Stuff Kitty Didn't Want for Christmas

So Wisteria and I were walking to the first of two bus stops to go visit her orthodontist.  Crossing an alley I cast a sideways glance for oncoming cars.  My eyes alighted instead on a red gift bag on display. I slowed down to it pick up. It was labeled "Kitty." (No, it wasn't, it was another "K" name).

Unfortunately the slowing down made us miss the first bus, to Wisteria's chagrin.  All was forgiven when we peeked inside.  Examining the contents entertained us on our bus rides.  The brand new items included an automotive additive, electronic calendar that records and counts down to special occasions, the letter "K" to hang on a wall, Christmas pickle that yodels, car air freshener in strawberry and lemonade scents,  large plastic chips and dip dish, new nail files with college logo, reindeer ornament, wall hanging of dog saying, "The cat did it!"

Wisteria claimed the Christmas pickle and we will regift  rehome the other items to other households that may or may not pass them on.

my happy place

Warm welcome.

Painted door and window frames, baseboards one sweltering 4th of July weekend.

 

Color copied vintage barkcloth and decoupaged with Modge Podge,

then covered with polyurethane onto kitchen cabinets.

Different print of actual barkcloht on transom window from mother's basement.

Eight doors were a labor of love by proxy.

Stripped doors (sent out) sanded (dear brother), stained and varnished (hired out).

Pink and black table and chairs from antique mall a little les that $60-- a slurge.

Worn, wooden thonet chair found in alley, regret not getting the second one.

Usually in attic, brought down for extra seating.

 

 

Universal stove came with place, big and heavy, it's not going anywhere.

On wish list: vintage farmhouse sink and old fridge that latches, or lookalike.

 

God Bless our Home picture housewarming gift from my mother.

Little wood shelf scavenged post someone's moveout from alley.

 

Family pictures after autobiographical work by Cuban American photographer Tony Mendoza,

personal inscriptions/descriptions under each color copied photograph.

Surprisingly each color copy has held up well.  No fading after almost 20 years.

Southern exposure though 2 kitchen windows.

 

Green bedroom behind aloha signed door.  Dresser with serpentine fronts came with the place. 

Painted in 3 different green tones.  Wall painted with brush for a leafy feel. 

Ceiling painted soft violet with a brush as well.

Landscape from the countryside where my mother grew up.

Green table and tuffet dumpster dived or alley found.

 

Living room painted a blue from Benjamin Moore, one of my favorite cornflower blues.

Super tall palm found in alley by my brother.  Thanks!

Gorgeous living addition to the garden theme.

 

Dear sofa, I hear you calling my name.

Thift store and garage sale paintings.

 

Round artist decorated coffee table found in alley. 

Funnily, seminaked lady at 12 o'clock looks like son's former teacher. 

Added Irving Penn photo of red poppy from a Vogue magazine and cutout of son's drawing over rudest word. Poly'ed the top.

 

 

Little table was moveout gift from sister in law.

I stained with a translucent blue stain or paint hung upside down in bathroom for flamingo display.

 

Warm goodbye as well, aloha!

 

 

Back patio

Back "patio."  I put up trellises in the spring.

To the left I put up a wire trellis, thinking it would be soon covered with moonflower and heavenly blue morning glory seeds I planted, but they never "took off."
Neither did the begonias I put in the same earth box planter, maybe too much shade this year?  Several years ago they made a spectacular display.

In  the foreground, 2 pots with jasmine vines.  Fake flowers, 2 iron flamingos, wire and net trellises, Garden Goddess (Barbie), mask, wreath forms, Chinese decor all salvaged from various alley excursions. 
Witch hazel behind green chair leftover from husband's job.  Pretty purple flowers in the spring.
Chainlink fence covered in scavenged reed and willow fencing for privacy.

One end tied to the wire fence, one of our many clotheslines.  I like to use this one for hanging blue jeans, which take longer to dry, sheltered from sun and rain, a safer spot for drying, less likelihood of fading.  I also turn inside out so pockets, etc are sure to dry well.

 To the right stretching from the first floor to the second, cloth netting lending support to neighbor's planting of silver lace vine and cucumber vine.  I was surprised to find a cucumber growing overhead.

Cucumber!

Tasted great, Wisteria ate up in one sitting.

Green veil. Silver lace vine (mile a minute) and cucumber vine.

I saw a silver lace vine at a friend's house magically cover up a 3 story porch structure.  I thought it was beautiful.  Our neighbors planted it and I encouraged by putting up the trellises.  It's up to the second floor now. Such a wonderful enveloping green.  Gorgeous with the sun shining through it.  A miracle in our concrete setting.

Nighttime. Earlier in the summer. Many tomato seedlings, etc.

Wow was it a job distributing and planting so many tomato seedlings, coneflowers, mint, etc.  Why so many?  Couldn't resist. Planted some in pots, in community garden, mother's garden, at brothers, 6 hard hours,clearing big patch of golden rod, digging up thick, dense roots, getting a dermal reaction to something poison oak? poison ivy? Now clusters of green tomatoes hanging down,  Hoping the weather pushes them along to readnews  or purpleness as the case may be.

Scavanged art.  Flamingo, shadow box, welcome picture.

 

 

Flowering oleander.

Took small branch from flowering planter box downtown a couple of years ago.  Rooted in water. It's about 5 feet tall now. Underplanted with some pretty shiny leaves, Cutting from someone's houseplant, rooted in soil.  Cuttings are a good and free way to make new plants.  Good if you are addicted.  Ha ha. 

Ask permission, gardeners like to share. Or be wily if you can't ask.  I was mortified,  Once when I tried to beak off a little branch of coleaus from a parkway downtown and the whole plant got pulled up roots and all.  I kept on walking.  The security guard from the building came running after me shouting "Ma'am, ma'am" and stopped me saying it was wrong to steal plants.  Attempting to justify my not so nefarious intentions didn't work so I apologized.  A week later the landscapers tore out the whole patch and replaced with autumnal display of chyrsatemums. 

Asking landscapers for plants works as well. 
I got some awesome primary colored red and yellow tulips for my mom that way. 
They come back strong every spring.

Netting keeps decor in place and serves as trellis to second floor.

Shell chandelier glows in nightlight. 1 of 3, 2 more hanging on porch at 2nd and 3rd floor landings.

Purchased at Salvation Army years ago.

Iron chain ball fished out of garbage can about a block away several years ago, very heavy.

House legless pink flamingo.

 

Found art. Long doodled upon canvas.  Left is top. Suspended from porch railing near top of garage, draping downward to right of garage door.

 

"God forbid." Found art. Painted on side of waxed cardboard box.

Discarded, then salvaged in same location as canvas.

 

bale of straw!

wow! so we were getting a ride from a nice person in her large family van, when I spied with my little eye a lovely bale of hay sticking up out of a trash can next to a park, I had her pull over, I ran  walked back quickly and with dermination lifted the golden parcel up and out, I was very happy in spite of the plastic cords cutting into the pads of my fingers, I had read that straw was a good mulch for the garden, very hard to find in the city, not to mention hard to transport without wheels, will save in a dry place for next summer,  will be nice to save on the chore of watering our little patch in the comunity garden

autumn beauty from the dumpster

swooped by/behind local flower shop, picked up what I could reach, branches of bittersweet, dried oak leaves, bird of paradise(?), walked home with aching armful like demented fairytail babajaga carrying faggots to fuel the fire up in her house perched on chicken leg

alley finds

walking back from community garden with some of the last blooms of the season, purple asters, magenta zinnias, spicy marigolds, tarragon, and sage filling out bouquet, offering for faraway relations that have come into town, now near as well as dear, cut through alley with offspring, found clothes scattered on top of recycling can, more inside, small women's sizes, son exclaims, "those don't belong there", most frequent find tiny women's size, the particulars to day: jeans, poet top, gray wool trousers, wadded them up in spare arm, imagine that after a good wash will recycle into Halloween costume, Lord of the Rings character, maybe little monster dolls