DEAR LORRAINE,

HAD A FRIEND VISIT THIS MORNING.

HE ARRIVED EARLY, SAT DOWN WITH ME AND CHATTED FOR A WHILE ABOUT HOW THINGS WERE CURRENTLY GOING FOR ME IN MY LIFE.

AFTER VERY CAREFULLY AND COMPASSIONATELY LISTENING TO ALL THAT I HAD TO SAY, HE STOOD UP, WALKED OVER TO ME, LEANED OVER AND GENTLY HELD ME FOR AWHILE.

THEN, AFTER REASSURING ME NOT TO WORRY, THAT EVERYTHING WOULD WORK OUT FOR ME AND BE JUST FINE, HE ASKED ME IF I KNEW OF ANYONE ELSE THAT COULD USE A VISIT FROM HIM.

I IMMEDIATELY THOUGHT OF YOU MY FRIEND.

I GAVE HIM YOUR NAME AND HE KNEW WHERE YOU LIVED.

HE GAVE ME ANOTHER REASSURING HUG, THANKED ME AND I WALKED WITH HIM TO MY FRONT DOOR.

HE TOLD ME THAT HE WAS ON HIS WAY TO YOUR PLACE.

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When He gets to your PC, escort Him to the next stop.

Please don’t allow Him to sleep on your PC. The message He is carrying is very Important.

I asked Him to bless you and yours with peace, happiness and abundance.

Say a prayer, and then pass Him on to bless others as I sent Him on to bless you. Our assignment is to spread love, respect and kindness throughout the World.

Have a blessed day and touch somebody’s life today as hopefully I have touched your life.

He’s walking around the world via e-mail!!

Please pass it on so He can get there….

When you [copy &]  forward this on, please list where He departed from in the e-mail subject box.

Strange how my day(s) unfold(s). Yes, I expected to work in my “yarden” but rearranging the tarp shelter had been furthermost from my mind. Rearrange… to make room for plants. Then I found myself trimming plants (in smaller planters) and moving the plants into the shelter. Psychologically (and physically?) I intuitively knew better to accomplish on a nice sunny day rather than rush when frost or freeze is predicted. More work to be done but I took “a break” to enjoy homemade lunch. ~~ Houston TV meteorologist’ are predicting freezing temperatures “in about ten days.” Well, I’ll be ready!!

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3:30 PM; sixty-five degrees outdoors. An exhausted old lady taking another break and adding two more pictures. ~~ Twenty-two planters under cover today!!

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“Exhausted old lady” ignored fatigue because CARE maintenance man, James, was available (after hours) to move things from my storage unit (down the highway) to my neighbor’s on-site storage building. (When “helping hands” are available, I’m available, no excuses.) I’ll begin the process of discarding and donating.

I could have taken a mini-vacation?!

Thick fog blankets the area so I do not have through-the-air television reception. No TV news “fix” first thing in the morning. So-o-o-o I sorted papers piled on the table (next to the computer) and discarded most. Out of curiosity, I gathered the store receipts and figured the totals spent (at each store) for beer, wine, Martinelli’s Sparking Cider, Welch’s Sparking Grape, Perrier, Dollar Tree red vases, etc. Then I added the expense of the several Bottle Bush, Hanging Bottle display, and two Thrift Shop display racks (modified as a “tree”). I’m too embarrassed to post the total!!

For what I’ve spent, I could have taken a mini-vacation!! But where would I go and what would I do?? **If** I had my travel trailer, it wouldn’t be a problem but I don’t want to go to a hotel or motel; I don’t want to eat alone in a dining room or fast food restaurant. I don’t want to “cruise” alone. So, I’ve “invested” in a project that brings me a sense of pleasure–and pleasure to other residents.

Nine o’clock and still heavy fog. Time for me to leave the computer and focus on other indoor projects. Actually, several days of “indoor” because a cold front is moving in with rain and lower temperatures.

James was blowing leaves into a pile so the riding lawn mower could annihilate. I grasped the opportunity to easily suck leaves into my Worx blower/vacuum/mulcher. I have one-and-one-half trash bags full of minced leaves. One day soon, I’ll “mulch” around plants in my large planters.

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An alternate blog title would have been Keeping flexible! I would have stressed my need to stay “flexible” in my schedule and body. I had planned to drive to the mini-storage and load more things into my KIA. However, the “mulching” project (made simple) took priority. ~~ My new next-door neighbor said I can store things in her almost empty on-site storage unit. I’ll use it between mini-storage down-the-highway and donations to the CARE Thrift ‘n Gift shop.

At 5:20 PM, the TV meteorologist said “First freeze in about ten days.” Between now and then, we’ll have rain and cold temperatures. Many “preparation” projects on my “to do” list.

Just a variety of “odd” jobs. Rain last night so, early morning, I was unable to attack projects in the “yarden.” I boiled eggs for my salads; I reconciled my check book register with the bank statement; I watched Dr. Oz TV program (about Alzheimer’s, etc., but not yet available on the Internet). When the sun came out (briefly), I started trimming some of the plants that appear to be going dormant for the Fall/Winter season. I picked up wind-blown fallen branches. Just “odd” stuff!! Several boxes (with and without items) were taken to our CARE Thrift ‘n Gift shop. Oh yes, using Goo Gone, I removed labels from several bottles and added the bottles to a Bottle Tree. ~~ I’m eager to start construction on the Christmas Bottle Tree but deliberately waiting until December. I can’t “construct” it on my patio because it would be impossible for me to move the big bulky “tree” from my yard to the neighbor’s yard. ~~ An “odd” project waiting for me: Mix cement and prepare a strong, solid base for two Bottle Bushes. (One  bottle bush for another neighbor who wants a unique yard but does not have the physical ability to prepare.) 

It bears repeating: I’m having so-o-o-o much fun preparing Bottle Trees and Bottle Bushes!! I’m hoping this project will carry me enthusiastically through the holiday so I don’t succumb to depression (as is my nature this time of year).

Postscript: Unplanned, I draped Christmas lights on the plant stand on my patio. I was organizing things for the Christmas Bottle Tree and do not want to mix miniature lights with strings with larger bulbs. The Smiley Faces were a gift, and date back to 2010 and were on display in my T@B teardrop trailer. I was volunteering at Wycliffe Associates (Wycliffe Bible Translators) in Orlando, Florida. ~~ Click on this link to read blog messages for this time frame in 2010.

Click the link for the lyrics to Where’s the line to see Jesus?.

Click this link to listen to the music.

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My morning did not go as planned. I showered, dressed appropriately, and drove into Livingston to a “high-end” restaurant. I’d been told they serve an awesome Sunday brunch. Everything was dark inside, doors locked, and no sign indicating their hours. This fancy restaurant also has a “bar” and I intended to ask if they would save their pretty empty beer and liquor bottles for me.  Instead, I went to McDonald’s!!  I’ve lived here for thirty-eight months and never been in our one-and-only McDonald’s. (I hate fast food.) Next stop: Dollar Tree for more of the single-serving Martinelli’s Sparkling Cider, and red vases. (Red vases for the Christmas Bottle Tree.) Finally: Walmart (and I hate Walmart). We don’t have many choices in our tiny town!! I browsed most aisles, and lingered in the beer and wine corridor looking for pretty bottles. It’s difficult to find “groceries” in glass!! Olive oil, and vinegar in plastic (yuck)!! I’ll put “good stuff” glass olive oil, and glass vinegar, on our table in the CARE dining room. One of the residents loves to put hot sauce on his food so I bought Louisiana Cravin’ Cajun’ hot sauce for him. (I’ll label the bottles so I eventually get them back.) ~~ At Dollar Tree, I found a pretty “topper” for the Christmas Bottle Tree–and stocking stuffer items for the resident’s stockings. Likewise, at Walmart, stocking stuffer items. I may have completed my Christmas shopping in this one trip?!

En route home, I stopped at the mini-storage to pay the fee for next month–and load as much as possible into the KIA. I plan to empty the unit within the next month; I hope the weather (and my energy) cooperates. Things don’t always go as I have planned!!

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The CARE Thrift ‘n Gift shop had an item I could not resist. Even for a “thrift shop” the price was high but “I could not resist.”

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Below: Last Saturday, from the SPCA Thrift Shop, four (4) wall decorations that I linked together to form a “vine.”

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Far below: Sharing my “bottle chandelier” with my neighbor.

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Postscript, same day, 2:00 PM: An exciting thing just happened to me!! A lady I had never met (although she is a long-time Escapees Rainbow’s End resident) brought me ten beautiful bottles!! Recently, I advertised on our Park email my desire for pretty bottles.

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Postscript, same day, 3:30 PM: These are “too pretty” to turn upside down on a spike (imho). They have a beautiful picture inside the bottle!! From my vast supply of “I might need it someday,” I found corks for the bottles.

(Click to enlarge each picture for better detail.)