Lowe's

I hadn't planned on going to Lowe's yesterday.  I'd planned on staying home and watching movies, knitting, and generally just resting.  But when I got up, the morning was just chilly enough to make the coffee taste extra good, the skies were clear and blue, and the road was calling my name.

It was a call I couldn't resist.

After a brief stop for gas, I hit the road. .  I found a church service on the radio, set the cruise control,  and headed to Batesville.   First stop once I got there was the Batesville Walmart.  I checked out their garden center, but they have less than the local Walmart does.  I also took a moment to look for some curtains for Cody's room, but they didn't have the right color.

Leaving the store without buying anything, I headed across the road to Lowe's.  I didn't rush.  I wasn't in a hurry.  I browsed their selection of curtains -- still no luck.  I looked at bathtubs, and bathroom vanities.  Planning for the future, since I want to replace all my fixtures within the next few years.  I looked at flooring, and found some that would look great in my bedroom -- but it was expensive.  I looked for paneling like what is in Cody's room, but didn't see any.

Finally, I headed on over to the garden center to get what I came for.   Naturally, I had to look around and see what plants they had.  It's still very early in the season, but they had a few things out.  I picked up two Margarita Daisies.  They'll go in my front flower bed.

I picked up a new gardenia, too. 

The ones I'd bought last year are deader'n hammers.  I think they got too much sun where I had them.  The tag says morning sun only, but I don't really have a place that gets morning sun only.  The place I'd put them only got sun until around 1:00 PM, but apparently that was still too much.  I'm going to put this new one outside my back door, and see how it does there.  It will be in shade all day, and the soil is in better condition, too.  If this one dies, too, I'm just going to give up on gardenias.  I love they way they smell, but if I keep killing them, it just isn't worth it.

I paid for my purchases, got the man to load up my mulch and garden soil, and drove across the highway to the outlet mall.  Let me tell you, it's sad.  It was once such a bustling place.  There aren't but four or five stores left.  I didn't go into any of them.  I just came on home. 

Before the storms hit last night, I got out and mulched around my marigolds.  That bag says guaranteed color for 12 months.  This stuff didn't last 12 hours. 

After the drenching rain we had all last night and most of this morning, almost all of the color has washed out of that mulch.

Well, they started up a third shift on my line, so that will cut out a lot of my overtime.  I'm going to talk to the second shift supervisor and tell him that if he needs me to stay over, I'll be more than happy to. 

If I play my cards right, I might end up with more overtime than ever.