Blessing #124 - The Bottle Bush

Why hello there!

Did you miss me?

I know. I know.  You don't even have to say it.  I know that your day was not complete without my self indulgent ramblings.

Shhhhh. 

I know. You don't even have to say it. 

Over the past month, I visited my family in Georgia and went on a vacation with Shad and the boys.  It's been a fantastic and restful month, but now I'm back in the real world and back to blogging. 

During my trip to Georgia, I saw an awesome yard display that I knew I needed to copy. 

I collect bottles and glass.  A year ago, Shad and I even went in the woods and dug a bunch of bottles out of the ground.  I use my bottles as much as I can, but they mostly stay in a cabinet.  That is definitely against my junkin' beliefs! If you are going to take the time to collect something, take the time to enjoy it!

While I was in Georgia, I got to visit a friend's house.  We'll call her Mrs. Potter's House because that's her favorite thrift store.  Mrs. Potter's House collects federal mirrors, scales, and many other items.  As you walk through Mrs. Potter's House's house it is very apparent that she believes in using and displaying her collections.  My favorite collection of Mrs. Potter's House was her bottle collection.

To display her collection of bottles, Mrs. Potter's House has a bottle tree.  A bottle tree is a tree with bottles on it. The name pretty much says it all. Here is an examle of one, but Mrs. Potter's House's was better.  Trust me!

The bottle tree is a southern tradition that was brought over by slaves from the Congo.  It was believed that the bottles caught evil spirits or "haints" as my dad would say. 

I loved the bottle tree, but I loved the bottle bush even more!  A bottle bush is basically bottles on tomato stakes.  I know it sounds weird.  It's hard to describe.  You should have seen Shad's face when I tried to explain it to him. 

Rather than try and explain it, here is my bottle bush...

I just love it, and I get to enjoy all of the bottles I have collected.  This is much better than sticking them in a cabinet!

My bottle bush makes me smile every time I pull up to my house.  As far as catching, haints.....it just might be working.