I recently took time out from my hectic paintball schedule (I'm the one in the camo pants) to refocus on my Florida home projects.
After years of shelling out big bucks for custom-mixed paints that ended up looking like Pepto Bismal or diaper goo once I got them on the walls, I learned a trick from a friend and the beauty of the trick is that it isn't a trick at all: go to the stores, buy the mistinted paints, mix 'em together until you get something you like and save the leftover mixture in case you need to touch anything up in the future. Thinking back, I feel kind of ridiculous for wasting so much money on paint. Every so often, the register at Lowe's will even kick out a rebate form and I get back 100% of what I spent. Can't beat that deal!
So I'm driving along, thinking, "I sure wish I had a mirror for the back wall of that room I just painted," and Voila! I found a big mirror in someone's trash pile.
I scoured my yard for lightweight untreated scrap wood (untreated since the mirror is going inside my house) and quickly fashioned a frame. The mirror is secured underneath by reclaimed metal mending plates and the base of the frame, while unattractive, is solid.
Then I got out the jigsaw and went to town on some thin cedar scrap that Mike had given me to burn in the chimenea. It won't be featured in anyone's MOMA but for zero $$$ and a couple hours of work, I think it's kinda cool.
Speaking of "kinda cool", after 5 years of ownership I just discovered where the special character function is on my Macbook Pro.
Today is the first day of the rest of my life.
My brassavola nodosa is in bloom again. This beautiful, night-scented orchid is consistently hailed as an easy-to-grow-perfect-for-beginners orchid. Allow me to say, I've killed several. I still don't know why this one survived but it blooms at least once a year and the little flowers release a perfume that has a kind of caramel note to it. I keep trying to define it in my mind but I need to study perfume terminology first.
The chickens "planted" some tomatoes in the mulch for me. This is the heirloom cherry tomato that produces tiny, succulent fruits and that I long ago forgot the name of so I nurture it whenever a plant appears. These have been imprisoned behind chicken wire for their own safety and have already set several fruits. Fingers crossed that I get them before a frost!
I harvested a calabaza (there's still about 10 more in the yard) and prepared it by frying up some onions and garlic in bacon drippings then tossing in the cubed squash and seasoning with a little apple cider vinegar and brown sugar. Yum!
I decided not to feel guilty for only having a few servings of squash from each behemoth calabaza. My body begins to reject squash after 3 servings in a row but the chickens never tire of it so we share.
And always the quandary of that damn papaya tree. I have mollycoddled that thing and it's paid off up to the point of it being covered in fruit but actually getting to enjoy eating the fruit has evaded me. They are taking their own sweet time ripening and the first 2 that showed a blush of color revealed rotten interiors brought on by insects burrowing through the bud end. The third fruit, while very small, was perfect inside! Finally! I ate the whole thing with a spoon, scooping it right out of the rind, while I watched Mike and the boys practice painful-looking wrestling moves on my yoga mat.
The tree has also developed a serious tilt and if I don't decide to stake it soon, it will topple.
Amidst everything else, I squeezed in some fossil jewelry time. I donated 3 pieces to the fossil club for the monthly raffle and when the club president mentioned holding them back for the silent auction at the December Fossil Fest (yes, there is such a thing), I told him I would make a few necklaces for that, too. Done!
Now, I want to get that Christmas tree put up!
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