Use, Recycle, Restore

I'm all about recycling, using up, and restoring useful items.  

I've saved plastic tomato containers, tubes from paper products, and matching cans, all in hopes of making something fun with my granddaughter when she's in a creative mood. If that mood doesn't come, then the recycling bin will get them, but never the trash.  Glass jars become vases for a tiny bouquet.

One thing I like to do is cut open plastic hand lotion tubes when not one more drop will squeeze out. I cut them horizontally in thirds, then cut again along the side in order to open up each section as needed. The sections stay in a Baggie until all the cream has been wiped out. There may be another three days worth of expensive product salvaged from an "empty" tube!

I love to crochet but invariably have yarn left over from a project. I have made doll blankets, a crazy, mixed-up blanket for a granddaughter, and scarves from the remnants..  

A few months ago, we decided to replace our down comforter because each section of fill was totally bunched up, leaving many areas of material only. Not warm or comforting at all. I put it in a large bag and meant to donate it. However, as I priced new bed coverings, another plan emerged. Rescuing the cast-off quilt from the car trunk, I laid it out on my work table, and began to restore it. Sixty sections of bunched up fill, one at a time, became smoothed out and secured by running stitches of strong thread. We slept under it again last night! 

In the garden I enjoy salvaging a geranium or succulent stem to put in water until I see new roots growing. Then I transplant it or put it in a pot for a gift for new neighbors or someone who needs some cheer. . 

 Benefits from saving, using up, and restoring, are the good feelings which come from saving a bit of money, creative thoughts and activities, and sometimes, opportunities to brighten someone's day.

Learning From Sweet Peas

 Since my last post, the sweet peas have begun to grow earnestly. We have had the perfect mix of sunshine and rain this week, gracing all the plants equally. I haven't done a thing except to check on their progress.

Many, many of the plants have decided to grow upward, their tiny tendrils holding fast to the strings of the net where I entwined them last week. A few, such as this lovely, white sweet pea, have continued their upward climb, clinging to the net with tiny tendrils, accepting the sun's gift, and bursting into fragrant bloom.  This one has  grown far above its fellows! 

Oddly enough, about a third of the plants have set their tendrils on to other plants which are also trying to grow skyward. Unfortunately, since the plants in this category haven't found the real support, they are leaning sideways.

And then there are the poor babies which worked their way out of the net and fell back to the ground to lie flat on the dirt. They are matted and small.

Growing among the sweet peas are some impostors; gorgeous little orange flowers, but obviously not sweet peas.  Don once said that the definition of a weed is anything growing where you don't want it or didn't plant it.

I'm still working on the analogies…children, students, people in general. The sunlight, water, and soil all must have their counterparts, and perhaps the reader has thought of his or her own.  Let me know your thoughts in comments below! Thanks.