Home garden

It started a few months ago …

It began as a simple search for the perfect lamps for my bedroom. Not a hard thing to do. Just go to a couple of stores, check out their inventory, compare prices, pick one, and done.

Five stores later …

So, now I’m online and looking for a bargain on a great looking pair of lamps. But not just any old lamps will do. I’m pretty picky when it comes to lamps. Okay, I’m picky about a bunch of stuff.

Anyhoo, after wading through a gazillion websites, I narrow the field down to ceramic lamps with cylindrical shades. Easy, right?

Wrong. If i like the lamp, it costs too much. If it’s priced right then it’s not quite right or even just plain ugly.

The quest continues …

Just when I’m on the verge of throwing in the towel (but, don’t get me started on towels), I walk in to J. C. Penny and there it is. The lamp of my dreams. In two colors – ivory or the perfect green. On sale!

Guess how many they had in stock?

Yep, one is ivory and one is green and of course I need two the same color.

So, back to the Internet …

Found ’em. Bought ’em. Got ’em in three days. Not a chip or dent anywhere.

Who knew the JCP I grew up with, the store where my mom bought all our school clothes eons ago, has such nice stuff — and so reasonably priced, especially when on sale.

Perfect!

Full disclosure …

I realize this sounds like an ad for JCP but it isn’t. I do not work for or have any association with JCP other than as a customer. Though I love the lamps I found there, their store service could be improved. If they’d been on their toes, the store clerk would have at least offered to order them online for me.

Not so perfect.

There is So Much to Know About Lamp Shades. (rhiannonsinteriors.com)
Today Marks Lava Lamps’ 50th Year of Lighting Up Your Parents’ Basement (gizmodo.com)

I’m lucky in that I get to work at home a couple of days a week. One of the nicest things about working at home is the view — my garden. Granted, it’s not the biggest or best looking garden in the world, but it sure beats the heck out a gray office wall.

You see, I live in a condo that’s a townhouse with a small garden area that is mostly my patio with a couple of small flower beds on either side of it that is wedged in between my house and carport. My love of gardens was a gift from my mom and my small garden is precious to me.

The flowers …

I supplement the flower beds with containers of flowers scattered all around.

I like my garden. It’s peaceful. It’s sunny during the day and shaded in the evening. It’s homey. It’s mine to do with as I please. (Well, technically, the bank owns a small part of it, but it’s mostly mine.) One of things I like most about my little garden, and gardens in general really, is the art folks place within them.

The art …

We all have our preferences for garden art. Some of us like statues of Greek gods and some like little bunnies.

Me, I like them all. For example, I like vintage plant stands and almost anything done in wrought iron, especially wall art. I like kitties, and bunnies, and turtles, too. I adore my St. Francis statue and my rusted tin cat.