Author Archives: Lorraine Frantz Edwards
January second will be better ??
At the risk of getting paint on my “Sunday finery,” I tackled a paint project. Several months ago I attempted to color clear bottles with green paint. It was a failure (imho). Today (for no particular reason), I started to color the inside of clear bottles with white paint. (I want to do a patriotic red, white and blue bottle bush.) I’m still upset about the negative conversations about my bottle tree/bottle bush displays. To assuage my depression, I started the challenging paint project!! Also (at the risk of getting dirt on my “Sunday finery”), I trimmed several of the plants that were no longer blooming. It’s a cloudy, gloomy day but I can’t stay away from my “yarden.” ~~ I’m told “bottles can be painted” and I look forward to learning the technique, and appropriate paint. Currently, I’m using Plaid Multi-Surface Satin Finish Acrylic paint.
My request, my prayer
Peace Prayer of Saint Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
Postscript, same day, almost 8:00 PM: A dear lady-friend read this blog and sent me a lovely email message. She included the following wisdom from Mother Teresa (Saint Teresa of Calcutta).
Mother Teresa’s Anyway Poem
People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.
Cloudy, gloomy, rainy, …
…weepy, depressed!!
It’s so sad to handle boxes of memorabilia labeled as a gift for a grandson knowing he’ll never see it. (I’ve searched the Internet and cannot find him.) It’s so sad to toss family pictures!! I don’t have enough space to continue storing… and recognize that it is foolish to continue paying for a storage unit. So, today is a reflection of my emotions.
New Year’s resolution: DOWNSIZE!!
Postscript, 10:00 AM: I regret getting out of bed this morning!! I went to the dining room for coffee and “a couple of good deeds.” Conversations took a negative turn and I was in a very hostile environment!! Unnamed (unknown) someone (or several someones) think my bottle trees and bottle bushes are “trashy” and should not be allowed. The topic will come up in our next resident’s meeting. Someone (or several someones) tore my labels off several glass bottles of olive oil and vinegar. I had attached a label saying “please save bottle for Lorraine.” (Too bad I don’t have some of the wine I purchased [and gave away] because I’m tempted to drown my sorrows!! Wine recipients returned the pretty bottles.)
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Postscript, 2:00 PM: In conversation, in the CARE dining room, after the noon meal, the “malcontent“ revealed themselves. I’m so grieved that my “extended family” feel so strongly about the bottles. They say “No more“!! Within a week, I’ll received the package with Awesome Blossom and I’d planned to prepare a cement base for it (in a planter). 
I’m already having an anxiety attack as I think about the way they will react to forty-nine more bottles (bush) in my yard.
Square peg in a round hole !!
“Square” person in a round world?!
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“Yes,” I moved two Bottle Trees, and a Bottle “planter.” I haven’t decided how I’ll display Awesome Blossom.
Ready, set, “throw” !!
Remember the large trash container I recently purchased from Thrift ‘n Gift?? I bought it with the intention of planting the Texas Lilac in it. That will have to wait; I’ll conveniently use it for my “downsizing” project. Yesterday, I bought heavy-duty trash bags and today I start the process.
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Mid-afternoon postscript: I’m off to a good start!?
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Biltmore Estate pictures taken in 2010.
Another “indoor” kind of day !!
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I washed my few dishes so I could wash the new bottles. It’s a cloudy day with a strong wind. It feels cooler than the documented temperature.
Also scrubbed the planter so it is ready when I prepare for “Awesome Blossom.” Yes, another “tree” is in the mail, en route to a place of prominence in my “yarden.”
Correction at 2:50 PM: On the patio, wearing a warm sweater, kind of day. 
I’m pleased with myself: I thought “a box or two” but (at this hour) five or six boxes emptied. The afternoon temperature is reasonably comfortable; I’m headed to the neighbor’s storage building for more of my boxes.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder ?!
“Yours truly” was drawn to the neighbor’s yard by the sparkle of late afternoon sun on the bottles. I’m getting so much pleasure from the bottles–and the “tree” and “bush” project. Sadly, I’m hearing that some CARE residents think it is “ugly” and “trashy.” ~~ Today, at two stores, I found several pretty used bottles. Three years, three months, in Livingston and I (only) recently learned about a consignment store. It was a delightful visit and I’m hoping for interested individuals for my “downsized” possessions.
A “least favorite” day !!
Details and pictures to follow. At 5:45 PM, I am too weary to expand information!! I got an early start at the laundry room in the adjacent RV Park. One of the other individuals used dryer sheets and it made me violently sick. I’m so sensitive to odors!! ~~ The weather was AWESOME!!
Variety is the spice of life ?!
Today, I had “variety”!!
Two hours in the laundry room was followed by two (or three) hours dismantling the Christmas Bottle Tree. With a monster headache from fumes from dryer sheets, I knew I needed lots of fresh air. When I’m working in the yard, I forget aches, pains–and headache!! My neighbor/friend wants me to leave “the tree” so I rearranged bottles and added other colors.
Back home, I packaged the lights, and garland, and boxed for December 2017.
I’d been watching the temperature(s) on my weather station. Suddenly I noticed the thermometer for the greenhouse. OMG, 118 degrees!! I rushed out and opened the door–and watered the plants and Garden Tower.
One of my favorite CARE volunteers arrived at my patio about 2:50 asking if I was ready to move things from the mini-storage. From a nearby lawn chair, I grabbed my purse, padlock key, and camera indicating I was ready to go.
For twelve years, from state to state, I’ve moved family photos, genealogy, health and nutrition library. My sons have rejected my memorabilia. Most of the things we moved today will be thrown into the dumpster!! Anything appropriate will go to our CARE Thrift ‘n Gift Shop. I’d appreciate your prayers as I “downsize” the cherished treasures.
