Wordless Wednesday

Third Generation

In August 2010, Yam and Spud brought home the pineapple pictured above. Our octogenarian friend John had given it to them (after Spud harvested it) as payment for helping him with his VCR. John had grown the pineapple from one he purchased at the grocery store.

We had the pineapple for dessert that evening. We all agreed it was THE BEST pineapple we had ever eaten. It was sweet and juicy...like eating candy.

John had told me to cut the top off of the pineapple and plant it (like he had done with the grocery store one) and in two years I would have another pineapple. So, I did.



It has been almost two years since I planted the pineapple's top. In those two years we've had some colder than normal temperatures and last month we had a surprise cold snap that severely affected all of my plants. The pineapple top I planted was large, lovely and healthy until the freeze came. The Colonel and I trimmed away all of the damaged parts of the plants (most are making a valiant effort at a comeback). 

The poor pineapple plant looked miserable after the "freezer-burnt" parts were cut away. I thought for sure we'd lost it.

The Colonel was watering the plants the other day and he called me over to see something.

Tucked away, down in the center of the pineapple plant was the start of a little pineapple. Our friend John had been correct when he told me that we'd have a pineapple in two years.

Our good friend John passed away last year in April and as we watch the pineapple grow we will fondly remember him.

When it is time to harvest this fruit and we eat it (I hope it will be as sweet as its predecessor), I will plant its top and grow a fourth generation pineapple in memory of John.

My Friend's Generous Gifts

Not too long ago I was at my friend's house and spied a little (barely large enough for washing two hands in at the same time) blue sink in her backyard. I thought to myself that it would make a cute, little, whimsical planter somewhere in my yard. I asked her if I may have it. I said I would pay her for it but she would not hear of it. My friend said that sink (original to her old house) had been in her yard since after Hurricane Charley in 2004, when she had her bathroom remodeled because of storm damage.

Mother Earth was beginning to claim the sink as her own. As I went to pick it up, it took me a few tries to break it free from the grass and soil that was swallowing it up. When I did finally liberate it from Terra Firma, a colony of large, red ants scurried out of the sink's overflow drain (there are still some ants inside the sink as I write this).

I will need to clean the sink up a tad before I transform it into a planter (and get rid of the rest of those ants)...I am impatient to see some pretty Impatiens growing in the sink.

The sink was laying next to my friend's screened-in gazebo. The gazebo was storm-damaged as well. The screens were torn and blowing in the breeze and much of what she had stored inside was ravaged by Hurricane Charley too.

Inside the gazebo I saw two chairs and a couch that looked interesting. They were made out of metal with a grape and leaf motif. Again, I asked my friend if I could have them, offering to pay for them. She wouldn't take anything for them either (she did take The Colonel and I up on our offer to help her clean up the gazebo. I think we will also get her a nice bottle or two of Madeira).

The Colonel and I got the chairs and couch out of the gazebo and carried them to the truck. We then loaded them into the truck's bed.

The next day The Colonel and I went to The Home Depot to pick out new cushions and a new paint color for the couch and chairs.

Before I could paint, I had to clean the chairs and couch. I scraped the old, chipping paint away and I wiped any dust, dirt and cobwebs off that I encountered.

Now to start painting. I chose a glossy spray paint called Khaki (because it went extremely well with the new cushions). I set the first chair on two sawhorses and sprayed away. In no time, I had both chairs done. I did not have time to start the couch, as it was nearing time to make dinner (I plan to paint the couch tomorrow, weather permitting).

Before





After

My friend is coming for dinner early next month and when she sees how nicely the chairs and couch have turned out I think she will be pleased. I just hope she doesn't want them back.

Wordless Wednesday

Our Little Helper

The Colonel and I have another outdoor project underway.

We are calling it Charlotte's (one of our cats) Secret Garden.

The project is the brainchild of The Colonel.

The project consists of a picket fence that partially encloses the area where his raised garden is located and a decorated, concrete post (possible sundial location). Eventually we will build an arbor at the entrance to the garden and we will also put a brick walkway within the garden (my body aches just thinking about it).

The Colonel and I are not the only ones working on the project...one of our other cats, Luna, was right there beside us.

As soon as we came home from The Home Depot, Luna jumped in the bed of the truck to check out all of the wood.

She kept her beautiful eyes on us as we were building part of the fence.

This is what we've completed in the past couple of days (thanks go out to The Colonel's father for lending us his post hole digger. It sure made our work easier and faster).

Tomorrow we will start attaching the pickets.

Stay tuned for more accounts (and pictures) of our newest, outdoor, DIY project.

Wordless Wednesday