Puzzle Prep?

Today's project--FULL of sea glass!

Happy purple bromeliad on a new table

Before Sudoku, before the Rubik's Cube, before Space Invaders, there were these little puzzles with plastic tiles in a plastic frame & they would slide in only 2 directions (evidently diagonal hadn't yet been invented in the late 60's). I don't remember the object but my fingertips have a memory of how the puzzle felt in my hands as I pushed the tiles up, down, left, right. It was really rudimentary.

Who knew I was learning such a useful life skill?  In a small house with a lot of stuff I spend a lot of time trying to create, improve or relocate some mode of storage. 

Today's project was to paint gigantic clay pots bright green & fill them with the sheer tonnage of sea glass I've collected here over the years & have been storing in tarp-covered under-bed chests on my porch. Once full, I covered the pots with sheets of plexiglass & placed some of my many plants on them. They make wonderful side tables & plant stands & they aren't about to blow anywhere in a storm. And now I can get rid of those ugly plastic chests. I used 3 med-lg & one enormous pot today & offloaded the contents of one large & almost 2 medium plastic chests. It worked so well I'll be back at Home Depot tomorrow buying 4 more pots & four more sheets of plexi. I have enough paint. 

I know these numbers will be enough to hold the contents of the remaining 3 chests because in the 70's & 80's I learned another outmoded skill: Algebra. My favorite formula is 'this is to that as that is to 'x'.   When you live in a compact home, you use that one a lot.  

Oh, & the final result of all this puzzling & calculating should be a cleaner looking porch with more usable, non-plant-covered tables. Drinks will have a place to rest, & there will be room to serve dinner for 6.  And when I'm ready to sort sea glass for my next batch of angels, jellyfish, crabs or Jumbies, I'll have a lovely & practical way to do that....and more time to play Scrabble!

A Tale of Two Turkeys, by Lea Ann Robson

Mu, who is thankful for a nap spot

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, which makes today the infamous Black Friday.  Though I’ve never been much of a ‘joiner,’ I toyed with the idea that getting up at 4am to be in line for the 5am opening of Home Depot might be fun…for a lark.  And then I woke up.

 

Let me preface by saying I LOVE HOME DEPOT.  Oh, & by the way, did I mention how much I care for HOME DEPOT?  In September of 2011, we did join the crowd thronging (whatever that actually means?) in front of the new HD here on St. Croix.  We stood in the sun in the parking lot, listened to the speeches, watched the ribbon-cutting, & got caught up in the excitement.  Excitement, I’m happy to say, that hasn’t yet worn off.  I quip to friends that I’m going to Home Depot…where (as at Tiffany’s, according to Holly Golightly) nothing bad can ever happen to you. 

 

They were kind enough to build the store just over the hill from where I work, enabling me (in the addictive sense of that word) to make an excuse to stop there two or three times a week on my way home.  I might have something on my list to legitimize the trip or more likely not, but I rarely leave without something in hand guaranteed to improve my home, my yard, or my life.  (Did I tell you how I feel about Home Depot?)

 

This morning, the lure to leave my bed at 4am was strong, as they were chumming for me with $2.50 potted poinsettias (limit 12).  Visions of red danced in my head, in window boxes on my porch railing, mounded on my stoop, EVERYWHERE I could fit a plant.  I tried to con friends into going with me to buy their ‘limit 12’ & sell them to me.  I studied the ad & made a list of other things I ‘needed’ to make me seem less silly than if I did what I was really doing— just going for poinsettias. 

 

I had a lovely plan wherein I would get up at 4, arrive at HD at 5, coffee in hand, & then be at the beach by 7 for a swim…all before work.  And then I started watching “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies” last night & when I finished at 2:30am, the plan was history. 

My Herb bed (At the far left & right edges are poinsettias)

 

And then I realized the SHOULD spell was broken…just as it had been the day before when I ignored Thanksgiving ‘peer pressure,’ worked, swam, & ate (Lost Dog Pub) pizza instead.  My one concession came from a thoughtful co-worker who brought me slices of pumpkin & apple pie.  They were wonderful, & still I’m not plagued with the guilt of a fridge full of leftovers, turkey or otherwise.    

 

As for tradition, I held to one for this holiday.  I GAVE THANKS…but then again I do that daily here.  At sunset my friends & I were in the sea watching a gorgeous raspberry-tinged sunset…& we gave thanks.  And for the freedom to think & act as we want, not as we ‘must’ here on this island of misfit toys, I give thanks again & again.