Bamboo Groove

I was scouring my house, nooks and crannies, and finally...a logical place...my wallet, to find the artist's card who made my bamboo lantern. I FOUND IT!!!
Here is what it says:
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BAMBOO GROOVE
INVENTOR OF THE GROOVE TUBE
Hobe Sound, Florida
Jaime Powell
Office: 772-546-9796
Cell 561-352-7800
E Mail: Bamboogroove@hotmail.com
www.myspace.com/bamboo_groove

Specializing in decorative bamboo accents!
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Just in case any of you would like the information. On his My Space, he has scrolling/changing pictures of all the things he makes. I enjoyed just sitting there watching for a while...I may have to go to a festival they have here on Thursday night called Clematis By Night, downtown West Palm Beach, where he sells his stuff...just to have a little more browsing time! When I bought my lantern, he gave me a Christmas tree ornament he had made, also from Bamboo. SWEET! I believe he told me that my lantern was the first one he had done in a sort of freehand swirly pattern. That was the part I really loved! In the photos on his website, you will see most of them have a more predictable and evenly spaced pattern to them!
The coolest thing about this is that you can just pull out the rope lighting, and put in a different color rope lighting...so you can change it for your occasion.

My new bamboo lantern

Here are a few pics of the new bamboo lamp/light/lantern I bought from a guy who hand cuts the bamboo, and drills a pattern in the tube with his drill, then places all different colors of rope lights all up inside. Mine has a multicolored rope light with green, yellow, blue and pink colors in it...he does make them all one color too. He also had three different sizes, but I splurged and got the largest one. I just fell in love with his idea and designs. He had the display set up with a tent made of black cloth, and then had all his lamps hanging and lit up in there, and it was very dramatic. I still haven't really found the perfect place for mine yet, but I will. I may place it on a stand on the floor, becuase it is so long, it would make a very dramatic floor lamp!

Cactus RoundUp

Am I a nut for wanting this little cactus growing kit??? Ha ha ha! I am trying to imagine how teeney the cactus would have to be to fit in these little holes that hold them! It is such a cute idea, but then I think...why, Julie, why??? Don't you have enough succulents and cactus around here...and all sort of miniature gardens and little rocks, fairies, people, aliens, etc. But...it sure does look intreguing anyway...and super saver shipping too if I order 25 dollars worth of total crap on Amazon....hmmm.....

A hibiscus bloom for Donna in Louisiana!

I found my neighbor's little hibiscus bush with one solitary bloom on it today! It rarely blooms, and I think it must be some kind of fancy one. It is mainly mauve in color, with a little yellow around the edges, and a ruby throat! Every time it blooms, I am re-amazed. The flower is about 6-7 inches in diameter! It has a crepe paper look to it. I wish I knew the name of it. She may know, but I didn't bother her to ask, being that it is Sunday and she was probably relaxing with her coffee!

The Surinam cherry bushes are really producing!

In Florida, the Surinam cherry is one of the most common hedge plants throughout the central and southern parts of the state and the Florida Keys. The fruits are today mostly eaten by children, although I can't for the life of me figure out why. They taste terrible to me! In the past, many people allowed the tree to grow naturally and harvested the fruits for culinary use. These bushes are right on the cusp between me and my neighbors property line...I think they are really hers, but we usually trim them because the grow more on our side. These are all fallen on our driveway! They are terribly messy! I tried using them in recipes (like jelly, and sauces), but the taste is intolerable to me! My neighbor likes them.
I usually pay no attention to them, until I find thousands of them in the driveway...actually they fall into a third parking space on the side that we rarely use, so we don't see them until they are just suddenly there! I think I will go pick them all up and hand them to my neighbor so she can enjoy them!!!