TREASURES FROM THE TRIP

Do you like to bring a little gift or two home for your garden when you return from a trip? For me it wouldn't be quite right to come home with nothing. And when we take a road trip then I can fit just about anything in the truck, can't I?
But let's begin with the small things. First my Mother's Day present from Phoenix. Too heavy to send at the time it had to wait for my visit. I'm undecided yet how to display it so for the time being it is keeping company with another prickly pear from Arizona.

At the Denver Botanical Garden I picked up another little bird for the window ledge. He's also metal but staying inside.

In Telluride I spied this little prickly pear wall mount and the green man. The prickly pear is only a couple of inches tall and the green man about four inches. I need to get out the drill  and get busy mounting.

In the gift shop at the Great Basin National Park I bought two things for myself. A book mark and earrings. Of course they remind me of Ladybird Johnson and I think she would have approved of the message on the bookmark. And I shall wear those little darling little earrings when I next give a tour. Imagine, they are made from cereal boxes.

Those were fun little purchases but let's get to the real fun. Finding things at garage and estate sales. Some may be looking for antiques or jewelry, me, I'm looking for garden things. And you may wonder what we are doing going to garage sales and estate sales while on vacation. The fact is that when we are traveling in the trailer we are generally staying put somewhere over the weekend and that's when these events happen. So we went to a few estate sales and garage sales in both Montrose, Co. and Ketchum, Idaho. I like to look on these finds as my providing a good home for something that someone else once loved or used. I like practical things too.
This little cluster of metal objects caught my eye.

After a good brushing and a coat of sealant these ants found their new home on the rocks in my front garden.

The little book ends serve to hold the books I found on the trip. Of course they're all garden related.

A new bird house. I need to add some bark shingles to the roof to protect it. And two little boxes. Just a couple fo dollars each.

And judging by the numbers of hummingbirds in the garden the birds are already on their way south.

And I like to find more practical things too, like this little sharpening stone. It is really handy to carry in my pocket.

And I picked up 2 more polystyrene boxes to make more garden troughs, 2 galvanized buckets for holding plant stakes, a long window box, several protective eye goggles and two large Italian clay planters. Nothing was more than a dollar or two except the clay pots. The fun is in the hunt but now there is work to be done.