I ask you: Are there any more peaceful sounds than rain on the roof and a gently snoring dog?
I took that video on Saturday, but I could just as easily have made it yesterday, because that's what things looked like around here in late afternoon. The rain was coming down again and Olga was snoozing away.
Before that, I had a fairly busy day. I vacuumed the house and even cleaned beneath our bed, which involves tipping both the mattress and the bedframe against the wall. I only do it a couple of times a year and it was once again time. I probably reduced the quantity of dust in our bedroom by 80 percent.
I found a pile of shoes under there, some with a heavy "patina" (to make it sound elegant) of dust. I threw away one of my pairs and I'm going to have to ask Dave about some of his. If they've gone unworn this long they probably would not be missed.
Then I got out in the garden and finally, finally repotted all the rest of the foxglove seedlings. Now they're all out of the seed trays, where frankly they weren't doing too well, and in their own pots.
As you can see, we're not talking about a small quantity of plants. Some of them are still so little you can barely see them, and they may not all survive, but such is life. I have more than I know what to do with anyway.
I don't know why they didn't grow better in their seed trays as they have in past years, but whatever.
The ones I potted out a few weeks ago are looking good:
But then, they were bigger to begin with.
(That little one on the right, with the flower, isn't one of the repotted seedlings. It just naturally sprouted in that pot so I put it with the others. I don't know why it's blooming now.)
In order to complete this task I had to make a midday journey to Homebase for more potting soil, and while there I picked up a new pot for that prayer plant (or whatever it is) I found on the street last year. It's the thirstiest plant I've ever had -- it can absorb water like no one's business and that's partly because it was fairly root-bound.
Here it is, post-repotting. It looks deceptively huge in that picture but that's because I'm crouching down. It's about three feet high.
I Skyped on Sunday night with Dave and his parents, and we texted yesterday as he was about to board his flight from Michigan to Indiana. He still has a week left in the states, attending Drum Corps finals in Indianapolis. I feel like he's been gone forever.
At night I watched "Trial By Fire," a movie with Laura Dern on Netflix, which was based on a New Yorker article that I remember reading years ago about a guy in Texas sentenced to death for setting a house fire that killed his three daughters. His trial was a travesty and there are lingering questions about his guilt, but of course he was executed years ago because...Texas. Don't even get me started on all the ways the death penalty is wrong, but its finality is certainly one of them.
Any excess foxgloves could be planted in carefully chosen locations on Hampstead Heath. Surely it's not illegal to give Mother Nature a helping hand. Even so, I suggest you wear a face mask.
ReplyDeleteActually, I think it is illegal to plant anything on the Heath. I'll give the surplus away to fellow gardeners at work.
DeleteYou vacuumed under your bed? I think we did that about ten years ago when we repainted. I don't think undisturbed dust is a real problem.
ReplyDeleteYes, execution is a terrible thing. I wonder how many black people have been executed with doubtful evidence. Doesn't matter much I suppose. They were black.
There's no question that there's a racial component to the application of the death penalty, just as arrest and conviction rates disproportionately affect blacks.
DeleteThat's a lot of foxgloves!
ReplyDeleteOur justice system needs recalibrated. Unfortunately, I don't see it happening. As soon as someone points out any systemic bias, someone else is shouting that racism does not exist. We can't even get past the initial question, let alone address the problems. Might I suggest reading up on Brock Turner and then, just for contrast, reading up on Albert N. Wilson.
You're right -- many people seem unable to allow themselves to see or acknowledge the problems.
DeleteWe have a half dozen large storage tubs under our bed. Not as much room for dust. No shoes and no stray socks because our housekeeper retrieves whatever she discovers once a week. To me, the death penalty is barbaric. And there have been too many times where years laters it’s been discovered that they person on death row (or already put to death) was innocent. Hideous. I love that snoring dog... and the foxgloves.
ReplyDeleteWe have two plastic storage boxes under there, but one of them is mostly empty. We mostly just use the space as a place to keep our shoes.
DeleteI vacuume under my bed weekly
ReplyDeleteFull of dust
Like my love life
LOL! And you vacuum there weekly?! You put me to shame!
DeleteI think, as always, Olga has the right idea!
ReplyDeletewe saw "Trial By Fire" a year or two ago, and we were also incensed by the story. But, yes, Texas. I think Laura Dern is an extremely underrated actress. I have never seen her give less than everything in a performance.
I agree about Laura Dern. She's one of my favorites. Did you ever watch her TV show "Enlightened"? It only lasted a couple of seasons but I thought it was excellent and she did a terrific job. As she gets older she looks more and more like her mother, Diane Ladd.
DeleteI think my husband is going to get a bed for me like Olga's and put it in another room. I'm the one who snores.
ReplyDeletePrayer plants do close up every night. I'm not sure that is one, though. It sure is pretty.
Ha! Dave snores too. (And maybe I do -- I'm not sure!)
DeleteOh, and my plant-finder app identifies that plant as a Stromanthe. But when I look up Stromanthe online it doesn't look quite the same. So I'm still perplexed. This one doesn't close at night, but the leaves roll up like cigarettes when it gets too dry.
DeleteThere's nothing so sweet as listening to your doggie snore while it sleeps. Your prayer plant looks awesome! Enjoy your day, hugs, Edna B.
ReplyDeleteI love it when she snores. It really is a peaceful sound.
DeleteThat's a lotta foxgloves! And here I have two little things to plant & just couldn't be bothered (they're seed balls, so they'll keep until next spring).
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty anti-death penalty. It's expensive, sometimes (often?) kills the wrong person, and as you said, final.
It's also barbaric. It's cheap revenge.
DeleteNothing like a rainy day!
ReplyDeleteI agree! I love rainy days because they give me permission to sit around and do nothing.
DeleteLoved listening to Olga sleep and seeing your potted plants and new foxglove starts. I had been wondering how Dave was doing on his journey. Good to know all is well. One more week. I miss him and I don't even know him!
ReplyDeleteYeah, we communicate every day. He's fine so far!
DeleteI imagine you, a proper English gentleman by now, tending your beautiful English garden. Worlds away from a tiny New York City apartment! It's always so fascinating to me how life spins on a dime, and yet when you're living it, going one day to the next, it's easy to lose awareness of the spin entirely.
ReplyDeleteHa! Calling me an English gentleman makes it sound like I wear an ascot and ride a polo pony, and I'm still wandering around in cargo shorts and a baseball cap. :) But you're right about how dramatically things can change over time.
DeleteThat "prayer plant" looks so full and healthy.
ReplyDeleteWe have a very cloudy day with threats of rain here. I need a snoring dog to go with it.
It's a very healthy plant; I just wish I knew what it was!
DeleteGotta love the gently snoring dog! I like her dog bed as well. :)
ReplyDeleteShe loves that dog bed. We tried to buy her a new one and she wouldn't use it!
DeleteI'm gonna remember that "patina" line. It will come in useful!
ReplyDeleteI struggle with the death penalty, too. Oh, to sleep the (snoring) sleep of Olga, without a care in the world.
The death penalty isn't even a struggle for me. I am firmly, 100 percent against it. There's never been a doubt in my mind that it's an unacceptable punishment in a civilized society.
Deleteyou might remember that my zinnias sprouted in their seedling trays and eventually got their first true leaves but they never do do well and in fact all but a handful eventually just died.
ReplyDeletemy bed frame is high enough off the ground that it's easy to vacuum under, I just don't do it very often. we used the space under the bed in the city house to store boxes of stuff which just became dust magnets and no easy way to clean under it. when we moved I put an end to that. nothing goes under the bed.
and that prayer plant is big! I've only ever seen them as very small houseplants and it looks like you have some maidenhair there too.
We don't keep much stuff under the bed, but there are a few things under there. And yes, that is a big plant -- bigger than most prayer plants I've seen, which is why I doubt that identification. The maidenhair sprouted on its own in an adjacent pot, which holds a big fiddle-leafed fig tree.
DeleteSwiffering here. Under the bed is the worst and the only thing better than a sleeping dog? A sleeping cat, of course.
ReplyDeleteSleeping cats are good too. :)
DeleteOlga Girl, So Peaceful You Are - Best Humans Ever
ReplyDeleteCheers
She does love a good nap!
DeleteI love that video. My cats both snore at times, but more quietly than Olga since they are smaller. A few times I have wakened myself up snoring but only if I'm lying on my back. I wonder why animals snore when they're lying on their fronts? Ah, the mysteries of life :)
ReplyDeleteMy cats used to snore too! And yeah, I never thought about animals' sleeping positions relative to their snoring.
DeleteWe all love Olga so much. Thanks for the sweet video.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome. Glad you liked it. :)
DeleteI think you have a Calathea Concinna 'Freddie', sometimes called 'zebra-plant' or yes, prayer-plant (although the same name is given to Marantas and Stromanthes). Of all 350 (!) or so different species, this one probably 'prays' (rolls up it's leaves at night) the least. It likes indirect sun, slightly moist sun and loves to be misted. Here's some info I found: https://emoryrosenow.com/plant-profile-callie-the-calathea-freddie/, https://gardeningbrain.com/calathea-freddie/
ReplyDeleteSlightly moist soil, I mean.
DeleteI remember that case in Texas. I saw a documentary about it. When real experts were brought in to analyze photos of the crime scene, what they saw was the opposite of what local law enforcement insisted was true. I'll look for that movie. Nothing is sweeter than Franklin and Penelope's gentle snoring.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie