good right now. Bulbs: If you remember last spring, we were victorious over the rabbits and got to enjoy the many tulips we planted before. That gave me the drive for more bulbs. Last Saturday, the "I heard it on the radio" special at Prairie Gardens was 1/2 price bulbs. So off we went to Prairie Gardens (Aidan and Ava were with us overnite.) Aidan helped me plant while Ava and Georgia did "girlie things". Aidan got to experience progress in my bulb planting technique. Many of the tulips were planted with the help of older grandkids in years past using the "typical" bulb planters. First there was the simple hand planter that works well, but takes hand strength which neither Aidan and I were ready to to show off. A couple of years ago, I graduated to the "step on" model", hanging with the shovels. Well, while we were shopping, I heard someone talk 
about the augers, which I had heard about before, but felt it 
was not necessary. Since I'm still recovering from carpal tunnel release surgery 
and my strained intercostals, I decided it was time to "go modern". The auger is run by a drill, but really sucks the juice out of rechargables. After cycling my 3 drill batteries several times, I decided it was worth it to bring out the corded 1/2 inch drill and power cord. With this new experience, if you have lots of bulbs to plant, I recommend the auger, and a corded drill. So what did we plant? 24 alliums and 345 crochus bulbs. So if you are in the neighborhood, trusting that I did it right, I can keep the rabbits off them, and God is willing, you can watch with me early in the spring to see just where we put all of the bulbs that will hopefully be the first sign of spring. If it all works out, I will probably post pictures next spring. 
Stripper time! As you know, we are presently helping Georgia's mom, Bea, move out of her appartment and in with Georgia's sister Nan. In that process, there are several things being "passed on" to family members. During this process, many of the things moved out of Bea's appartment are now in Nan's garage. Nan has a goal of being able to garage her car this winter.
In Nan's garage, was a "kitchen cupboard" that I remember being on the enclosed carport at the lake cottage (yellow at the time), then at 316 East North A street in it's turquoise state. It has been sitting in Nan's garage for the past several years. My mom had one just like it in the "back room". There is a roll top in the upper component along with a metal flour bin. Mom's was white and I will have to check with my sister, Barb to see what happened to it... my memory has lost it. Maybe we left it with the house?? Well, to get to the point, the turquoise one from Nan's garage apparently belonged to 
Bea's grandmother. I brought it home and am now in the process of stripping the many layers of paint off it to get to the beautiful oak. One interesting thing is that somewhere betwen the layers of paint, there appears to be a fruit decal on each door. I though maybe it was on the oak, but it seems to be nearer the "surface". I'm tempted to press Bea to find out when each of the layers of paint that she remembers were applied. The light tan one seemed to be the first after the varnish, and really sticks. Some 
of these pictures show the decal on one door. So you guessed it. the strippers are to remove the paint. At my age, this is the most exciting stripper I can deal with. A good thing, I guess.As Georgia left to go back to Gas City, she left me with a few projects. One was to fill the kitchen windowbox with a fall collection, since the flowers we had there have run their course. So here are pictures from outside and from the kitchen. I put them here primarily for her benefit, so she can let me know if I have "dun good" or 
if I need to change it immediately. A woman's work is never done, expecially with a husband who is trying to be a decorator. Oh. One more thing to share. The irises we planted last fall were great this spring, but guess what. They are blooming again this fall... Who knew?
if I need to change it immediately. A woman's work is never done, expecially with a husband who is trying to be a decorator. Oh. One more thing to share. The irises we planted last fall were great this spring, but guess what. They are blooming again this fall... Who knew? 
