Busy here and there

This morning's sun turned to angry clouds and then it started raining, just after lunch when I was planning to go downtown to my garden plot. I even had the tomatoes and basil all ready to put into the car. Guess I'll wait til tomorrow.

Yesterday, Paul and I made a self-watering planter for a cherry tomato plant. It required only one trip to the hardware store because I already had two large white plastic buckets that my friend and former neighbor Lori got from Ben & Jerry's. One sits inside the other, with a "wick" (a former ricotta container) inside. The top bucket and the wick have holes punched in them for bringing the moisture up to the plant. There's a piece of plastic pipe (that's what I got from the hardware store) that one uses to fill the reservoir below. Today, I received the latest issue of Sunset magazine which has directions using a nicer plastic pot. While they aren't decorative, the ice cream buckets should work just as well. I'll take a picture if it ever stops raining. Yesterday I also bought some impatiens for my flower boxes out front and some pink geraniums and lobelia for a pot for Mildred's grave. They look very pretty together.

This morning I put together another raffle basket for the library, featuring two new, autographed copies of books by Barre authors Russell Ashe and Russell Belding. Ashe is a firefighter whose crusade for upgraded fire detectors led to a change in the building code. His book is The Fire that Changed Everything. Belding's book is Hidden History of Barre, Vermont, and includes tidbits from various newspapers from the city's growth period - the late 1800's to early 20th Century. Along with the books are some historical notecards, a historical poster, a gift certificate to the Bag Ladies Cafe, and a gift certificate for a free car inspection from AJ's Sunoco. Best of all, there's a Live Free or Pie t-shirt from the Wayside Restaurant. Drawing will be July 27 after Russell Ashe's talk at the library - I'll ask him to do the honors.