Thursday, January 03, 2008

Tenth Day of Christmas

It is still clear and cold here with hurt your eyes clear blue skies etched with bare tree tops and circling birds.

It is not as cold here as it was in SLC, but for some reason while I was comfortable in a turtleneck, jeans and a jacket outside there, here I feel bone chilled cold even inside with the heat turned up to 68.

Jeff always says it feels colder here at 40 degrees outside than it does in SLC at 20 degrees.
I think it has something to do with the humidity.
Oh well.
It will warm up here soon enough.

Meanwhile the African violets have been loving life around the bathtub.

My mom taught me how to grow African violets. It is a pretty simple routine: East/Southeast facing window, double pot your plants so the water wicks from the bottom, feed heavily, and change out the African violet potting soil yearly.

Two other tips: Too many leaves mean less flowers, so keep the leaf layers down to about three rings, and when the trunk of the plant gets thick and neck like, chop the crown off and re-pot.


This lavender blue plant was a newly obtained last January.
I love the variegated leaves on the plant next to it.




The Houston African Violet Society has a show sometime this month; most cities have a society, and they sell their "babies" at the show.
If you want to start growing interesting looking violets, watch the local paper for events and head on over.
And for heaven sake, if you have an African violet that has never bloomed, do it a kindness and at least try the tips I mentioned.







The news on Bernie: We are still a bit on hold until he can get a MRI.
The doctor examined him and the good news was that ACL damage has been mostly ruled out. Hurray for that, as that is the knee part that makes the leg go back and forth; much more therapy is needed when there is damage there.

The doctor said that B. most likely has meniscus damage; either a rupture or a tear. The meniscus ligaments are on either side of the knee and regulate the side to side motion. Much easier to rehab, and surgery would be done on an outpatient basis. He could likely be able to walk on it the same day.
Whew.
He also got a different kind of brace. He can now bend his knee, which is very helpful.
A six foot three inch length from head to sole doesn't fit into very many places, even sideways.

The Tenth Day of Christmas is Lords a' leaping.
My household Lord of the Manor is hobbling and happy just to be off his crutches.

PS: If anyone is tinkering with the idea of trying out the twelve days of Christmas (I'm looking at Darla here...yes, you missy) here's a link to a page that runs throught the possible symbolism for each day, and is polite enough to mention that the interpretation has been argued both ways by historians and theologians.
As a librarian, I appreciate it when sites are willing to do that.
PSS: If anyone needs to feel better about their interior design and decorating skills, be sure to drop by our free range nurse Laura's blog today. She is on the road heading here and stopped in at a budget hotel in New Mexico last night.
Just when you think you've seen it all....you need to enlarge the two pictures to get the full effect.
Man, does my house look GOOD compared to that place!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Another thing we have in common: I also have windows-full of African violets (sometime last year I posted several photos of a few of my plants)! I just can't seem to get enough. I'm a bit concerned about moving and placing them with this upcoming relocation. I hope I have the right type of light - always a concern when you live in an apartment, since most windows all tend to face the same direction.

I agree - the cold in Florida (as well as in Texas) feels colder than a northern cold, even at the very same temperatures. I can't seem to get warm enough today, and now I have all the symptoms of an oncoming cold (when will I ever be healthy again?!?!). I just nudged the thermostat up to 70...that's something I never do!!

Lovella ♥ said...

I knew that there was a reason that I wanted Terry to cut a hole in our east side of the house . .the south side is too hot and the north side is too cold . .my african violets just would do a lot better facing a bit more east.
Your pictures are just gorgeous. I love all the different colors and they look so healthy.
One of the things I love to do is to check your temp to compare it against ours.
You are at 8 celcius with 38% humidity and we are at 3 celcisus with 72% degrees humidity. This might be the closest we will be all year. The high humidity makes me feel chilled to the bone too.

Sara at Come Away With Me said...

The African violets are beautiful...so many gorgeous colors, and I love the close ups. And I like that white pot at the end of the row too. I've never owned an African violet. Yours look so healthy.

That article on the twelve days of Christmas was very interesting. It's not something I gave much thought to before, but now that I am following the church calendar for my Bible reading schedule and those daily prayers, I am interested in such things.

And, that hotel....well, no need for words! My house looks wonderful too, compared to that hotel - LOL.