Friday, August 7, 2020

Summer Happenings

There are a couple of people who share their coronavirus diaries with us every day.  They both add drawings to their daily happenings and make beautiful journals.  I really enjoy getting to vicariously join them in their adventures, so I thought I would share some of my "adventures" with you. 

Think of it is a "what I've done on my summer vacation so far." This replaces the photos of the month I usually present.


I bought a planter to take to my brother's funeral. I was too late to order one for delivery, so I ran out to a local nursery, hoping to find one that would be presentable. Much to my surprise, there were so many beautiful ones to pick from, and at wonderful prices. I decided to get one for my mother and sister as well as for my sister-in-law, and I got one for myself too.  My mother and sister kept theirs in their pots where they look wonderful on their respective front porches.  I planted mine in the garden. I really like the contrast between the orange and the purples.



Someone on Freecycle offered some handmade embroidered seat covers. There are about 10 of them.  He said his grandmother made them, and maybe his mother too. Mom and I drove there and got a lot of beautiful works of art.  I have to decide what to do with them now. My mother said she would take what I didn't use. I hadn't heard of seat covers, but Susan Lenz, an artist whose blog I follow,  recently worked with seat covers. Whatever I do with mine will be much simpler.


I haven't planted any food in my garden for a few years. When I am working, I have a hard time tending to the garden, and I feel great guilt in ruining food plants or wasting any of the harvest. I have been planting flowers only, which have the beauty without as much guilt.  This spring, I decided to make an exception during the coronavirus shortage situation. A victory garden of sorts. My brother-in-law planted one tomato plant and two pepper plants for me. As you can see, they are doing quite nicely, and I can't wait to start harvesting them. They are in tall pots so they will be easy to harvest.  I also got some basil after I saw it in his garden.


My neighbor was throwing away her porch coffee table. She was just tired of it, so I took it to put on my porch. I need to do some painting anyway, so it won't be any big deal to scrape and paint this too. There are flaps on both sides to add lots of horizontal space when it is necessary.


My college friend was in town and asked whether I wanted to join her in geocaching. I haven't done it much, but it is a great way to enjoy the outdoors (parks, cemeteries, other public spaces) while social distancing. You use coordinates to find the treasures which are hidden all around the world. Most of them have a log to sign that you found it, and sometimes the container also has little trinkets you can take if you want them. You can also leave other trinkets in there for others to find.  Now with smart phones, you don't even have to buy a separate GPS; you can just use the geocaching app. I've found 12, all of them with her. She has found 14,000. She said there are people who have found many more than she has!

13 comments:

Connie said...

Love your new drop leaf coffee table and will be looking forward to seeing your make over . . . be careful your neighbor may want it back, LOL.

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

I love Coleus planted in the ground or in pots. It gives you color without having to wait for blooms.

Cynthia@wabi-sabi-quilts said...

I've never done geocaching but the idea intrigues me - maybe someday when we are living in the U.S. again. Such a lovely idea to get planters for yourself and family members, to honor your brother.

Ann said...

My mother grew coleus and I always enjoy seeing it. My pepper plants are coming along but I planted them quite late. We will see how they do. Good luck with all your projects.

Susan Lenz said...

Thanks so very, very much for the nice comment on my blog but especially for linking that post to yours! It means the world to me.

I've never geocached but have been to an art residency program where several treasures were planted. It was fun to see people looking for them!

Thanks so much!
Susan

Dixie said...

What an interesting post! Really looking forward to seeing what you do with the seat covers and the coffee table.

Sandy said...

What wonderful “finds” ... I have a cushion made out of one of those exact seat covers! I wonder if they were needlepoint kits? And of course I LOVE the table. Thanks for reminding me about coleus, I’ve been pondering possibilities for the shady side of the house. Still so sorry for your loss, Shasta. The planters are beautiful. What a nice gift to your loved ones.

Kyle said...

What a sweet post to let us in on what positive things that have been happening in your life. Thanks for sharing.

O'Quilts said...

I just love this post...the table the coleus...everything...xo

tierneycreates said...

Sorry about your loss of your brother. Lovely flowers and planters in this post!

dq said...

I am sorry to hear about your brother's passing. The plants are so beautiful. It was a great idea for you to gift so many and get one for yourself.

The table you received from your neighbor is a real find. I love it and would have taken it too! Those beautifully crafted pieces for seat covers will be a joy to rescue! His grandmother/mother will be pleased they have fallen into someone's hands who will love them.

Kate said...

I hadn't thought of the current situation as an adventure, but that does put a positive spin on the different way we all do things now. Hope you've got a few more fun adventures in store before summer ends.

Tanya said...

The table is great! I bet you can really clean that up nicely. You'd better hide it because then the neighbor will want it back!

I've heard of Geocaching but alas when I checked out about any places near me in Japan the closest was in Tokyo (three hours away). I'm not sure I'd like to go prowling around looking for caches by myself but with a friend it sounds like a really fun modern day treasure hunt!