Brugmansia-Angel Trumpets Are In Bloom

I have been putting off taking pictures of the gardens since my cameras battery compartment door is broken and taping it up is a hassle and a royal pain in the neck! I broke down and accomplished the feat this morning since some terrific storms went through last night and everything was glistening with rain drops at sunrise. Just too beautiful to pass up! This Brug was started from a cutting over the winter and placed out this spring. Sat there forever during the drought since I was busy with a full house and couldn't remember to water as I should have...after the drought ended it took off like a rocket and you see the results.

The Bamboo Jungle: Mosaic And Garden Junk Art

One Sunday while Db and I were walking around Lowes, we came upon this Styrofoam planter. Hmmmmm, we both thought, this would make a great lamp for over our picnic table in our kitchen.

Once we arrived home I immediately began the painting of the raised areas on the planter. I was really exhausted after walking around the store that morning so I set everything up on my bed on a tray and worked for the next two hours carefully painting the bamboo design as well as the bottom and top and inside of the pot. Db drilled the holes in the pot and I glued violet cellophane squares over the holes on the inside to give it a different look. I love the southeast Asian "feel" in my gardens and thought this would fit right in. On to the next project!

What a Summer!

What a spring and summer this has been! Daughter's husband lost his business after months of trying to hang on to it and I ended up with my daughter and young grands living here from mid May till almost the middle of August! We managed to keep from killing each other and actually had a lot of fun over the weeks that ensued. You learn a lot about your child when you live with them after adulthood has set in. I could see parts of me in her as well as parts of her father...Those were NOT the good parts! Ha! Ha!

This mingling of age groups allowed me to get to know my grands better and to let them get to know me past the twice a year, three day visits. I taught them how to start seeds and cuttings and how to transplant them to larger and larger pots. How important the right amount of sun and water were to each individual species and to see the joy on their faces when their Zinnias bloomed.

Art is also a big part of mine as well as my daughters life. We are both selling artists so paint and clay came into the picture on almost a daily basis. My daughter made comical heads of each of us as a keepsake that were surprisingly life-like and very colorful. I am going to make cloth bodies for these heads and turn them into dolls over the winter.


The drought ended shortly before my daughter moved back to N.E. Georgia where she was starting college to finish up her RN degree and the kids to a new school year. We had many a good time sitting out on the back porch with either coffee, an herbal iced tea, or an ice cold Corona talking about gardening, cooking, and life in general. We came to know each other on a new level and I think this time together taught us a lot about each other and our rolls as mother/daughter. I learned to keep my mouth shut on things that she needed to find out for herself and she learned that others could reprimand her children with the same love that she did in her own home.

I think every mother and grown daughter should live together for a few months once in their lives. It teaches you so much about each other and forms a bond that will last forever. It's one of those cases of "that which doesn't kill you makes you stronger" type deals....Later gator!