Yet Another Collection

My grandmother always kept a bottle of Eyebright Herb Powder and a couple of eye cups in her bathroom. The box said to rinse your eyes daily with the mixture and your eyes would be bright and have a healthy sparkle to them.

My sister and her friend made eye washing part of their Saturday night ritual when getting ready for the movies. They would pinch their cheeks to make them have a healthy rosy glow, add red food coloring to their lips and a dab of baby oil in the center of them to make them look pouty. Then, they would choose just the right clothes to wear. In the 1950s, really, the only choices to make would be which style of shirt and whether to wear saddle shoes or penny loafers. This was the norm--but grandmother always insisted that the penny be replaced with a dime, just in case we needed to call home! I never used the eye cups after watching Sis scream while using the mixture and after her eyes turned red. After that, eye washes were with plain water. I aquired my grandmother's eye cup after our family estate auction in 1993. That was the start of this collection.




This is a two-piece eye cup with a removable metal cup. It is marked Lavoptik Eye Wash. It is a beautiful cobalt blue. I found this one at a yard sale, and the rest of my collection was purchased at antique stores in the next decades. I stopped the collection after I retired in 2003, although I still look for them when I go into Goodwill or the occasional antique store.




I think the one without the stem was my Grandmother's eye cup. This is my favorite collection out of the many things I've collected. I seem to dust them most often, anyway.

The cobalt blue cup has a gold trim around the top.

I'm not sure if any of the eye cups are valuable. They are small and don't take up much space, so I just keep them next to the small perfume bottle collection, the pill box collection, the brooch collection, button collection, teapot collection, and finally, a pinback collection!

Oh My!

“If I can put one touch of rosy sunset into the life of any man or woman, I shall feel that I have worked with God.”

- G. K. Chesterton

Mish Mash Mixture of Micellaneous

My small backyard flower garden is doing well right now. The lawn is green, the flowers bright, and all is well in Pudgeduck's World.

Remember perfect Daisy? See her big smile? Daisy says HI! She has a new home with my daughter now and is a very happy dog! My daughter offered to dog-sit while the newlyweds honeymooned in Paris, and that was that. Since my grand daughter and her new husband have three other dogs, they decided to let Daisy go, which seems to agree with her wholeheartedly. Probably because she is more the center of attention at my daughter's place.

I bought this blue hibiscus couple years ago knowing that I didn't have any room to plant it. I surprised my daughter by planting in her front yard. It's in full bloom now and it will bloom far into the summer. I wonder if it will survive another transplant-it needs to come home!

Guess Who?

Guess who is back?

My sunflowers were up about 5 inches--looking good--until this morning. The grey squirrel ate the tops off every one of them! I chased him away and I think he has been residing in Turr Tull's house. That night he ran back into the turtle hole opening.

Chihuly and Trains--What a Combo!

In December, the first 20-mile starter line of the Metro Light Rail system opened in Phoenix after years of construction. Aiyana, her daughter and I decided to take the Rail this week. It connects Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa. The Light Rail was something we wanted to try out, so we drove to Phoenix to hop the train. Our intention was to take the Rail to Desert Botanical Garden and beyond. We wanted to see Chihuly's glass display that is featured there until May 31. This event has been a sell-out every day since the opening in December. We spent most of the day meandering though the many trails that are filled with desert plants and the exhibits, then went back to the Rail by shuttle and finished up our round trip by going on to Tempe, then back around to the car.



I've included quite a few photos of the sculptures . They are affixed to specially engineered structures that dominate large exterior and interior spaces. They are placed throughout the garden among the cacti and wildflowers, making a dramatic beautiful display.

Click to enlarge any of the photos.


The lone indoor display. A whole wall was filled with these dish shaped scultures.

Canoe full of giant marbles!

A few hedgehog cactus in bloom. The purple flowers are striking!!

I like this unusual marking of the red creeping prickly pear.

Out of the ordinary--a crested Saguaro.

WHITE BELUGAS

DESERT TOWERS

NEODYMUN REEDS

SAFFRON TOWER

Another great March day!!!!!!

Out and About

Saturday I spent most of the day volunteering at our annual Cactus and Succulent Society show and sale, held at the Desert Botanical Garden. I snapped just a few photos of cactus or succulents that caught my eye.

This one is just plain mean looking! I don't know how in the world they potted this one without breaking off some of the spines!

I like the way these cacti are arranged in this limestone rock.

This succulent one won a blue ribbon--I thought it was striking. I didn't get a name on this one--I wrote it down but lost the note. LOL! It was a fun day with perfect weather. The garden is so beautiful and peaceful this time of the year. Aiyana, her daughter and I went again on Tuesday to see the Chihuly glass exhibit, with glass sculptures placed throughout the garden. Gorgeous stuff, but that will be tomorrow's blog post!

I always reward myself with a new pot from the Mike Meridian collection at the sale. This is my fourth one and I noticed that all I have chosen have legs.


I bought this cactus at the sale. Unfortunately, when they potted it for me they forgot to include the identification tag. All I remember is it's a Mammillaria. I love the dark orange flowers!

I Love My Garden--Especially in March

I purchased the above unidentified mammillaria (maybe M. kissingiana) last month from Lowe's for only $6.00. It is about 5 inches tall and 7 inches across. It started blooming two weeks ago. Such a deal!

The Mother 0f Thousands plantlets were free for the taking at our last month's cactus society meeting. I filled a strawberry pot with them and they look like they are like their new home. The plants have grown a lot and are already filling in!

Another single plant coming up in my garden. It is in a protected area with only a couple hours of sun. Could this be the lost Zinnia? Please let me know if anyone knows what this is.

Java Jolt is History

Changing from Whole Bean, Fresh-Ground, Extra-Bold Starbucks French Roast Coffee to Folgers Mild 1/2 Decaf with the idea that I would sleep through the night (and well into the morning for that matter) did not work. No such luck! Although it hasn't made any difference in my sleeping habits (or lack thereof) or lower my blood pressure one iota, I decided to continue to drink the lifeless, tasteless, dreaded impostor! Looks like we are going to see a lot of sunrises!

One Fine Day

This is the only good thing about not being able to sleep- I'm always up to see the sunrises! I expect this beautiful sunrise to reveal a splendid day!!!

This beavertail cactus has a lot of baby pads growing on its plump, swollen pads. Sometimes I see other beavertail cacti with shrunken up pads, and I like mine better!

The yarrow that I planted last year and never sprouted decided to come up this year instead. Better late than never I guess.

Blue Elf Aloe has beautiful bloom stalks and flowers--no matter what my camera shows. Trust me!

A few of my first wildflowers blooming in the front courtyard area. Some of these may be weeds for all I know.

Penstemon seeds were planted two falls ago, but they never produced much, and didn't get more than a few inches high last spring, but this year they are huge and coming up everywhere! The Desert Bluebells didn't bloom this year. Last year they were everywhere--go figure!

Fruit is still on the Barrel cactus. Brittle Bush is almost in full bloom! I have two plants that are growing on two mounds in my front yard. My neighbor's Brittle Bush plant seeds blew into my yard and the seeds picked two perfect spots to grow. They look as though they were professionally planted. It seems Brittle Bush do that. So do Desert Marigolds.

So far it is a splendid day! Now, if I could just sleep at night.