Retirement Requirements

About nine months ago, my dad decided to retire and join my mom for long days of working in the yard, working on the farm, volunteering at a local museum, participating in the local garden club, continuing for an additional short amount of time in local politics, and just enjoying the home they have worked so hard for for so many years. We never know what we will find them doing when we show up there but you can be sure they're not idle for long in the daylight hours. (Evening hours is another story, when you will find my dad enjoying Fox News and my mom continuing to stay busy inside the house.)

They both enjoy flowers and at the moment are loving this trumpet...

They're enjoying this patio and sun room they had added in the last year. They have planted dozens of rose bushes and day lilies, added this fence, and hope to add a waterfall/fountain down the hill behind the fence.

But Saturday night when I showed up, they weren't enjoying any of the above things. They were... making bird baths. Out of cucumber leaves.


And Quikrete and sand.

I think the idea is to place them on the ground in your flower bed but they flattened out the bottom just in case they wanted to set it on a table or a stand.

Sunday, when he turned it over, this is what he had. I thought it was really pretty without pulling the leaves off.

But it is really pretty after pulling the leaves off, too. I like the way some of the green color has adhered to the concrete. I think a coat of polyurethane will finish this one off.

Since then they have made several more. One out of an elephant ear leaf that I can't wait to see.

Wonder what they are giving for Christmas this year?