Day 110: A Visit to Home Depot

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 110: A Visit to Home Depot

Now that spring has finally sprung in Toronto, Dieter and I took a trip to Home Depot to buy flowers for the balcony. It’s a trip that I love, although it’s also a bit frustrating. There are so many flowers to choose from, but that I can’t have because many them are toxic to cats. Since I put safety before beauty I stick to petunias.

The petunias were on special actually with a sign that said ‘2 for $11’. I couldn’t believe my luck, two whole trays for $11! As it turned out, the sign was a bit misleading. It wasn’t two trays for $11, it was two baskets for $11 and each tray contained three baskets.

In addition, we also bought two hanging baskets with petunias, a basil plant (because I love, love, love basil), two tomato plants and potting soil.

Total cost: $135.

Before leaving Home Depot we also looked at a new chandelier for the dining room. The chandelier we have in the dining room now is beautiful, but a big pain in the you know where. It’s one of those crystal chandeliers with lots and lots of bells and cleaning them takes hours and hours.

First, the chandelier has to be disassembled, then I wash the bells in hot water with detergent, then to give the bells their shine I rub each individual one with lemon juice, and then the chandelier has to be assembled again. Like I said, it’s a pain, so we decided to look for something else.

While Home Depot had a number of nice chandeliers on display, none of them actually stood out. A few of them were very nice but were made up of crystal bells, and I’m not falling for those again.

Next, we wanted to look at ceramic tiles for the kitchen and balcony. Dieter found some very nice tiles for a reasonable price, but before buying, he would have to measure both areas to know how many square meters we need to cover.

While in the tile section, we also looked at backsplash tiles for the kitchen and that’s where I got into a spot of trouble. I saw some beautiful white and blue glass subway style tiles and got all excited because the price was a mere $5,99. I was all ready to put the tiles in the trolley when Dieter took a closer look. The price of the tiles was not $5,99 per box, but $5,99 per tile. Oh, well that changed things a bit.

It got better though, before leaving Home Depot, I went to look at the kitchen displays. With the first one I saw it was love at first sight: beautiful white cabinets, a generous granite sink, drawers that smoothly opened and closed, it was a dream. I looked at the price tag and saw $2,000. Hm, a bit expensive for six cabinets and a sink.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” I turned to Dieter.

“It is,” he nodded, “but way out of our price range.

“$2,000 isn’t that bad,” I said. “It looks like really good quality.”

“$2,000? Mom put your glasses on,” he said. “This kitchen isn’t $2,000, it’s $20,000!”

Since I couldn’t believe that this kitchen could cost that much I dug into my bag for my glasses and had another look … Dieter was right, these six cabinets and sink were indeed $20,000. OMG!

A cab took us home, we lugged the flowers and soil upstairs and placed everything on the balcony. The soil on the ground, the trays with petunias on the ledge and the baskets on hooks in the ceiling.

And would you believe it, Halley was scared of the baskets. More than just scared, she was petrified. She was fine with the soil and immediately rolled around on the bag. She didn’t mind the trays with petunias, whom she sniffed. But the baskets … oh no, she wanted nothing to do with those.

Dieter picked her up to let her get acquainted with the flowers and … oh no, she struggled to get out of his grip. 

Fortunately, her fear didn’t last long. After only a few days she realized that those flowers meant her no harm and now she quite okay again to go out on the balcony and enjoy the sun. She loves to roll around on the floor and would you believe it, her white coat stays spotless. You try doing that in a white outfit …

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How to effectively get rid of weeds

Summer has arrived in Toronto. Finally. There is some confusion about the temperatures though. While the weather channel on TV predicts 34 degrees C (93.2 degrees F), according to my phone, the maximum temperature for today will be 30 degrees. Either way, it’s hot.

The 2016/2017 winter wasn’t a bad one. It was cold, but the temperature rarely dipped below -15 degrees C, (5 degrees F), and we only had a couple of inches of snow. All in all, a nice, mild winter.

Nevertheless, Torontonians were happy when spring arrived, looking forward to green grass, leafy trees, and colorful flowers.

It was a cool spring though. While other years we moan and groan about the heat by the third week of May, and can’t wait for the air-conditioning to be switched on in our condo building, this year we needed heating rather than cooling.

If you think I’m kidding … I’m not. Last week it was 9 degrees C, (48.2 degrees F). Does that seem like spring to you?

From what I heard Calgary had 30 degrees C, (86 degrees F), so did New York and Chicago. A friend in Chicago was actually complaining about the heat. I wasn’t sure if I should pity or envy her.

To make matters worse, it was overcast in Toronto and raining. Not buckets of water, but a steady drizzle. Combine the cold with the wet and you get miserable days.

While I like dark, rainy days, I wasn’t in my element last week. My hands were cold, my nose and ears were cold, I was wearing a woolen jacket, and my legs and feet were covered with a blanket. If anyone had seen me, they would have thought it was February instead of June.

The flowers on my balcony looked equally miserable, but now, after just one weekend of sunshine and a bit of heat, they seem happier.

The petunias especially seem to thrive. In previous years, I had them up on the ledge, where they got full sun, but they didn’t seem to like that. Now that they are on the floor, where they get no sun at all they seem to do better.

In addition to flowers, I also bought a basil plant. I love basil, but the local supermarket constantly is sold out of this herb. So I got my own. Now when I make a salad I can just step outside, snip some leaves off the plant and I’m all set.

(Basil plant in background)

I was just thinking yesterday how wonderful it would be if I could grow other things like potatoes, carrots, bell peppers, strawberries, etc. Unfortunately, living in a condo with just a balcony, that’s not possible.

Many years ago, we moved into a house with a rather large garden. The garden was overrun with weeds though. My dad told me there were two ways to effectively get rid of weeds … plant potatoes or plant green string beans. We opted for string beans.

Before long it was time to harvest. I filled a few buckets with beans, blanched them and put them in the freezer. After 50 packets I was done, but my string beans were not, they kept on producing and producing. After harvesting some more I gave string beans to my family, friends, and neighbors.

When they too let me know that they had enough string beans in their freezer I put the veggies out in buckets on the street with a sign “FREE – PLEASE TAKE”.

I can’t remember just how many families I fed that year but eventually, the string beans stopped producing and when the plants were removed there’s wasn’t a weed in sight.

So if your garden is plagued with weeds, plants some potatoes or string beans. After the final harvest not only will your garden be weed-free, you’ll have food in your freezer (and in that of your family, friends, neighbors and who knows who else) in the process.

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