Monet and Me

 

are trying to bring the Peace Lily plants back to life. I'm not sure if the plant was killed with kindness because one watering I also add a splash of plant food, or if the studio got too cold. The plant was not looking happy.

On a trip to the Dollar Store, I bought 2 new pots, added drainage holes, some rocks, potting soil and split the plant into two. I also relocated the plants to the kitchen.

It's been about 3 weeks since the transplant and the Peace Lilies aren't dead, yet, Jim.

A Little Visit

 

A text from the Niece-in-law to ask if they could stop by. They were on their way to an indoor playground not far from my house, and the Littles had something they wanted to give to me.

Most Sundays we are home, but wouldn't you know this Sunday we were on our way out to have lunch with last term's teaching assistants?

The NIL said they would leave the item in the front porch. 

Just as we were on our way, the Nephew was at the door with two,  sweet, little plants from his Littles. Just in time for the first day of Spring. 

 I walked to the car so I could thank the Littles and the NIL. We had a nice, little visit.

D picked the light pink plant on the left while his older sister, G, picked out the darker pink on the right. The plant is a Calandiva which is also known as Kalanchoe. The plant is a succulent,  it doesn't like direct sun, it doesn't like a lot of water, and sadly, it's also poisonous to cats. Hopefully, I'm not poisonous to the plants.

The little pots are 2.5 inches and fit nicely on the window sill in the studio where the kitties are not allowed. 

Thank you to the Nephew, NIL, and their Littles for thinking of me. You made my day.

T Stands for No Flies on Me

Some little bugs have invaded the Peace Lily. They are small no-seeums like fruit flies or gnats. They don't bite, but are very annoying as they dive bomb at your face. Albert had recommended treating the plant weekly with Neem Oil. Neem Oil is a safe pesticide used on plants that reduces or kills pests. I've been treating the Lily once a week and the number of bugs has decreased but there are still some around.

Besides using the Neem oil, I've also found the bugs are attracted to my tea. They must like the Stevia I use to sweeten it.

I left my teacup out overnight and caught 8 of the little bas buggers. The method may not be high tech, but it is effective. I just have to remember to look into the teacup before I take a sip if it's been sitting for a bit. No flies on me.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth’s blog to find out what the rest of the T gang is up to. If you want to play, include a beverage or beverage container in your post. Don’t forget to link your blog from Bleubeard and Elizabeth’s page.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Himself caught Timex scaling the mesh fencing to steal the cherry tomatoes.

The Monarch caterpillar enjoying the milkweeds

A flock of birds started visiting in the afternoons

Not sure what species they are. They aren't the grackles which usually show up in the Fall.

Corolla, the bunny who usually hangs out front and hides under the cars, ventured out back. Came right up to the door to say "Hello".

Sunset and the light was so beautiful

Concordia and Big Lily

The Monarch caterpillar is gone. Looks like s/he was enjoying the milkweed.  

Rainfall for the week minus one inch. Someone didn't empty the rain gauge.

A snowdrift of Heath asters 

Broken stems. Looks like some critter stopped to take a rest

Morning glory seed pods. When they are brown and hard, they can be harvested for next year.

Corolla running under the car when I went out to fill the bird feeder out front.

Corolla came back out and let me take a picture when I was going back in.

How does your garden grow?

Transplanting Lily

I'm not very good with plants so was apprehensive when The Eldest left her peace lily behind. She moved in January so I was feeling pretty good her plant was still alive. Until last week. Lily wasn't looking too good. She was in the location where she had been doing great so that didn't seem to be the problem, and I know I wasn't over watering her. I thought the problem might be she was outgrowing her pot.

After watching a few YouTube videos on transplanting peace lilies, I decided to give it a try. Worst scenario was I'd kill the plant which looked like the case if she stayed in her original pot. I took Lily outside to the sun room where I could sit on the outside step while filling pots. I removed Lily from her pot and it looked like there was several plants all in one pot. I separated them as best I could and replanted them. The main plant still looked like it had multiple plants, but I had run out of pots so just replanted it in a bigger pot.

After a week, the plants were still looking pretty good. And I noticed Big Lily looked like she was going to flower or she had a horrible growth.

The Friday Five Good Things

Five good things that happened this week.

1. I saw my first robin of the season. Too bad, its poor little beak will be buried in snow this weekend.

2. Dusted Ma's chairs and thought of her. Looked out the window and the male cardinal was sitting on the trellis. Lots of birds were visiting the feeder. Chickadees. Nuthatches. Juncoes. The cardinal hopped to the ground and was joined by the female cardinal. They pecked at the seeds on the ground for a bit. She flew off and he followed. Always a good day when they show up.

3.National Grid showed up to put in the new meter for the solar panels. Himself switched on the solar panels. Now we need some sunshine.

4. Another breakfast date with Himself. As we were seating ourselves, the waitress brought a couple of menus and said: A tea and a Coke, right? Made me think of the TV show, Cheers: Sometimes you want to go Where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came. (source: http://www.lyricsondemand.com/tvthemes/cheerslyrics.html) 😸

5. There is radiant floor heating in the bathroom. A year or so ago, there was a power failure. When the electricity came back on the surge must have scrambled the heating control's brains. The read out was in Klingon instead of  English date and time. Fixing it was a low priority. There was the hassle of trying to find an electrician. Was the repair simple, just fix some wiring in the control? Or would the tile floor have to be ripped up? How much would it cost?

As I walked down the hall the day after the solar panels were turned on, the radiant floor heating control was back in English showing the date and time though the time was a half an hour slow. (About the same amount of time as it took the National Grid technician to turn off the electricity, install the new meter, and turn the electricity back on. Hmmm.)

I don't know if the rewiring of the electrical box for the solar panels fixed the problem or the floor somehow got wired into the solar panels. Whatever happened, I'm grateful the Little Princess no longer has to walk on cold tiles in the morning.

How was your week?

Tiny Tomato

One of the tomatoes on Himself's indoor tomato plant has started to ripen! The tomato is about the size of my thumbnail. Unless the other tomatoes begin to ripen, we'll either have to cut the tomato in quarters so we each get a taste or hold a lottery to see who gets the tomato in his or her salad.

Tiny Tomatoes

Not only is the cyclamen doing well, but Himself's mini cherry tomato plants have tiny tomatoes on them. He had started the seeds in the Aero Garden. He transplanted the plants to pots and brought them upstairs to live on the dining room table. Between the Refresh daylight bulbs in the dining room light fixture and afternoon sun, the plants are thriving. There are two plants each about 8 inches or so tall and each has a few tiny tomatoes on them. Himself said the plants won't get much bigger. I wonder how soon we'll be harvesting tomatoes?

It's Alive!

The cyclamen, the plant Himself gave me for Valentine's Day is still alive! I haven't killed it, yet. In fact, not only is is alive, but it seems to be thriving.