An Adventure Deluxe!

Sunday afternoon my neighbor asked me to ride with her a few blocks to visit the house below. There was an "Estate Sale" there last week. Tyra (my neighbor) went and bought a few things but there were a few things left behind she wanted to check on. As you can tell, this house is in dire need of some TLC. The original owners passed away several years ago, after owning the home for 70+ years. The remaining relatives are not interested in fixing it up and I sure wish I could afford to buy it and bring it back to it's original charm. When we arrive the gates were locked and no one was home...but we saw some friendly neighbors next door on their porch. So they wouldn't think we meant any harm, we introduced ourselves to the sweetest little lady named Lucy. This is her yard below! Isn't' it great? She has freesia, snapdragons, begonias, roses, calla lily's, calendula, pansies, herbs, hydrangea, etc,etc. and the place smells like a florist. Lucy is 80 and has a bad hip but said if WE wanted to dig anything up, she would be glad to share. And share she did...we dug for hours (her back yard is even a bigger BloomFest!)

These are just two of the eight Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow bushes she gave us that I have planted in my yard. Both Tyra and I ended up with tons of plants and I sure hope I can keep them alive. Lucy told us HER secret to gardening....it's Osmocoat (Spelling??...a fertilizer I MUST go and purchase!)

Then...as if our new friendship and all the new plants weren't enough...I came home to this bag of anemone bulbs from another neighbor!......Did I mention I have the best neighbors EVER! Carson was very curious about the bulbs and wanted to know when we were going to plant them. He even offered to DIG the hole for me....what a SWEET helper, right?? LOL!

But the BEST find EVER was found in Lucy's driveway....she was just about to drag it out for BIG TRASH DAY! I've been looking for over a year for an old bicycle that I could use as Garden Art...and lo and behold...I found this one. She WOULD NOT take any money for it. And what a lucky day that was for me because the previously mentioned estate sale had a bike like this and they wanted $75 dollars! SCORE for me with the FREEBIE!!!

As we stood in the driveway and she told stories about the bike my heart was soaring. I couldn't believe our luck, meeting this SWEET lady, getting free plants and much needed advice for them AND a chippy, old bike! She really didn't quite understand why I wanted it but I told her I would be sure and take pictures once it got set up in my yard. She was worried that the paint was chipping and tried to brush it off but I said that made it perfect!

Call me crazy but I LOVE my new bicycle! The brand is "Texas Star"....How PERFECT is THAT!??!

PS: After visiting with Lucy for almost 3 hours, the caretakers of the house next door came by and we "shopped" a little over there too. I got, but did not take a picture of, a old black bowling ball. You'll have to check back and see what I do with that! It will end up in the yard too, but it will be re-purposed......Keep guessing...it's gonna be cool! AND Tyra got some really cool OLD terracotta pots that had a lot of aging on them. They came in handy as Lucy kept loading us down with plant and plants.