Farmer's Almanac Weather Prediction for Ontario: "Quick changes: fair, then flurries, then back to fair again."
Despite predictions made by The Farmer's Almanac we are yet to have snow. The weather has been unseasonably warm and screwy. Last week we didn't have sun for exactly seven days. The sun was there, but it was hidden behind clouds, greyness and mist. It was wet and rainy non-stop. By 4:30 pm it was night time! In the summer that's the mid afternoon! As a result I was incredibly lethargic and unproductive. I even found myself feeling sick and achy last Friday--I didn't get out of bed for most of the day. On Saturday we took the Greyhound to Guelph. As we drove through the Milton area I suddenly felt a flash in the corner of my eyes and a warmth on my left side. SUN!! I have never been so happy to see the sun come out! Just when I was convinced I couldn't face another day without it, it came back. I was even beginning to consider visiting a tanning bed. This isn't something I thought I'd ever consider which proves how extreme the situation had become. We've had sun everyday since! I couldn't be happier and my productivity level has returned.
In addition to the return of the sun I had a good weekend. Leaving the city after a long period is always interesting. I tried to read on the bus but I couldn't stop looking out the window. I like to investigate how the landscape has changed. Because of the unseasonable warmth and precipitation the grass was still green and fields of yellow wildflowers were in bloom everywhere. It looked more like early spring then late fall.
On Saturday afternoon, Beate took me to a White Rose Home and Garden centre. That may seem lame as Saturday entertainment, but in the city I lack access to crappy craft super stores. I had a good time just looking around at all the strange floral accessories that are available. I ended up taking home a new stone plant (lithops) plant. I couldn't resist it. The pot was stretching as a result of accomodating three plants that are all in the process of splitting. In my world a warped pot signifies "Value Plus". I was very careful transporting it home. I'm a bit scared about keeping it alive since the fragile time for the stone plant seems to lay in the reproduction stage. I worry about over-watering, under-watering, cold drafts and light levels excessively.
Monday morning I spent an hour preening my plants. During long grey periods I tend to hold back some on watering my plants since so many of them are desert plants. My theory is that if I water when there is inadequate sun, they will sit in wet soil too long and this will promote root rot. Of course the humid-loving tropicals are watered regularly. With the return of the sun I felt it was a good opportunity to give the cacti and succulents a bit of water (since it's the winter now and some won't get any for a while). The tilandsia had a little dip in a bowl of water and I cut a dead leaf from the Urn plant (Aechmea fasciata). The plant's offspring are growing and doing well. The mother plant is still looking healthy but lower leaves are very slowly dying back. I expect that someday there will be a need for me to repot the babies but thankfully it isn't happening as quickly as I'd imagined.
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The Sweet Potato Project
Several weeks ago I opened up my organic delivery box to discover what can only be described as a very phallic sweet potato. Someone must have had a good laugh when they put that thing in my box. I wanted to document the strange root veg so I had everyone who came over pose with it for a photo. We never did eat the sweet potato. It was just too weird. Eventually it rotted in the fridge and was discarded.
Click here to see the Sweet Potato Project.
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