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Late afternoon sunshine on my bottle tree and bottle bush. Aren’t they pretty? Roger drank the beer and returned the bottles. Blue and green glass replaced clear, and green, vases. I have more-than-enough; I can stop shopping the thrift stores!! (More-than-enough because, in due time, I’ll have eighteen more blue, and green bottles!!)  ~~ Check this website for interesting Bottle Tree History. I like the narrative about colored bottles being the “poor man’s stained glass.” I ignore the superstitious stuff; that’s not a problem for me.

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Yesterday’s pictures above; today’s pictures below.

I took down the red, white and blue display (in the neighbor”s yard). Before hanging it in my “yarden,” I sanded off the rust and sprayed a protective coat of Rust-Oleum. (With 20/20 hindsight, I should have spray painted before I hung it the first time!! “Too soon old, too late smart!”)

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Interesting footnote: The picture with hanging blue bottles is number nine-thousand-seven-hundred (9700.) I searched but could not find number one. Here is number six-hundred-forty (640) on April 20, 2014. Wouldn’t you agree, my “yarden” has experienced a remarkable change in thirty-one months.

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The “gardener” went shopping today; she needed more spray paint to freshen planters!! Knowing the odometer was due to roll over, I took my camera. My KIA Sportage has given me excellent service; very few problems over the years!! ~~ In addition to three cans of spray paint, and large heavy-duty trash bags… (at another location), planter soil and bird seed for the garden. (Interesting note: The man at the feed store said he, too, had noticed how few birds lately at his feeders.) ~~ Today, succumbing to my “bottle mania,” I purchased more beer, and wine, in blue bottles. It did not enter my home; it is stored in the on-site storage building. I’ll send the beer home with handyman Roger, and take the wine to Thanksgiving and/or Christmas celebrations.  I just want the empty bottles. Hey, don’t chide me: My “bottle mania” purchases cost pennies compared to the cost of prescription drugs most of my neighbors rely on. I’m not only grateful for a maintenance-free car, I’m grateful for a healthy body!! PTL!!

Check this blog message regarding my activities on November 10, 2010.

On November 6, 2010, I posted a message titled Mileage Arithmetic.

October 20, 2010 documents with emphasis on trip mileage. Imagine: Less than twenty-three thousand miles driven in six years (2010-2016).

I pay about fifteen hundred dollars per year for auto insurance. The men here at the CARE Center are quick to inform me that every occasional trip into Livingston subjectively costs me an extra one-hundred dollars!! OMG, for this blog (because blog messages are my “journal”), I did some checking and I’ve driven less than six-hundred miles this year. For the record: Precisely five-hundred-seventy-seven miles. Furthermore: Precisely one-thousand-seven-hundred-five miles since January 1, 2015. Time to give up the KIA?? Transportation is available to CARE residents (Walmart, doctor appointments, etc.) but would they take me to Lowe’s to shop for plants, to the farm store for bird seed and planter soil, and the thrift shops for bottles, vases, etc., etc.??

I started this message thinking it is an “eventful day.” Indeed, upon examination, some sobering discoveries!!

Let me close on an up beat; I wrote the following on August 5, 2010:

Thursday, August 5, 2010

God Bless America

A friend shared this with me and I want to share it with you. Click the link and hear John Wayne tell why he loves America. ~~ I’ve seen a lot of the featured locations in my travels. Most recently: Lighthouses in Massachusetts and Maine.

I loved to travel; I especially loved to travel with my T@B Teardrop trailer!! Today, it was pleasant to revisit my T@B Teardrop Travels. Likewise, sad and I shed a tear or two. “Age,” and finances, prompted me to put down roots at the CARE Center in Livingston, Texas.

Yesterday, I had the dubious pleasure of retrieving the planters I’d just delivered to Helen’s porch.  Déjà vu.   She was very vocal (to others) that she didn’t want them and “throw them in the dumpster.” The man who was going to “throw them in the dumpster” couldn’t lift them so (gratefully) they were still available. I rescued them!! Before I put them in the temporary location, I drastically trimmed away the excess growth. I said “temporary” because they will go under the tarp shelter before severely cold weather.

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James knows my passion for “all things garden” and brought me two discarded solar lights.

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So-o-o, after I voted, I trimmed plants, etc., etc., and reworked the discarded solar lights so they can serve as a plant stake at a future date. Aren’t the glass bulbs pretty on the bottle tree?? That’s just temporary… but worthy of a picture.

Today, I got a late start in my “yarden” because last night–watching election results–I was up long past my bedtime. There are seven Gardenia cuttings that I’m going to plant soon. Today was decision time: “What planters are available?” Frankly, honestly, I’ll never keep “seven” in my yard; I’ll give several away next Spring.

A visitor viewing my bottle tree said: “A lot of colored bottles and vases are simply a ‘wrap’ that will peel off.” Yup!! I have a red vase that is “peeling.” ~~ The Christmas Cactus suddenly started dropping its “branches” and turned a sick shade of green. I’ve since transplanted it–and have some branches in small planters and hope they will root. ~~ The Fig tree appears to be setting on figs–and it is the wrong time of year!! Recently, we moved the fig tree from the northwest corner of my trailer home to the southeast corner. Its late enough in the year, I thought it could handle all-day sunshine. Well, the tree didn’t like the move and the leaves are turning brown. ~~ My gardening is a new experience from day-to-day: Win some, lose some.

In this neck of the woods, I’m known as “P.P.” (plant person). Today I’m patriotic person!!

Will you join me? I plan to pray, fast, and vote.

I started the day sad. See the November 7th postscript on Unexpected planter project. My Heavenly Father is so good to me!! Four friends brought four gifts (they didn’t know I was sad). The little book is titled Happy is the House That Shelters a Friend. The “frosted” bottles are attractive; the green peppers will be delicious (when I’m off the “fast”).  Gardenia: I love them!! There are several rooted clipping that I will plant soon. My next-door neighbor told me she saw a Bluebird in my yard yesterday. I love Bluebirds!! I’m delighted they are back.   🙂   🙂  

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Some quotes from the little book. From Charles Haddon Spurgeon “Friendship is one of the sweetest joys of life. Many might have failed beneath the bitterness of their trial had they not found a friend.”

After Benjamin Franklin had received a letter thanking him for having done a kindness, he replied. “As to the kindness you mention, I wish I could have been of more service to you than I have been, but if I had, the only thanks that I should desire are that you would always be ready to serve any other person that may need your assistance, and so let good offices go around, for mankind are all of a family. As for my own part, when I am employed in serving others I do not look upon myself as conferring favors but paying debts.”

John Greenleaf Whittier said “The joy that you give to others is the joy that comes back to you.”

Margaret E. Sangster wrote:

I thank You, God in Heaven, for friends,

When morning wakes, when darkness ends,

I have the consciousness

of loving hands that touch my own,

of thoughts that cheer and bless!

If sorrow comes to me I know

that friends will walk the way I go

and, as the shadows fall,

I know that I will raise my eyes

and see–ah, hope that never dies!!–

The Dearest Friend of All.