Bloom Where You’re Planted.com

Jesse and Vanessa, the former tenants also left behind trash cans without lids or rollers. I did not want those so, after a long day at work, I dropped those off by their place too. That meant that in the morning they would wake up to find trash cans without lids and no rollers standing in their yard.

It’s one more reminder that I know where they live. ( Although it means really nothing except I hope that small conscience within them might be tapped). The Bible says we all have a “measure” of it so maybe that “measure” of a conscience will lead them to Him as God was very good to them through me.

It is not the fault of the kids that those bums are bums. In their hurry to leave the property, they left behind three kid’s bikes. For the sake of the kids, I piled those bikes in my truck and hauled them over to where Darryl and Darrel said they moved.

When I drove up, a guy in a black SUV got out and looked at me inquisitively. I explained I was there to see “Jesse”. “No Jesse lives here”, he gruffly replied. I told him that I was just here to bring the children’s bikes. He asked me to wait to see if Jesse lived there. After coming out, he explained that Jesse was not there but that I could leave the bikes. He helped me get them out of the truck and I left.

Darryl dropped by to ask me if I knew where the people who stole the aluminum moved. I did not but he drew me a visual map with his hands and soon I knew exactly where they were located. It appears they rented a place just behind Darryl and Darrel’s brother, Darrill, around the corner from the local store.

This I thought fun to know.

Is “spittoon” even a word? I don’t know but.. Darryl, the brother of Darrel walked by my rental the day after the aluminum had been taken off of the shed. I was showing a friend of mine the rental. She was dressed in Sunday best clothes. I was in my old work clothes.

When Darryl walked up, he took one look at her an as if he were tipping his hat ( he did not have one on), he said with a nod…”Mam…” and then he looked at me and said…”Yours?” I took that to mean, “Is that your property?”. I responded, “yes”.

He then said “Took it all, didn’t they?”. Again, I said, “yes”. And, then he looked at my friend and said, “Excuse me ma’m”, and spit off to the side.

Both of us about fell to the floor. Our eyes met but we did not laugh although we both obviously wanted to…..

I must be an amusement to Darryl and Darrel. As mentioned before, this is a rural area with lots of trees, cows in the nearby fields, chickens than run loose (that has a story to it…) and horses in the pasture next door.

While I work, Darryl and Darrel sit out back or on the front of their house and just watch for hours. As the hammer hits the nail (or my finger…”OUCCCCCHHHHHH!” I scream!), they just watch.

Humph!

The rental is located in a rural area. Around it are lots and lots of woods. I love the land itself. The trees are old century oaks and several are huge.

There are only a handful of homes around my rentals. At the dead end of the road there is an old house inhabited by a couple of brothers who apparently inherited the rural home place from their father. (I’m guessing).

The guys look kind of rugged, to say the least. At least one of them has a full white and gray beard. At least one of them seemingly cannot drive and I’ll bet because of alcohol problems ( I’m guessing). I know this because he either walks or rides a bike. He’s a grown man so this is a bit unusual.

When I see them in the yard or sitting on the porch, they remind me of the Darlin’ boys on the Andy Griffith show or Darryl and Darrel on the Bob Newhart Show. So, I just refer to them as “the boys” (as did Mr. Darlin’ his boys) or Darryl and Darrel when I talk about them.

After a long day at work, I went over to the rental. The days are short, being winter time and day light savings time but I feel obligated to go to see if I can get anything done. I have three vacancies and obviously that means money is rolling out but not in. Going to the rental is the only thing that will change that.

Almost every day, I go over to my rental. It’s about a 20 minute ride to get there. I listen to Gospel music or Homer Lindsay on the radio. It takes me back to the days that he was living and preaching in our church. Good memories.

Tenants moved out of a rental and literally took all of the aluminum from the lawn shed. Just around the corner from the rental is a scrap metal business. I’m sure they have my aluminum. So, I’m spending my time adding new siding.

To get the wood, I have been dumpster diving at a new project on the other side of town. I asked the foreman if I could have the discarded wood. He told me it would be fine as long as I was careful of the nails sticking up. I got a nice load of wood to start working on the shed.

In the early spring, I took a two-door shelf out of the barn and dropped it on it’s back to create a box for a garden. The garden was a boon and so when the fall came, I had an ugly metal box in the yard.

So, I bought some coleus and boom, they grew into a beautiful bunch. Here it is December, and the coleus are again, ready for a trim.

I recommend coleus. Here is what Wiki says about them:
“There are two ways to propagate Coleus. Seeds are inexpensive and easily obtainable. To germinate, simply sprinkle seeds on the surface soil and press down. Seeds need light to germinate, so avoid covering the seeds. To keep seeds moist, grow in a container and cover with plastic, or mist seeds daily (if starting seeds directly in the garden). Sprouts can show color in as little as two weeks. Alternatively, cuttings can be taken. Cuttings root readily in plain water, without the addition of rooting hormone (although it is still beneficial).”