Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Book Bargains, Saving Cordayline & a Peek at the Hydrangea Christmas Tree

I bought a bunch of books at Saturday's VFW bazaar.  Can you believe I bought "The Help" for just 50 cents? I did not see the movie, so it will all be new to me. The other books were just a quarter each. Once I get my decorating done, I can sit beside the burlap lamp (which gives off a lot more light) and read some Christmas stories.
It was quite the day for bargains. At various sources, I also got all that fabric in back of the books.


Saturday I  removed the last three big containers from the garage sides and the front porch. They still looked good, but I wanted to have it all done before the snow flies.  I could not bring myself to yank this big cordayline out.  A couple of you told me it would survive down to 10 degrees, so I thought perhaps I could overwinter it in the garage beside this window where it will get a bit of light.
The garage never gets below 30 degrees. Do you think it will live through the winter?  It's worth a try as I would sure love to be able to start this container with it as the centerpiece next spring.

 Here is a sneak peek of the hydrangea Christmas tree :
I find the muted colors very hard to work with. I spent two hours after work (not my high energy time!) on this little tree. Yesterday I had put some pink balls on. Today I felt they were too pink. I had to haul out at least a dozen boxes before I found these muted pink glass balls which work nicely.  I originally had  white pearls hanging from the branches, but they were way too pure white.  So back down to my very own Christmas ornament store (the basement) I went in search of something else. I found one strand of light blue beads.

 I thought the color worked, so I just cut them off and laid them over the branches.  I cut up some light pink beads and did the same. Then I quit for the night.  I thought this little tree would be easy peasy, but with all the changes I have already made, it is beginning to take more time than I want to give it.   Most of the time involves lugging up boxes from the basement and then hauling them back down.  Hate that part!!

9 comments:

  1. You got some great books there. Nora of course is one of my very favorites. I've read everything she has written and that's a good series. The other books are good also.

    Not sure about the plant. Most that are suppose to go dormant can be brought in the garage and will grow next Spring thinking they are in a zone a couple digits up from us so sure worth a try.

    I like the muted pink on the bulbs.
    Cher Sunray Gardens

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  2. wow you got some good bargains on those books...I saw the movie The Help...now I want to read the book to compare..

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  3. I can't wait to see the whole thing. You are so lucky to have a good stash of ornaments.
    So , did you actually dig up the plant to store it over the winter?

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  4. Love the colors on your Christmas tree, looks beautiful!

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  5. Zoey, Your Christmas tree is lovely. I'm not sure how I'm going to decorate mine this year.
    Great books you found. I have read lots of Nora Roberts but none of those. I just got "The Help" from the library yesterday. I wanted to read it after having listened to it on tape on the drive out to New Hampshire.
    Have fun reading.

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  6. I think the cordayline will be fine! Hold back the water and keep it out of direct freezing winds and you might force it to go dormant, then take it out in the spring and it will wake up!
    I could not believe you spent all that time on your tree! I love the muted colors, they are romantic and they contrast the garish primary red and green that is so typical! If you don't like it, you can bring it here! So far, so good!

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  7. The tree looks very pretty with your special garden and improvised touches.
    You did get a nice array of books. I haven't read or see 'The Help', but heard the book was really good. Enjoy!

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  8. I've read The Help but haven't seen the movie. Anyway it looks like you have enough reading material for those evenings when you just want to curl up with a book.
    Tree looks beautiful, Zoey..I like the beads!

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  9. Don't you love getting books at such a great price?! I was looking at a couple of Christmas stories while at the Pharmacy the other day but I refuse to pay the price they ask for books. I need to go to the thrift shop this weekend to see if they have any!!

    I think your plant should do fine in the garage over the winter, especially since it will have some light and won't freeze.

    From what I can see of your tree in that picture, it will look gorgeous but then I had no doubt it would:-) xoxo

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