How do I decide?? I have so many!!

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“Up” in the night to check the temperature under the tarp-shelter. Obviously, it isn’t much warmer under the tarp. However, frost won’t get to the plants!! Next purchase: Small electric heater for shelter?! It’s 8 o’clock as I publish this. More details, and pictures, later after I cover planters too large to move under cover.

“Sweet” to see birds on the new Snowman sunflower seed feeder. “Sour” (bitter) to see the bird seed feeder on the ground. Over fifty dollars spent for the Feeding Station and the “branch” is so weak it bends under the weight of the feeder (and a squirrel?).

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Next step: Disassemble the feeding station and take it to a shop to weld the bracket (limb) to the upright (trunk).

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Postscript, Thursday, December 3, 2015: Rather than disassemble… and take to a welding shop, I reinforced the weak areas with hose clamps. Simple solution and, possibly, as strong (or stronger). Soon, I’ll spray the clamps black so they are less conspicuous. 

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How to protect plants.

“Bed sheets, drop cloths, blankets and plastic sheets make suitable covers for vulnerable plants. Use stakes to keep material, especially plastic, from touching foliage. Remove the coverings when temperatures rise the next day. For a short cold period, low plantings can be covered with mulch, such as straw or leaf mold.”

Plant protection covers. My covers were purchased in North Carolina (no current expense). The sheets came from the recent CARE Garage Sale (minimum of expense).

No wind anticipated so these covers should hold. I’d need a lot more clothes pins–or weights–if strong winds.

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Check this web site: Food Matters TV.

Food “matters” to me. I won’t be eating in the CARE dining room today; I don’t eat fried food and I don’t eat hot dogs. Sometimes you’ve read my comments about “this old lady” (etc.) but, in reality, I am in very good health for eighty years “young.” I became interested in health, and nutrition, almost forty years ago (in an effort to restore my husband’s poor health). I followed a vegan lifestyle for many years. I was trained as a Health Minister by Hallelujah Acres. Truthfully, I shake my head in bewilderment when I listen to friends and neighbors talk about their diseases, and medications. I don’t “need” all the services provided CARE residents. I do “need” the valuable resources available when or if illness or accident dictate. (I’m particularly thrilled with the on-site clinic, and our wonderful nurse practitioner.)

I’m extremely thankful for my CARE family!!

A beautiful video: A New Day.

Yesterday, I went shopping (and spent a small fortune).  Our local Walmart recently reopened and I reluctantly visited them. (Items I want and can’t buy any other place in Livingston.) I browsed every aisle because the floor-plan has changed dramatically!! I simply “had” to have the Snowman Sunflower Seed bird feeder. Isn’t it eye-catching? I didn’t “need” another feeder (I probably have two dozen total). Quandary: Where could I hang it so the squirrels wouldn’t get to it? I’m experimenting with the hook by the Bluebird house because the “baffle” might stop them.  Time will tell.

The many-years-old blue feeder is for the mealworms I feed my Bluebirds. To my delight, this morning I saw a couple on my alternate Bluebird house. It’s too early for them to build a nest and start a family. But they may return in February or March?!

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Your blogger identifies herself as a wounded bird right now. The holidays are coming and I’m slipping into depression. Holidays are all about “family” and I’m estranged from mine. One place on my list, yesterday: Our small Health Food store. I bought Saint John’s Wort and will faithfully take it over the next five or six weeks (six weeks to the New Year). Saint John’s Wort–and other supplements (because this “old lady” body needs a boost). Today, I’m planning to remain at home–no meals in the dining room, no interaction with other residents. I’m hurting!! (People can be so cruel!! I won’t elaborate.)

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The Houston TV meteorologist’ are predicting freezing temperatures Monday night. I purchased another indoor/outdoor thermometer to be positioned inside my tarp shelter. During the Winter, for the plants, I’d like to know how cold it gets. ~~ I take my garden seriously!! It’s my happiness!!

Full disclosure: My KIA had to be inspected and renewal of registration. Part of the expenses yesterday.

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Perhaps I’m “premature” but I want to protect my investment (lol). Lots of plants under the tarp-shelter. I’m already eager for Spring so I can plant perennials in large planters–for several of my CARE resident neighbors (and in front of Thrift and Gift shop). “Protect my investment”?! When I do simple arithmetic, twenty-five plants (more or less) at five dollars each (more or less) represents an investment.

Revised forecast: Freezing temp early Monday morning.