Monday 31 August 2020

Wow, where does the time go!

Today is our 36th wedding anniversary, which seems incredible!  We've actually been a couple for longer than that, of course.  We moved into a flat together in 1982, just before my 21st birthday, but had been in a relationship since the year before.....which was a tad awkward as I was married at the time!  The fall-out from leaving my ex-husband was, as I'm sure you can imagine, quite considerable but we got through it.  We've had our fair share of trials and tribulations since then, of course, but our relationship has stood the test of time 😊 


Here's us on our wedding day ~ we look so young!  We were married at Hitchin Registry Office and had our very small reception at home.  If Adrian had had his way, we would have just got married with a couple of witnesses and told everyone later, but I don't think the family would've been happy about that at all LOL


We have very few photos of just the two of us ~ this is the most recent I could find!  We look pretty much the same except I now have much longer hair and Adrian has a little less 😉

 We have our ups and downs, just like everyone else, but we get through the difficult times and are still best friends 💕

Sunday 30 August 2020

Peace...



www.allposters.co.uk

Father, Mother, God,

Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days.
For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days.
For then we can share that which we have with those who have less.

And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days.
For then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends

For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak.

For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness.

For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company.

For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most.....PEACE.

Maya Angelou
(4th April 1928 - 28th May 2014)

Friday 28 August 2020

Houseplant inventory August 2020: the rest of the house

Ta-daa! ~ the remaining few of my houseplant inventory for August 2020.....What's that I hear?? Surely not sighs of relief, eh 😄

Anyhoo, we're starting off in the downstairs bathroom with this kalanchoe blossfeldiana ~ aka Flaming Katy.  My word she was in a bit of a state, leggy and bending in all directions.  Despite her being in bloom, I decided that she really needed to be cut back and re-potted sooner rather than later.  I'm glad I went ahead as she hasn't missed a beat and is looking much happier.  The window is west-facing and Katy seems to really like it here.  I trimmed off enough to make seven little plants, each with a small amount of root.  I kept two of the larger cuttings for myself (they are now sharing a space on the coffee table with my schlumbegera) and gave the others away. 

I don't know which variety this ctenanthe is but I've had it a long time.  It lived in the bathroom before we had it altered, where it was away from the window.  I tried it in the same position that the kalanchoe is now in but it didn't like it very much when the sun shone through the window!  Now it sits on the cupboard in the utility room, where it gets indirect light, and is thriving.


The monstera obliqua "Monkey Mask" seems to have settled well in the kitchen.  There are some new little buds appearing on the stems 😊


Another ctenanthe, in fact it was part of the same one in the utility room that I split way before we moved up here.  This one lives on the half-landing, in the "shade" of two of the walls.


I put the anthurium back on the upstairs bathroom windowsill as it was already doing much better there than in its previous position.  The "flower" has grown considerably over the last week or so! 


And finally the last of my houseplant family, the aspidistra that lives in a corner of our bedroom.  I think I must have used the flash function when I took this photo as the area seems somewhat brighter than it actually is.  It's a slow-growing plant that sits quietly in the corner exuding an air of calmness and tranquillity ~ one of my favourites, if I'm honest 😊

So there we are, that's all my houseplants now photographed and recorded: 9 in the dining room, 12 in the living room, and 6 elsewhere in the house, making a grand total of 27 altogether.  Oh, I tell a lie ~ I've also got two out in my craft room!  I guess 29 plants sort of sounds like a lot but compared to some folk in the couple of Facebook houseplant groups I'm in, it's a mere drop in the ocean LOL  


Before we leave my houseplant world for the time being, I thought I'd share with you my go-to houseplant books.  I have a few other books on houseplants too, but these three are my favourites and the ones I refer to the most 😊 

Thursday 27 August 2020

Houseplant inventory August 2020: Living room

So part two of my houseplant inventory sees us in the living room.....actually I'm pretty sure you will have guessed that from the title of the post, eh 😏  Anyhoo, here we are with yet more not-very-good photos ~ in hindsight, I should have placed the plants against a wall to take their individual photos.  Oh well, I shall have to try to remember my own advice for future photo shoots!


This group of echeveria and aeonium used to live on the half-landing windowsill, which faces west.  The two taller plants in particular were always stretching towards the window, obviously needing more direct sunlight than they were getting.  This side window in our living room is south-facing but somewhat over-shadowed by our neighbour's house and trees, and our garden wall.  Nevertheless, it does seem to suit the plants better than their previous home.  When we eventually get our porch done I will most likely move them out there as it will be much sunnier than any of our other rooms are.


This is aeonium Velour, which as you can see has grown very leggy during its time on the half-landing.  I'm hoping that as it matures it will start to branch out.  I may well try taking some leaf cuttings next spring to see if I can make some more plants.


I'm sure that this echeveria Duchess of Nuremberg should be a compact plant but it grew in a most peculiar way on the half-landing, developing a very long stem which couldn't support the leaves.  I'm hoping it will now continue its growth in a more normal fashion!


Funnily enough, this echeveria chihuahuensis Raspberry Dip has stayed much more compact despite living on the same windowsill as the two previous plants.


This is a pretty little plant: aeonium bethencourtianum Variegatum.  Now that I've taken a close-up photo I can see specks of compost on the leaves that I missed when I brushed them off!


Another member of my "plants-with-no-label" collection but it looks to be from the echeveria family.  It seemed to be the most happy of the plants on the half-landing windowsill ~ I hope it continues to be happy in its new location!


Aeonium domesticum is another very pretty succulent but this one obviously wasn't happy in its previous home.  I'm hoping that now it's been cut back somewhat, it will start to clump up more.  I saved four of the cuttings which I potted up in damp compost ~ I will be so pleased if they "take" 😊  


I suppose, like children, one shouldn't have favourites but this rhipsalis baccifera is definitely one of mine.  I know it may look somewhat boring to most folk but I love its long floppy stems, and the way it looks like a full head of hair 😃  Unfortunately, it isn't really "on show" here behind the TV but it grows so well here that I haven't the heart to move it just so I can sit and admire it all day!  Still, I get to stroke its lovely stems at least twice a day when I open and close the curtains 😉


This little group sit on the coffee table, out of direct sunlight. The two kalanchoe blossfeldiana are cuttings taken from a plant that lives in our bathroom.  They are very gradually straightening themselves up ~ the parent plant was in a bit of a leggy mess! ~ and hopefully will grow into nice little plants.


 The schlumbergera has lived here for quite some time and seems very happy, flowering regularly with pretty pale pink blooms...


...which it did back in June, which was a pleasant, if unexpected, surprise!


Another of my rather poor windowsill photos.  This window faces east, as does the one in the dining room.


Nolina recurvata is an unusual-looking plant, don't you think, with that swollen bulb-like base!  It's described in one of my houseplant books as "a curiosity rather than a thing of beauty" but I have to say that I am very fond of my Pony Tail palm 😊


And finally we have crassula ovata Hobbit ~ a plant that is probably not everyone's cup of tea but I like the weirdness of it!

So that's twelve plants here in the living room ~ isn't it amazing how many can be fitted in if you really put your mind to it  😂 

Monday 24 August 2020

Houseplant inventory August 2020: Dining room

Well, I threatened promised on Saturday that I would share photos of my newly re-potted houseplants and so here they are ~ the ones who currently reside in the dining room, at any rate!

Monstera deliciosa is looking happier now that it's in a more shady position.  I know that the pot seems rather large for the plant but it was the best size I could find amongst my collection.  To be fair, although I did trim away quite a lot of the leaves the roots are still the same size, so the plant fits in the pot quite nicely bearing in mind that I also had to fit in the coir "moss" pole 

I really thought I'd finished off this poor pothos but luckily it recovered after a good drink.  I originally had it on the windowsill but I think it was much too sunny there.  I moved it further back into the dining room after re-potting and hopefully it will prefer living in a much lower light level.  I've managed to lose the label but I'm pretty sure it's epipremnum aureum N'Joy

I find it really difficult to get even an half-decent photo of my windowsills ~ there's probably a trick to it but sadly I don't know what it is 😃

I love this variegated rubber plant!  It produces new leaves in quick succession, and I love how the new growth starts off pink.  I'm letting it grow straight up for a while yet, then I will cut the top out to encourage it to be more bushy.  Hopefully I will be able to root the cutting and make a companion to this one 😊  It's another of my "lost label" plants but I believe it is ficus elastica Tineke

Alworthia Black Gem had been living on our bedroom windowsill.  After re-potting I decided to put it here in the dining room, not least because it's new pot won't fit on the bedroom windowsill!  It is producing "pups" and I did originally plan on removing them next year.  However, I've now decided leave the plant be until it starts to look overcrowded in the pot.

Another not-very-good photo I'm afraid but it's just about clear enough to make out the new growth on my euphorbia Madagascar Jewel.  I can't tell you how pleased I am that despite all my shameful neglect, the little plant has survived!

Another plant in the "lost label" club ~ all I know is that it's a sanseveria.  It does look very much like the one in the next photo, although I don't know why I would have bought two of the same variety. 

Sanseveria mini also used to live on our bedroom windowsill.  It will be interesting to see if it and the one in the photo above continue to look the same as they grow.

There are lots of really nice crassula and this one, crassula ovata variegata, is very pretty.


And finally here we are back with the mystery crassula, which I think may be Ripple Jade.

I'm beginning to realise that I actually have rather more houseplants than I thought, nine here in the dining room alone ~ it's amazing how easy it can be to underestimate the size of a collection 😉

Sunday 23 August 2020

Peace...



www.allposters.co.uk

Father, Mother, God,

Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days.
For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days.
For then we can share that which we have with those who have less.

And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days.
For then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends

For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak.

For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness.

For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company.

For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most.....PEACE.

Maya Angelou
(4th April 1928 - 28th May 2014)

Saturday 22 August 2020

Confession: I'm a bad houseplant mother!

Working on the new kitchen garden, and thinking about what to plant in the borders and grow in the raised beds, suddenly brought home to me how I'm still so neglectful of my poor houseplants.  Every plant in the house was dusty, most were dry and many badly needed re-potting.  I also consulted some of my houseplant books for advice on all of my plants, and found that a number of them really needed to be relocated to positions more suited to their needs.  So began three days of houseplant re-potting, cleaning, trimming and, for some, relocating.  Although I didn't photograph all of my plant family, I did take "before" and "after" shots of some of the plants:  


I think this aspidistra, which lives in a corner of our bedroom, was by far the dustiest of them all...


...but all it took was a wipe with a dry cloth, followed by a damp one, for it to look so much better.


This monstera was living by the window of the guest bedroom but clearly wasn't overly happy there.


I gave it a radical trim, planted it in a larger pot along with a "moss" pole, and put it in the dining room in a much less bright position.  The "moss" pole is actually a plastic pole wrapped in coir.  It doesn't hold moisture like moss would but does provide a sturdy fixing point to tie plants to.
 

I had a really large jade plant but it died soon after we moved up here.  I really thought this one was going to go the same way, to be honest!


It had got really spindly but looks much better now that I've cut it right back.  I can't remember where I actually got this plant from.  For some reason I had it in my mind that this had been a cutting from the jade plant that didn't survive, which was a crassula ovata, but the leaves on this one seem rather different.  It looks like it might be a ripple jade but who knows LOL 


This pair were on our bedroom windowsill...


...I'm amazed that they have survived at all...


...let alone be producing babies!


I've re-potted them both but decided not to separate the babies until next year.


This anthurium also lived near the window in the guest bedroom for quite some time.  I noticed that it wasn't doing well, with the leaves turning brown and crispy.  Turns out it doesn't like direct sunlight so I put it in the window of the upstairs bathroom.  It's still facing the same direction but the window has obscured glass and a net curtain, which cuts down the sunlight somewhat.


I cut off quite a lot of the leaves after re-potting and it looked much better.


It was obviously much happier in the bathroom even before re-potting and trimming as it is producing a "flower" ~ which is, apparently, a waxy, modified leaf rather than a flower.


I debated long and hard over whether or not to share this terrible photo with you ~ oh, the shame!  I had two of these on our bedroom windowsill, one of which was completely dead...


...but look, this one was just about clinging to life!  I cut the top off and was encouraged by the sight of sap leaking from the wound.  I made sure to wear gloves when I was handling this one.  To be honest, I've always been reluctant and somewhat nervous to grow euphorbia because of the toxic sap but I guess it's just a case of being careful and keeping the plants away from children and pets.   I still don't think I will be growing any outdoor varieties in my garden, though.


Although I was embarrassed about sharing my euphorbia photo, this poor neglected plant is the one I feel most shameful about ~ but in the interests of honesty, decided to share its fate too.  It is monstera obliqua "Monkey Mask", a smaller cousin of the monstera deliciosa (Swiss cheese plant) further up the page.    


Thankfully I spotted these two teeny-weeny leaves at the base of the dead and dying stems, so was able to cut the plant right back and hopefully save it.  It too now has a coir "moss" pole and if it does indeed thrive-and-survive, I may well add some kind of obelisk as additional growing support.  It had been living on one of our living room windowsills, which was a far too bright and sunny position.  I now have it in our kitchen where it is getting a much more indirect light-source from the roof window.


By the time I had finished my mammoth three day save-the-houseplants campaign, the potting shed was in chaos!


Thankfully it didn't take too long to clear up in there and return it to it's former neat and tidy appearance 😉

You may well have noticed that most of the plants have been re-potted into pots that are perhaps larger than necessary.  I do actually have quite a collection of various size pots but as is often the case it seems, very few were actually the size I was really looking for!  I confess that I also didn't have any "houseplant" compost, so they have all been re-potted using the same compost we bought in for the raised beds in the kitchen garden ~ beggars can't be choosers, eh!  I have to say that thus far my little houseplant family all seem to be looking really happy ~ even if their new pots are a bit big and the growing medium isn't specifically for indoor plants 😊

I'm planning on doing a photographic inventory of all my houseplants over the next few days, so be prepared for a photo-heavy post 'cos you just know I will be sharing!