We have a frost advisory tonight

So the window box plants are covered with Hefty bags. The game was great, but I'm very tired. I think I'll chill for a few minutes and listen to some music while waiting to go get A around midnight.

Today is potting/re-potting day!

First time re-potting orchids. The tiny cup was what the smaller one was in. Hopefully they'll like it. I hope they do okay--the orchid medium I got was good for several different orchids, including phalaenopsis, but not specific to that type, because the smaller one looks different when blooming and I think it's a different type. Both were in peat moss, whereas this is soaked bark, activated charcoal, and pellets for drainage. So I'm hoping they'll do okay, but they should get more air to the roots, which is good. In fact, the larger pot has holes on the sides for that purpose, and the smaller orchid went into the former pot of the larger one, and there's a shorter cup inside that lifts the roots from the bottom of the actual pot. I obviously didn't re-pot the other two because they are actually blooming. I have more medium for that when it happens.

The lavender was sagging every other day from being potbound. The Christmas cactus had very dense dirt. It had been in a bigger pot that was 40 years old and split at work, so I had to put it in an emergency pot from Recreation Therapy that was smaller. Both should do better now. Thanks to Brenda for the advice on the lavender.

Three of the African violets got re-potted [the one on the upper right, and the ones on the lower left and the center left.]

The window boxes are back! This time there are sweet potato plants, light purple petunias, and dark purple calibrachoas.

Same thing at the bedroom window.

So now everything is cleaned up, and I gave all the plants, not just the ones I potted, a good drink with the aquarium water I'd saved, so there's some fertilizer courtesy of my goldfish. I am so sore, though, even though I did it all sitting on a metal chair while potting on another. Plants are back. I've called pulmonary rehab to let them know I'm not coming today. I have another appointment at 4 pm, so I have awhile to do dishes and pull out a few light things from the hall closet. And of course I need to shower and get ready. Brenda suggested going to Petsmart for fish. I must confess, I totally forgot about them. I usually avoid them because they have cats and dogs up for adoption and I'm afraid I'll see one and try to get it (I do not need to do that right now), but the fish are on the opposite side of the store. :) There's a Petsmart in Hamburg that is closer to me than going all the way over to Southland. There's also Animal House nearby, an independent pet shop, and they're excellent and knowledgeable, but I'm not sure they sell feeder goldfish, and I tested the tank and while the nitrates are down, I'm not sure I want to put anything else in there right now.

Okay, time to check my list and see what else to do right now. I may stretch out for just a bit, listen to some music, and then work on the dishes, closet, and do the job application and do some job board searching. going to PetsMart after my appointment with my counselor. I'm really aching.

Owww

So yesterday in my various activities I wrenched my right knee (climbing out of the car) and left shoulder (lifting the bed and placing the cinder block underneath). My back isn't happy with me, either. I am quite sore this morning. While some of that will work out, I don't think it will be prudent to exercise on the majority of the machines at pulmonary rehab, which, with the exception of the treadmill and leg press, all involve arm work, and with my knee, even the treadmill and leg press don't seem a good idea. So I'm going to call and cancel for the day, my first after eight sessions. Still, I'm pretty darn consistent, as the other attendees have had illnesses or home emergencies that have kept them away. And I'll go ahead and do my breathing exercises today, anyway.

It's cool and cloudy, and it's been raining. I am eating some cheese and a banana, and I've opened the windows. My main endeavour for this morning, since I'm moving so slow, is to get the potting done. I have to:

1. Empty out two window boxes of spent geraniums and dirt (they lasted three years, though!) and wash them out.
2. Fish the other one out of the walk-in closet and its tray from under the African violets.
3. Prepare the orchid medium (it has to be soaked in hot water and cooled).
4. Take out a folding metal chair.
5. Take out the dirt, tools, gloves, and plants to be potted.
6. Take out the plants to be repotted: the lavender, a Christmas cactus, two orchids, and two African violets.
7. Take out the pots and window boxes.
8. Pot up the window boxes.
9. Repot the lavender, Christmas cactus, and African violets with potting soil.
10. Repot the orchids with orchid medium that has cooled.
11. Place the window boxes on their sills. I do wish that I had a way to restrain or attach them some way so that high winds wouldn't blow them down, but I live in an apartment and rent, so I don't know any tricks for that. I did consider twine going around the lip on the front and being placed in the screens. I'm not sure about that. I don't actually have any twine, but I may get some and try it and see.

That should take awhile, I think.

Lobelia

That's what the blue flower is. I should have known that, as I've grown it before and it's very common in containers. You can make a tea out of some varieties.

Window boxes!

I am so glad tomorrow is Friday

It has been a very long, busy week at work. I've had a little time in the evenings to recuperate, but I'm ready for the weekend. Today I went on over to Meijer after work and got the stuff for my friend, along with some plastic plants for the little aquarium (I don't care for them, but I don't want live plants taking over the betta tank). I just put them in and he seems to like them. I did get some cilantro and German thyme plants to replace the dill and basil in the window boxes, which were pretty much spent. Everything's doing well so long as I water them. The strawberries have several berries on them right now, and hopefully they'll ripen soon. I also got a bread knife, as I didn't have one, and now that I'm making my own bread occasionally, I need a knife that will cut cleanly.

After I came home (the first time) today I planted the herbs in the window box, and then headed over to my friends' house to drop off the stuff from Meijer. I wound up watching a few episodes of 'H2O: Just Add Water'. Now I'm home and I'd better go ahead and pay my cell phone bill--I waited till the due date because today was payday. Then I think I'll listen to some music (I'm listening to Ed Sheeran right now') and head on to bed. Tomorrow I'm helping my friend with some cooking in the evening, and Saturday I hope to go to the farmer's market, we'll go to the grocery, and I have an appointment to have the car looked at. I think a belt is going bad--it's making that distinctive high-pitched noise, especially on rainy days, and I'm hoping to get it changed before it actually breaks.

Hope you have a nice evening and an even better weekend. Good night.

Yummy!

I'm finally starting to get strawberries in the window boxes. Here's the first one, which I photographed before eating. It was the sweetest, most perfect berry I have ever tasted. I think it had to do with growing it myself. :-)

It's midnight and I just got home

It was somewhat difficult to go to work this morning after four days off, but I did, and while it was a long workday, it was nice to be back in a routine. I received my copy of The Journal of the Medical Library Association (JMLA) in the mail, which was fun, as I have a book review in the current issue. After work I picked up a friend and we did some errands, got some food from Subway, and went over to his house. His husband and I watched videos for awhile and visited while he went to a meeting, and then we worked on some household things that needed doing. It has been an exceedingly long day, though. I came home and watered the plants outside and in, although it's not great to water this late outside; the strawberries in particular were very droopy, and there's little chance I'll remember to in the morning. I tend to get up, get ready, and scoot pretty quickly to work.

I'm trying to drink plenty of water today because I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and they'll likely try to draw blood again. Here's hoping they can get it in one stick!

I've taken out my contacts, gotten into a comfy sleep shirt, eaten some cereal, and now I'm ready for bed. Good night, everyone. Take care.

Happy Plants

I did get the herbs planted. Each box has a strawberry on each end. One has sage and oregano (pictured), one has thyme and rosemary, and one has dill and basil.

I've been up since 3:30 this morning, have done four loads of laundry, have worked a full day, had physical therapy, and my ankle is swollen to the size of a grapefruit because I've been on it much of the day, a lot of getting up and down. I am very tired. The danger, of course, is that I will fall asleep rather than work on the house. I'm going to take my contacts out and put my foot up for awhile, but I'm going to try not to fall asleep, maybe listen to peppy music or something. Wish me luck!