Elvis Presley’s home - Graceland - is scheduled to get a makeover and there are some people very unhappy about it,

I think that if *they must* spruce up the area, they should build a hotel in the shape of a Cadillac, and put green shag carpeting in all the rooms.

Why didn’t Paul McCartney, Bono and Bruce Springsteen buy Graceland 5 years ago? They would have kept the true spirit of Elvis. (A little trivia: Bruce Springsteen once jumped the gates of Graceland trying to get in to see Elvis)…

It’s not just the house under consideration, but also the surrounding area,

The owners of Graceland are getting serious about plans for a redevelopment project that would rejuvenate the popular Heartbreak Hotel and spruce up 100 acres surrounding Elvis Presley’s home.

When I was outside the gates of Graceland last year, I was amazed at the graffiti on the walls - an ever-changing tribute to The King by fans.  I wonder what will happen to the 100-acre grounds surrounding the mansion.

Gazebo is one of those words that is always on the tip of my brain and/or my tongue, but I can never quite vocalize it.  It is a lovely word for a lovely yard feature, though.  We have a long front yard and have often talked about a gazebo for the very front so our daughter would have a place to sit while she waits for the school bus.  As it is now, I drive her up the driveway so she doesn’t get too cold during the winter months.  I like the idea of a gazebo much better!

Why get a gazebo?

We can conclude that a gazebo can enhance the beauty of your garden and your house. It not only gives a unique look at the region where is your booth, but also provides additional room for your home, you can use as a guesthouse. A garden gazebo provides a space for relaxation, meditation, meetings and other activities.

I can imagine how lovely one would be if you had bird feeders around it, along with a path or a pond. I’m adding it to my “someday” list.

Photo by Hickory Rose via Flickr Creative Commons.

Hands down, this house wins in my neck of the woods.

I don’t even have ornaments on my inside tree except those my daughter has put on that she’s received from other friends for Christmas this year. I did carry the boxes downstairs last night, though.  I’m hoping when I get home the tree will have decorated itself!

One of my favorite things to do around this time of year is to get into a warm car with a full tank of gas and a thermos of hot chocolate and DRIVE.  I love looking at how people decorate their yards.  The worst - in my opinion - are when there are about 100 plastic figurines ranging from carolers to Santas to penguins littering an entire yard.  The best … tasteful and festive!

Here are the results from a Twitter search using #Griswold, #ChristmasLights, and #Lights.

When I learned about the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki while in high school - and note that I was a military brat - we were taught that it was a hard decision for President Truman, but led to the Allied victory over Japan and the end of World War II.  I was grateful that the war ended, of course, but it still saddens me to think of the horrors experienced by the men, women and children who were directly impacted by the A-Bomb.

So when I read about the Tree Project today, it brings a sense of closure to that terrible time.  Here’s what the blog site says about the project,

The trees that still live from the time of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima are called, Hibaku trees (A-bombed trees).

In the winter of 2008, from a tree Dr. Riki Horiguchi in Hiroshima, I received seeds of Round Leaf Holly, Persimmon, Chinaberry, Firmiana simplex, Japanese Hackberry, Jujube trees that are the second or third generation of Hibaku Trees.

Hiroshi Sunairi has been giving seeds from the trees to people throughout the world so they can grow their own trees.  This month the trees will be on display at the Horticulture Society of New York, with the opening reception scheduled this evening from 6:00 - 8:30 p.m.

Bravo to Hiroshi Sunairi for the undertaking!  Photo of the Parasol Tree given to Mr. Yuso Takesawa.  The tree has now been planted in Fukuromachi Kouen (park) in the center of Hiroshima.  Where desolution was once predominant, life lives on.

I had never heard of bottle trees until about a year ago when a friend of mine asked her brother to build one.   Then I saw one at a wedding reception earlier this summer and fell in love with them.

And this close-up…

Then I saw this bottle tree at Digging.com,

I am smitten - absolutely smitten!!

It always amazes me to see people meticulously plan and create Christmas light shows on the outsides of their houses and yards.  I truly appreciate their hard work and dedication, but it just seems like such an overwhelming project to take on.  Maybe some year when my kids are all grown up and I don’t spend 80 percent of my time carting them around, I’ll give it a try.

If you’re ready to do it this year, here are directions from WikiHow,

Decide how big you want it. A channel is a unit of lights that can be controlled individually. For example, a single bush in your yard may be a channel. All the lights in a channel work as a unit (you can’t flash an individual light bulb). 32 to 64 channels is a good size to start with.

There are a lot more good tips if you click through!  Meanwhile, here’s an example of someone’s light show already done!

It is possible to plant trees during the winter months, and the people at BBC Breathing Places, the Horticulture Trade Association, and Guinness World Records are teaming up to prove it on Saturday, December 5, 2009 between 11:00am - 12:00noon.  In that one hour period, they hope to plant 653,143 trees for an event called Tree O’Clock.

HTA Promotions Manager Jennifer Thwaites commented “This helps demonstrate that you can still plant during the winter period. Trees provide many solutions in garden design, as well as the structure for other planting. They also provide habitats and a food source for birds and wildlife.”

What a wonderful way to promote both gardening and a green environment!  Find more information about Tree O’Clock here.

I love the bright red of the poinsettias that we see this time of year.  For years I ordered them as a school fundraiser, but as my daughters got older and left elementary school, I couldn’t bring myself to buy them from the grocery store, though the prices are decent.

Plus, they started taking over my house.  I just couldn’t bear the idea of throwing the plant out after Christmas - the green leaves stayed pretty throughout the year.  I finally sucked it up, put on my big girl britches, and got rid of them.  And it broke my heart seeing the green plants out by the trash can in the cold weather.

According to our Ron - writing over at PopFi - the poinsettia is the most popular plant in America.

The poinsettia is actually the most popular potted plant in the States, with over 85 percent of its sales coming in the holiday season.  This notoriously difficult to farm plant was made popular by Paul Ecke in the 1950’s, and the Paul Ecke farms produce half the world’s supply of poinsettias from a proprietary technique kept secret by the family until the 90’s.

Come to find out, you CAN replant them.  Next time I won’t have to be so heartless…