor has never complimented the attractive plants she sees from dawn ’til dark.
Below, left, April, 2016 ~~ right, August 2016. The plants have doubled in size, and blooming beautifully.
The Cape Honeysuckle on the south side of my trailer home was seldom photographed. That wasn’t the case with Cape Honeysuckle in my “front yard.” Below are pictures that span three summers (August 2014-August 2016).
A neighbor came to borrow a saw. If I/we think it is hot outdoors, inside the storage building is much worse!! Going behind the green screen (for saw), I was reminded I need to reconnect the screen. It came down so Roger could maneuver to wash and wax the exterior of the trailer. Look at my Garden Tower. The heat killed my lettuce. Only a pathetic little Nasturtium remains. I need to plan–and plant–a Fall garden. So much to do–and I’m stuck inside my trailer home.
P.S. Regrettably, we didn’t get the rain AccuWeather predicted.
“Congenial weather”: Is that a strange play on words?? It was a delightfully pleasant morning!! I worked in the “yarden” (my coined word) while Roger applied two coats of “product” to the roof. Jim was at another RV replacing a toilet. Everyone’s happy!!
A thunderstorm drenched the area for less than fifteen minute (12:50-1:00). We three sat on the patio, under the awning, and enjoyed the blissfully cool air. ~~ Jim and Roger departed with my check (and I took a picture). ~~ It has been a very expensive month!! As Tennessee Ernie Ford used to sing: “Another day older and deeper in debt….”
Just another day in the life of Lorraine. I puttered in my garden while Roger scrubbed and waxed the trailer. (Jim at another RV re: air-conditioner repair.) Rain due to arrive early afternoon so they can’t apply the roof coating. My air-conditioner man, David, stood me up again (thermostat needs to be installed). I’m not complaining because my air-conditioner is working admirably (but the RV store wants their wrong parts back). It is wonderful to retreat to eighty-two degrees inside my trailer home. The garden is nice but the trailer is “nicer” when “real feel” is 104 degrees!!
Counting my blessings!! I have (1) a neighbor with MAJOR roof leaks, (2) a neighbor with MAJOR air-conditioner/roof problem, and (3) a neighbor needing his toilet replaced.
Postscript, 2:30 PM: Hard rain for half-an-hour (1:30-2:00); more than one inch in the gauge.
When I need plant–or wild life–identification, I search the Internet for information. The picture on the left is from my search and that snake is a harmless Texas Rat Snake. Looks similar to my visitor.
“Yours truly” resisted for many months–but finally succumbed to the purchase of a “bottle tree.” It is still in the original shipping package because I’m waiting until October or November before I set it up. However, I’ve kept my eyes wide open for bottles. 
Recently, I found several in a local Thrift Shop. Today, I rescued a vinegar bottle and a virgin olive oil bottle from trash in the CARE Dining Room. I’ve soaked the labels off and they are sparkling clean and eventually ready for display.
It is a marvelously cool and comfortable day!! We’ve had intermittent rain but mainly overcast. Eighty degrees as I write this at four o’clock. Because it wasn’t unbearably hot, I approached several projects that have been ignored. Sounds silly, but I “put off” boiling eggs for my salad(s), and simmering small pieces of ginger root to add the liquid to my iced tea. Why “boil” things and force the air-conditioner to work harder?
I watched Olympics, I napped, washed dishes–and lingered in the Dining Room after lunch visiting with residents and volunteers. For a couple of hours, the power was out in the area. We don’t know what caused the outage; we didn’t have a major storm with thunder and lightning. A lazy day and my only accomplishment was preparing bottles for the “bottle tree.”
With all our heat and humidity, I can almost see the plants exploding with new growth. Especially noticeable: Hummingbird-Cypress vine. Sadly, the tomato plants continue to push out new growth but not a single bloom or ripening tomato. I didn’t consult the Internet or gardening instructions, I just did radical surgery on the enormous plants. I’ll wait and see if I get new growth and new blooms. ~~ Ignoring the heat and humidity, I worked in the yard last evening and this morning.
Three Quarters & Counting 