I had a really busy day at work yesterday, not only with normal checking in and checking out and re-shelving, but with continuing to weed our non-fiction collection. We have some ancient books about L'Ancien Regime and various other aspects of European history -- books at least as old as me -- and it's past time to update a lot of that material. So I worked on that all day, and on the walk home I told Dave I wanted to spend the afternoon relaxing in bed with a book that, for a change, I want to read. (As opposed to a Newbery medal winner that I'm reading more for work.)
But did that happen? No.
Because when I got home, I remembered that I had just noticed the night before that our jade plant was being attacked by some kind of white, fluffy insects. (Mealybugs, it turns out.) The recommended mealybug deterrent is a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol, and we had neither cotton swabs nor alcohol on hand, so I had to make a quick run to the pharmacy around the corner. The jade plant is much happier now.
Once I'd done that, though, I wound up on a campaign of houseplant maintenance that ended with our avocado once again moved outdoors for the summer:
Last year we didn't think to move it outside until August, and it was so nice to have the extra space around our back door. So this year we got it out early. We thought we'd leave it on our rather weedy patio this time around.
I think this may be that tree's last year. It's starting to look scraggly and it's just too big for our living room. (I know, I said this last year, too.)
Boris Johnson has gone on TV and confirmed that restaurants and other venues will be able to open for indoor service on May 17, and next month we might even be able to HUG EACH OTHER! (This is assuming we see someone we want to hug, of course.) Also, crucially for me, the ban on international travel is being lifted, so I can fly to Florida as planned without annoying the government.
I tried a couple of times to call my mom on Mother's Day but she didn't answer her phone. My brother says this isn't unusual -- she never answers it these days. I'm not sure it even rings, to be honest. She may have it turned off. She never liked the phone much. But she lives in a unit with daily assistance so I know she's fine, and hopefully she got the flowers I sent her. My stepmother told me that she got hers.
(Top photo: Another scene along the Regent's Canal on Sunday.)
29 comments:
I'm so glad you were able to send flowers... and make space again in your living room. The avocado is amazing but I have a feeling it would be happier in the ground at this point. What a shame. Maybe you could get into bonsai!
The day I'll need the government's "permission" to hug anyone will be the day after I have died. Not necessary. Having said that I do believe that, for me, the fallout of the lockdowns that the two meter distancing rule will stay with me for some time. Despite the fact that I am a touchy feely person (thank god I am not a man, women get away with murder on that front) I do object to people invading my personal space - uninvited. "Do you mind", is the one thing I find myself saying, repeatedly, since 12 May when it appears it's a free for all, people encroaching on others as if Covid were now dead and dusted. The proudly "vaccinated" the worst. No offence to bullet proof Dave.
Your plants don't know how good they have it. The way you run after them in order to keep them in good shape you'd make an ideal father. Most fathers I know tend to work on the principle of benign (paternal) neglect. Sink or swim.
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I wish they would keep the "no hugging" rule as I have never been into hugging. When I was a lad it was almost unheard of for men to hug other men. That was something that Italians, French people and Russians did. Englishmen shook hands and that was enough. I am also not fond of hugging women friends - especially that awkward business where you come in to kiss cheeks. Far too Mediterranean for me darling.
That's a mighty big tree to keep in the house!! Carlos planted seeds from a grapefruit a few years ago and this past summer he was forced to move the tree to the back yard as it was taking over the sunroom. Now it's growing like mad in the ground!
I have not hugged anyone, other than Carlos, in so long, and I'm quite fine with that, Perhaps hugging should go the way of the dinosaurs.
Well, gosh. This comment thread has turned into a discussion on hugging.
I like to hug. Especially some people. Not others. But I try to be understanding of other people's boundaries and since Covid, have only hugged family and now the closest of friends. And all of that only since being vaccinated.
Too bad that beloved plants can't be vaccinated for mealy bug.
That is quite a big avocado tree. I wonder if it would survive being planted and living outdoors there.
I like hugs, but I am out of practice these days. My twin brother and SIL are coming up from the Bay Area for a our birthday visit, so I guess I'll be testing my hugging skills soon. We're all fully vaccinated, but I'm still worried. Oy.
I've never had mealy bugs on my plants but a few other things have shown up or a visit. Soil flies show up every time I bring in soil from outside.
I was wondering if you ever got actual avocados from your avocado plant.
Your plants do sound like a lot of work. I have very few live plants but several plastic succulents! Works for me!
I'm not much of a hugger, and I still cringe every time I think about my first day of work at my new job. Someone I went to high school with was going to be training me & as soon as I saw her I gave her a hug. What. The. Heck. We weren't even friends in high school (she hung out with the cool kids).
No alcohol on hand ??? !!!
That guy in the top photo is enjoying a nice sunny day. I haven't hugged anyone yet. I do miss that. I have a friend who lives in Chicago who is the all time best hugger.
Your avocado may need adopting by someone with a more than one storey entrance hall......!!
They are beautiful trees.
I've gotten away from my touchy feely ways and hugging feels awkward at the moment. Being of Italian descent, men and women in my family hugged and kissed each other upon greeting and saying good bye. One of my first boyfriends was afraid to come to my house, "Is your dad going to kiss me?"
I'm not sure if I mentioned: Much to my surprise, a new avocado tree grew in my pot. What amazes me is that it is growing far more quickly than the last one, taller, thicker, and with a couple dozen leaves on it already. I'm very excited about it. I've always meant to ask you how old your avocado is.
It's almost nine years old. You can see it as a sprout here:
http://shadowsteve.blogspot.com/2012/09/avocado.html
It sort of IS a bonsai -- the top has been pruned several times and we keep it in a small pot to restrict its growth. But yeah, I wish I could plant it out.
Well, I'm being tongue-in-cheek about being "allowed" to hug, because of course plenty of people are hugging anyway, I'm sure!
I hug close friends -- shaking hands with friends seems so stiff, doesn't it? But I've never been a fan of the cheek-kissing.
I had no idea a grapefruit would grow from a seed. I didn't think citrus seeds were viable. That's pretty cool! You must live somewhere warm.
I don't mind hugging although I don't do it often, aside from family. I'd like to vaccinate our plants against a lot of things!
It's just too cold here for avocados. This past winter, with our temperatures in the 20s, would have killed it for sure, unless I covered it and gave it a heat source, and that's a lot of trouble.
Ah, nature! I don't even know what a soil fly is. I wonder if we get them here?
No, it's too young to bear fruit. (And I don't know if it would anyway. Sometimes trees from seed aren't fertile, depending on the species.)
I think that's OK, isn't it? To hug someone you haven't seen in a long time, even if you didn't know them that well? That sounds understandable to me. It's an acknowledgement of the length of time you've known each other.
No RUBBING alcohol, I mean. I wouldn't use my good gin on a plant!
Yeah, I'm not sure I've hugged anyone in a long time (aside from Dave), but to be honest I haven't missed it!
We considered taking it to school and putting it in the library, which has higher ceilings, but getting it there would be a nightmare.
Ha! Yeah, I think a lot of us will have to get used to physical contact again. It will be an adjustment!
I'd like to be sitting out on that "water" patio for a while. It looks so relaxing. Enjoy your day, hugs, Edna B.
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