A Surprise on My Deck This morning

"Bea!" my husband called from the back door this morning.

"What?" I called from my computer room.

"I need a bandaid!" He sounded annoyed.

He'd been working on my car, which hasn't been running right since we got back from Florida last month. I ran and got the box of bandaids, then met him at the back door. He'd already washed it clean, and dried the cut on the fatty pad just below his thumb, so I applied the bandaid while he explained how difficult it was to get old parts off the car so he could put on the new parts.

He glanced toward the table on the deck. "Did you put that there?"

"What?" I asked as I looked where he was looking. There was a basket sitting on the table. It was filled with things... gift like things.

"Oh! It looks like a birthday gift!" I peeked inside the cloth lined basket. There was a chenille rug with apple design, fit for a teacher, a pyramidal wind chime with birds and flowers, a striped bag-like cloth, and a bag of tomatoes, fresh off the vine, with leaves that smelled like thyme.

There was no card or note saying who it was from. It must be from my friend, Alyson, I thought. She is one of two neighbors and friends that I know who are growing their own tomatoes, and who would leave them on my deck without a note of explanation. I'll have to call her and thank her. 

But first, I want to figure out what that striped cloth bag-like thing is for.