Rain & projects

 

Hi Folks ~ Here it is early Sunday evening. No rain so far today, but we’ve had quite a bit off and on over the last  3-4 days, turning Plum Cottage gardens into more of a jungle than it already was.

Last week I accomplished some small projects that made me shed a few tears of relief, joy and thankfulness. My main rake handle had broken off at the connection to the rake head. I filed down the handle and rescrewed it to the rake head. Yay # 1. Then I took a new tree saw blade and attached it to my pole cutter. Yay # 2. I then proceeded to cut some limbs from a small tree out by front patio. Yay # 3.

The rubber tree was about 6-8 ft. taller than shown in picture below. The taller growth to the right has wonderful scented blooms at a certain time of year. I can’t remember the name of it right now.  There’s still more trimming to do of vines, etc. in and around this area. I had to quit that morning after a couple of hours because my right heel was really hurting and I was limping. Hopefully this week I can do more tree trimming along the driveway, of limbs from the neighbors trees that are hanging into my space and starting to hang down.

I also did another little project with the rain barrel that same day. During a heavy down pour I had noticed that the gutter to barrel was gushing water up and over the end of gutter, instead of going down the spout into the barrel.  I got up on my nice ladder and proceded to unclog the down spout, then I replaced the screening on the top and put the cover back on. Yay # 4.

These may not seem like big deals to you but to me they are big. Being a widow has definitely changed my lifestyle. I now have to figure out how to do things myself, as much as I can do myself, and then go for it. I was happy with my small accomplishments and look forward to doing more.

Here are some more jungle pictures.

This first one is looking west. You can see the speed limit sign just above the hedge. The sidewalk and 5 lane road are there on south side of property. The tall grassy plant is my lemon grass.  Some of the seed stalks are about 8’ tall. There is a path between the blue bottles and the white arbor.

This is a veiw looking west of the main garden.

This is the main entry into cottage, the screened porch off the kitchen. Queen Crepe Myrtle in full bloom. When the flowers are spent, I’ll prune them off and more blooms will come.

Here’s a view of the secret butterfly garden area.

Speaking of butterflies. I ‘missed’ seeing the butterfly come out of the chrysallis. I was sitting here in my space and started hearing a racket to my right. Low and behold it was the butterfly ready to fly out of its’ enclosure. I grabbed my camera and then headed outside to let it go. Sorry for the blurry picture. The butterfly was a Polydamas Swallowtail. As soon as I got the lid open, it raced off, up, up and away.

During the rainy times, I worked on another needlework piece. This was a belated hostess and combined housewarming gift. The background color is turquoise, not that blue that the camera picked up. The couple has  some sea decor and the color of at least one of their walls is turquoise. I crocheted the fish, starfish, sand dollar and the little conch shell. There are seed and bugle beads, abalone shell bits, sea shells, fresh water pearls,  & bits of coral. It was a fun project. This was about 4”wide by 6-7” high.

It is the start of a new week and I hope it is good for all.

I will close with a poem I wrote.

***

Oh how I love to watch the butterflies,
Flitting about on wings
powered by the sun's warm rays.

From flower to flower
by the hour
they sip the sweet nectar that sustains them in their flight.

God says,
Take heed my child, as you watch these 'flying flowers'.
See how they gently, unfearingly go about their way?

They are in my care,
as you are,
even more than they.

FlowerLady
Written the morning of 16 June 2008