Hummingbirds are now regularly using the solar-powered artichoke-shaped fountain to stop fluttering, drink, and bathe. I happened to be sitting in the best spot when I took this footage.

New location for solar spinners, and new configuration:

This was almost dismissed as a weed, was at my real home, but Shea noticed it was a tomato plant. Now it’s about to turn red, which is exciting. It’s the first tomato I’ve actually helped grow, although there were several tomato plants producing when I first moved into my home from the previous owner.

Below you can see the two solar trees that I’m testing out. Their solar panels might have been covered for months by foliage or dirt.

We brought some plants from my home to the rental to work on repotting, etc. I’m using a donated Ethan Allen dining room table as my garden table, which I feel guilty about, but it is slightly warped and the chairs that came with it had some mold, so I discarded them without thinking months ago. In hindsight, they probably would have been worthwhile to re-upholster, but things were moving so quickly right after the fire and I made a lot of rash decisions.

Everything I do in this yard is to stage for my own home. I’m trying to enjoy the serenity of it even though I resent being here. I’d rather be at my house, but there is no electricity. At least at my house, there is some outdoor furniture that is comfortable to sit on and potable water from the hose. I don’t really need wifi since I have a mobile network, but it’s just not the same.

Even some of the new furniture I bought I now have some buyer’s remorse about. For example, the extra large recliner was a death trap. I can barely get out of it with all the strength in my legs. The dining room table I bought new looked perfect in the catalog, but what I could not see was that the tiny grooves on the top do nothing but collect crumbs and make the table impossible to wipe down. It’s like going backward to a tiled countertop after having quartz.