I went back to Adna this morning to complete
what I set out to do Monday morning (https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2020/04/a-good-change-of-plans-d.html).
I woke up to rain, and prayed the rain wouldn’t
continue all day: I slipped 'the silver fox' into the disc player, and off we went.
I did see some fallen limbs and other roadway debris along
the way – but by the time I made Winlock, the rain had dried up and stayed
gone. I was thankful.
Getting to Adna Floral was uneventful, as I’d been
that way Monday; so getting there this morning was a cinch. Seeing how busy it
was, was an eye-opener. It was never this busy when Bob and I wet together … of
course, we always went a little later in the day, like around noon. But I was
there around 10 AM. It was a hive of activity.
I found an available spot and parked:
There were a few people milling around with masks and gloves ... but not too many.
Busy place!
As soon as that pickup vacated his spot … I
backed up and reparked my car; I wanted to be sure I could leave when I wanted
to. The old guy who pulled in, and parked alongside me in my original spot, had
nearly hemmed me in with his crooked parking. And more people were zipping in
and out, and diving into any available spot that would fit their vehicle: I didn’t
want to be stuck there all day with haphazard parking – or a parked vehicle cutting off my escape route – trapping me in place.
I said a ‘Thank YOU, Yeshua!’ and carefully
backed out and re-parked where the getting out would be easier.
Inside, there were SO MANY PLANTS
TO SEE and choose from!
I love the heirloom Brandywine & Russian
tomatoes … and I did eye them quite a while, mentally weighing the pros and
cons of buying one: but there is not enough space on my lot here, at Heron
Pointe, to let them sprawl and tower. One year on Sparks Drive, I planted a Russian
Tomato plant, and it kept growing, up-Up-UP – and I kept adding more support to
shore the trunk up: I finally had to clip the top off at 6 feet and pinch
the sprawling suckers back to a manageable 4 feet, propping the limbs up with sturdy
support posts so they wouldn’t snap under the weight! candy would have a conniption
fit if anything like that happened here.
And though my garden beds were perfectly
acceptable (I kept everything compact size) in August of 2108, ron cook
did bitch and moan to candy about ‘the possibility of tomato trespass’
…
… and the stressful interaction with candy on
our front porch due to ron’s continual paranoid bitching, directly led to Bob’s
death.
And ron’s tomato plants DID encroach on our
Lot; and candy did nothing about THAT. My husband died over stupid shit while
the manager pampered her pet friend.
Stuffing the emotion rising up at that memory
(I do not want to give way to hate – justifiable as it may be), I quickly moved
on to find more suitable tomatoes that wouldn’t give the neighbors – or the Park
manager, heart burn:
The best tomato, hands down! Someone else will enjoy them ...
Also excellent. Another family will reap their bounty ...
Goliath Tomato plant.
Romano Tomato plant.
Tumbler Tomato plant for hanging basket.
Candy Onions. Won't make the eyes water too much, and they taste sweet.
Red Ring Onions.
My selections made – the veggie transplants I
set out to get … and some extra things that caught my eye: and tallied, I
overshot the budget.
But I didn’t care; I’ll just rob Peter to
pay Paul with financial adjustments when I get home, and eat beans and rice for
a while if I have to ;-)
I tripled what I estimated spending ... more than I've ever spent here before. But worth every penny!
The extras are important ‘necessities’ to my way of thinking right now. Retracing my route instead of taking the long way home, shaved off an hour's time. And I parked with 3/4's tank of gas - saved $$ too, which is important considering the $$$ I dropped with my haul.
Slipped Van Morrison in the disc player and headed home (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOmSNfgXy14)
Coming into Vader a little out of Winlock, on
the way home; I was following a loaded log truck, and realized there were no
wrappers on that load. So, I eased back the “2 car lengths” … and then some. If
that load decided to shift, I didn’t want to be anywhere close to it ...
Bob was applauding my safe distance stance ... he always nagged me about creeping up on backsides. Today, I wasn't creeping - I was worried enough to stay back.
I was glad to park in the car port at home
and unload my haul ;-)
Now, I can get started preparing my garden
beds for planting :-D I had been putting that off until I made the drive to
Adna – I know once I start prepping beds and transplanting seedlings, I’ll be
stoved up for a few days; driving that long a distance with a miserable lower
back and aching legs/shoulders would not have been enjoyable.
But now that I have my tomato and onions
transplants – as well as the seedlings I started on my window sills, I can get
busy outside. And if I’m moving in slo-mo, and ‘ooh!ing’ and ‘ow!ing’ following
a day in my garden area, it won’t put my overall plan on hold:
My haul.
BIG box of colorful flowers: I like trailing petunias in my garden beds. And there is no such thing as ‘too many’ geraniums ;-)
The tomatoes and onions I actually went to Adna for ... LOL
The Adna Floral open-market is a bit of a Flea
Market too.
I like flea markets. I like Garage Sales. I
like Thrift Stores.
Bob didn’t: he’d go with me, but he didn’t like
them. When we were first married, he grumbled – a LOT – and stayed in the pickup
while I “shopped” 2nd hand and castoff ‘goods’. And because I was
spending Bob’s $$, I was careful to buy things that benefitted both of us …
which was very little. We didn’t agree on a lot. We agreed we loved each other
and wanted to build a life together; but that was about the extent of our
agreeableness.
BUT, today I was on my own – so I bought some
second hand goods that appealed to me and will aid in kick-starting my new
life. I bought things that are a shadow of things that mean something to ME,
personally.
And I didn’t feel a bit guilty about the
added expense. Everything (including the plants) was reasonably
priced - $5 or less: but those $5 add up ;-)
I snagged a few more terra cotta pots, and
some decorative dodads ...
I couldn’t pass this duck pair up: I had to bring them home with me.
Everyone here at the Park decorate their lots
with herons and flamingoes; and herons are nice – and flamingoes are humorously
campy … but I’m not much of a follower.
I choose ducks to decorate our Lot. Ducks
mean more to me, personally. I have always liked ducks: and Bob and I used to
hike the dikes, watching the ducks, and throwing bread heels to them. We got a
bang out of watching the ducklings when they were out and about with mama.
And honestly, I have never seen a heron … or
a flamingo … fly over the Park. I have, however, seen strings of ducks and
geese fly directly over our home; quacking and honking up a storm.
So, the duck pair came home with me :-D
After unloading everything from the backend
of the Horizon, I watered the tomato and onion starts and nestled them among the
seedlings I started myself:
And decided to clean my duck duo before
planting anything in them. I gooped them with GoJo and set them to sit a bit.
Then I brought my terra cotta bird bath inside and filled that with bleach
water to clean it for the birds and butterflies to light in ...
I had to have this little hand pump planter
too … and the oversized skeleton key. The little hand pump reminded me of my Granny
Brockway’s little red handpump she had in her kitchen; she washed her hair
every morning using that red handpump. I used to tell Bob about that, and said
it with such wishful wistfulness, that Bob actually looked for little red
hand pumps every time we went into Lowe’s. That wanting to please me, made
me love him even more than I already do.
I may repaint the pump planter red.
The skeleton key I had to have because it
reminded me of the big ring of metal skeleton keys I had collected before I met
and married Bob: I gave them to Alex later on. I don’t know if he still has
them, or what he did with them. But, I wanted this key today. Purely for
decorative purposes, shadowed by memories of a carefree time in my life.
And the decorative Bird House, too. What’s
not to like?
It 'spoke' to me ;-)
While the ducks were sitting in the
sink being stripped of dust and dirt (and whatever else accumulates in
storage), I remembered Bob had a wire brush in his tool box in the shed …
so I dug around until I found it, and got busy ‘brushing’ the rust off the wire
plant stand I use under my terra cotta bird bath: I have been wanting to do
this for years but never had the time because I was always enjoying my time
with Bob and the grandkids underfoot. Now I have the time.
So, I did it this afternoon.
I had bought a green plant stand at Adna
Floral Market to repaint, so I’ll paint both of them sometime before this month
moves into next month. I have an idea of how I want to repaint them … we’ll see
how that goes ;-)
Ready for painting ...
1 to go on the front porch with plants on it ... other to be used with the bird bath; after they are repainted..
Wire brush returned to the tool box, and shed
locked tight, I came inside again; and rinsed/dried the ducks off – and emptied
the bleach water from the bird bath, giving it a thorough rinse to make sure
there is little bleach residue left on the patina:
I felt happily accomplished as Suppertime
approached :-D
Meanwhile …
Americans need to have the States opened us
and the economy picking up. I can personally state that WA’s governor, narcissistic
inslee has done more to hurt Washingtonians with his power grabs, than he has
claimed to help Washingtonians. And now he has entered into a
governor-based-pact with Anti-American calimexarabia, and stoner state oregon, in
overstepping governing bounds and stomping all over our Rights – this is NOT
okay; these power-hungry governors are making decisions based on their political
aspirations; not on what is best for The People. This is unacceptable. inslee needs
to be voted out. Asap.
inslee enters into pact with
governors –
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/apr/13/gavin-newsom-kate-brown-jay-inslee-announce-califo/
And these 3 stooges are not the only governors using their position
to browbeat their state’s inhabitants:
The States NEED to BE OPENED – and the
nonsense needs to stop! Lives are seriously being damaged over political
hysteria running rampant in this Election Year when practically every elected
official is up for re-election across the board …
Trump is being pressed to restart the economy pronto –
physicians are ‘extremely angry’ over CDC Guidelines for testing
that is hampering every aspect of American lives –
https://www.foxnews.com/media/dr-nicole-saphier-physicians-extremely-angry-over-cdc-testing-guidelines