Another day, another leaf! Nature's little miracles of design at this time of year.
Yesterday was pretty nondescript. It was board game night in the library, and there was some last-minute setting up to do for that -- and I DO mean last-minute. The event started at 4 p.m. and at about 3:45 my boss realized she needed a table to display all the games and had forgotten to request it. I just assumed she'd decided to leave them on the cart, but no! So I ran downstairs and found someone to bring us a table and we set everything out, just finishing up as people were walking in the door.
I didn't stick around to play games. It's not really my thing. I have occasionally enjoyed board games in a group -- like when I'd go to my friend Kevin's for Thanksgiving years ago -- but I bet I haven't played one since then.
Now that the dahlias are fading, here's the next thing to bloom -- the Thanksgiving/Christmas cacti! As you can see, my bright pink ones (on the left) have buds already. The second one from the left at top is my salmon-colored one, which I brought back from the dead and which has a few tiny buds as well.
The other two are the white/light pink variety that blog reader Frances sent me years ago as a tiny cutting. You may remember the first plant I grew from the cutting got root rot and died, but I took more cuttings and kept them going. I think this is the healthiest all my cacti have looked! I don't see any buds on the white ones yet, but fingers crossed. (Or do I have the white and salmon ones mixed up? Hmmm...)
I can hear my brother now: "STOP TALKING ABOUT PLANTS!"
I just talked to him last night on the phone, actually -- an unexpected pleasure. He called about some family business but it was fun to catch up on other stuff too. I don't know why we don't talk more often. I've turned into such a terrible communicator.
I'm thinking it's about time to throw away Olga's pink blanket. It's got that gigantic, frayed hole in the middle and we've actually cut it into two pieces, so she won't get tangled up in it. (This is the biggest floor space I could find in the house to lay it out and take a picture!)
As I'm sure I've written before, this blanket used to be on my bed in the winter when I was a kid. It's about as old as I am -- almost 60 years.
And it is still much-loved! I suppose we'll keep it a while longer.
Olga will be crushed if you throw out her beloved Blanky! She's got it just the way she wants it. *Smiles*
ReplyDeleteThat's for sure -- it's definitely adapted to her!
DeleteI love your plant post, tell your brother!
ReplyDeleteHa! I will! (He'll probably read this.)
DeleteDefinitely keep the blanket!!
ReplyDeleteYou do communicate..but not everyone uses the same medium to communicate
Well, thanks for saying so. I often feel like anyone who wants to know what's going on in my life can read my blog, but a surprising number of friends either don't or won't. Maybe they feel like it's impersonal.
DeleteI think you, or rather your parents, have had their money's worth from the blanket.
ReplyDeleteI'll say! I wonder how much it cost when it was new. Probably nothing by today's standards.
DeleteThe cacti are looking great....very shiny! My pale one isn't budding either, but it is infested with what I think are mealybugs. I sprayed it with vinegary water yesterday which should help.
ReplyDeleteOlga looks very snug in her blanket.
Some of mine got mealybugs and I dabbed them with rubbing alcohol and rinsed the whole plant now and then. That seemed to help a lot.
DeleteThe blanket has to stay.....
ReplyDeleteApparently so, by popular opinion! (Including Olga's...)
DeleteHow are you with a needle and thread? You could easily sew up the pink "blanket" though it looks like a sheet to me. Maybe patch it?
ReplyDeleteEven if I were motivated to take on that project -- and I'm not -- there's no way a needle and thread would solve that problem!
DeleteSend it to Ms.Moon or Boud,patchers extrodinaires.
ReplyDeleteThis would take a truly heroic level of patching!
DeleteSandy, that's funny! I think the blanket should stay around as long as Olga does. Just sayin.
ReplyDeleteLooks to me as if that blanket doesn't have enough strength in it to sew a patch to. Strangely enough, I am going through a blankie dilemma myself with the same problem.
DeleteYeah, I think that's what we'll do -- keep it around as long as she's with us. And I agree, Ms. Moon -- no patching is possible on that ragged old thing.
DeleteThat last picture is adorable!
ReplyDeleteMy brother and I enjoy our conversations but will go a month or even two between them. Like you, I hang up wondering why I don't call and talk more often.
Yeah, it's funny -- I guess we just get busy with our lives and before we know it, months have gone by!
DeleteWith Olga's face like that I wouldn't dare take away that blanket!
ReplyDeleteShe looks like she's imploring me: "PLEASE save my blanket!"
DeleteYou have to let Olga keep her pink blanket. Look at her sweet face in that last photo!
ReplyDeleteIt's a hard face to say no to!
DeleteMike had a blanket that he wrapped up in at night, burrito style, and it got so bad that I thought he'd get his toes caught in a hole & break one. It took a while to find a replacement that was suitable. So I say keep it until it disintegrates into nothingness!
ReplyDeleteI have a blanket like that myself that I bought in Morocco in 1992. It's still something we sleep under every night, but it is a collection of holes!
DeleteThe look in Olga's eyes says, "Don't take my blanket away.
ReplyDeleteHa! That's exactly what she looks like!
DeleteYour cacti are looking excellent. Having a collection makes a great display.
ReplyDeleteDoes Olga need a backup blankie? It is getting cold and her favorite blankie looks a bit thin. Two blankies sounds perfect to me. Also, it might ease Olga's transition to a new blankie, should blankie #1 dissolve in the wash.
It is a bit thin, for sure, but she's never very cold in our house. If she were living outside in a doghouse I'd get her a better one!
DeleteThat is a well 'loved' blanket. Your Christmas cactus are all looking so robust.
ReplyDeleteI'm enjoying your photos of colorful leaves.
Loved is one word for it!
DeleteYour plants are worth bragging about!
ReplyDeleteYou keep that blanket for as long as Olga is still using it!
Yeah, I think that is actually the plan. Or until it completely falls apart in the wash.
Deletehard to throw away beloved soft things. I had a favorite long sleeve shirt I finally disposed of because everyone in my family would tell me to throw it away. It was a green soft long sleeve shirt that was surprisingly warm for how lightweight the material was and by the time I finally let it go it was very ragged, more holes than not.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to throw away a favorite article of clothing like that. I have a sweatshirt that I bought in NYC on a trip in 1995 and I still can't get rid of it! And it's in terrible shape!
DeleteNo need to throw it out--that hole adds character and history. I enjoy board games but am not often in a large enough group to play them. Love the cactus!
ReplyDeleteIt does add character, I suppose -- you can tell that's where she burrowed in most often!
DeleteOh, but Olga looks blissful in her pink blanket. Yep, it’s still a keeper. The cactus group is impressive. Don’t stop talking about plants.
ReplyDeleteI'm actually really happy that the cacti seem to have withstood their earlier tribulations. I thought I might lose a couple of them.
DeleteNo way you can throw that blanket out, just look at that last picture........:)
ReplyDeleteThose pleading eyes!
DeleteI don't much like games. I can enjoy the chance ones like Ludo but cannot stand anything involving competitive thinking.
ReplyDeleteI've never played Ludo. I'm not even sure I know what it is! Off to Google...
DeleteDo not throw away that blanket! At her age, Olga should get to keep it, even if it's in scraps.
ReplyDeleteI love games and always have. All my kids and their families do, too.
It's in two pieces so far, but it will probably eventually be in more!
DeleteGet someone to stitch the two pieces together. I agree with Kelly. Depriving an elderly dog of her special blanket is just wrong!!!
ReplyDeleteOh, there's no stitching this thing. That fabric is way too porous to hold any thread!
DeleteDebby got here before me, there's plenty of life in that blanket. A little cutting and stitching and it will be good as new and Olga will never know.
ReplyDeleteI'm not convinced! Maybe if we cut out the center and sewed together the two edges, but then there would just be a strip!
DeleteThe good four corner pieces could be sewn together to make a smaller blanket, but still big enough for Olga to lie on.
Delete