Yesterday we had a surprising morning weather-wise. It started with rain, but when Dave and I got off the tube to walk toward school, we stepped into a snowstorm! It was wet, clumpy snow that didn't stick around long, but all the kids were exclaiming about it. Some of them whipped out their iPhones to take pictures or videos.
I was mostly worried about our plants -- I'd only taken in a single geranium, and hadn't done anything to protect the others. I did not expect snow! But the temperature was in the 40's (F) and because the snow wasn't lingering I hoped they'd be OK.
By the time I left school around lunchtime to take the capsule endoscopy recording unit and belt back to the hospital, it was merely cold and wet outside. I walked past the war memorial in Upper Grosvenor Gardens, decorated with poppy wreaths for Remembrance Day, and snapped a picture just as two dedicated joggers passed, huffing and puffing like blonde locomotives. (I'm sure they would not appreciate that simile.)
I was glad to be rid of that recorder, but it felt a little weird to drop it off and get nothing in return. "Do I need a receipt?" I asked the receptionist, who assured me I did not. I hope he's right and nobody calls me in a week saying, "Hey, where is that recorder?"
When Dave and I got home last night, we went on a plant protection campaign. We covered the avocado with one of the protective sheets I bought for that purpose, and now it's standing on the patio like a giant ghost. Covering a plant that big turned into a complex affair involving a ladder, a rake and lots of clothespins, but we managed.
I also brought in more stuff: our other three geraniums, the plectranthus and the African daisy. I left the citrus out because it's big and I hadn't yet made room for it in the house, but I'll get it inside this morning. It's supposed to get even colder over the next few nights -- down to 30º F (-1º C). I hope the ol' avocado is up to it.
I was glad to see that one sheet covers the avocado, because we have a second sheet and if the weather gets really cold or snowy, we can give it two layers.
Dave got our first King Charles £20 note the other day. This is the first paper money I've seen bearing his visage -- most of it still features the Queen. But slowly the change is happening.
Speaking of high-profile deaths, I was thinking yesterday about the post I did almost four years ago called "Who's Still Alive?" I mentioned 17 celebrities of a venerable age. Today, of that group, only Gene Hackman (94), Eva Marie Saint (100), June Lockhart (99), Dick van Dyke (98), Mel Brooks (98) and Tina Louise (90) are still with us. The other day I mentioned Tippi Hedren in conversation and I could add her to the list -- she's 94 -- and fellow Hitchcock muse Kim Novak is 91. Tina Louise was even on television a few months ago, doing a promo for a memoir she's written.
Let's hear it for good genes, fitness and modern medicine! I wonder if any of them ever had a capsule endoscopy?
Surreptitiously snapping pictures of bare-legged joggers could get you into hot water! I am surprised that they didn't confront you and call the cops. I wonder what the headline would have been in "The Evening Standard"?
ReplyDeleteHey, they ran into my frame! I was hardly aiming at them.
DeleteNo, not that - it would be: "Pervy Librarian arrested at War Memorial".
DeleteDick Van Dyke is such a treasure. I love that man.
ReplyDeleteHe IS a treasure. I still love watching his old '60s show and "Mary Poppins."
DeleteHow amazing to learn that such stars are still alive. Tina Louise was Ginger?
ReplyDeleteYes, the last surviving "Gilligan's Island" cast member!
DeleteCongrats on such clean fingernails, always a conservative with such closeups.
ReplyDeleteI was at a friend’s house yesterday playing mahjong and looked down only to realize that I’d failed to scrub mine thoroughly after gardening that morning. Happily, no one threw me out in disgust.
Ha! The key is to keep them really, really short. I trim my fingernails at least weekly.
DeleteI will go into mourning when Dick Van Dyke dies. And Mel. Eva Marie is 100? Wow. Dick VanD just said he didn't think he'd live through Trump's term. I'm wondering if he's really depressed or knows something he's not saying or is just figuring 103 is just too much to ask for. He still seems to get out a fair amount.
ReplyDeleteWe were above 60 degrees yesterday; snow is predicted for tonight. Wacky weather. My geraniums are still out too (I did bring them to the garage briefly -- I'm going to try to winter them, but don't know how that will go) but took them back out when the weather warmed up. In we go again. That avocado is a complex operation!
Will my old five pound note still "work" in another year or two? Hmmm.
Maybe he figures the odds are against him, but I think if he's already made it to 98, then 103 doesn't seem out of the question! The old money should still be good, I think -- it will just be replaced as the new comes into circulation.
DeleteI am also a huge Dick Van Dyke fan; whenever his show is on reruns I am hooked again!
ReplyDeleteMe too! That was one of my favorite shows as a kid.
DeleteUgh. Winter is coming! Thanks for snapping a photo of the new King Charles bank note. I was wondering when they would start to be in circulation.
ReplyDeleteSo now we have Charles stamps and bank notes. I think the coins come last!
DeleteGene Hackman is 94! Thanks for making me feel old this morning Steve. In my mind, he still looks like he did in Hoosiers.
ReplyDeleteI still think of Dustin Hoffman as "The Graduate," or at least "Tootsie," but he's 87!
DeleteDid you buy special protective material for your plants? I need to look into this because I am NOT dragging my porch jungle in this year. Not happening.
ReplyDeleteAmerican money is so boring. Same bills and coins, decade after decade.
You may have said but when do you get the results of that little capsule's photography?
Yes, I bought plant fleece on Amazon. I can give you specifics if you want. It comes as either a bag-shaped covering for bushes or trees, or a big flat sheet. I actually like the unchanging nature of American money! I'm not sure on the test results. My doctor ordered some other tests too and he may wait to give me everything at once.
DeleteWe are supposed to get some snow tomorrow. I hope it is only a dusting so I can get out and about. I'm pretty cautious when it comes to snow.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how long you will have to wait to get your camera results?! I had blood tests yesterday morning and had results on "My Chart" online by noon! I love that!
Wow! That's amazingly fast! The hospital I went to here uses "My Chart" but I haven't signed up for it yet.
DeleteOh, I love "My Chart". Results arrive so quickly, you can send in questions, make appointments and it keeps track of all of your visits and after visit notes.
DeleteI was SURE that this was going to say "...a complex affair involving a ladder, a rake and lots of swearing." Ha!
ReplyDeleteYou are not wrong! I just didn't mention that part!
DeleteSo Steve! It's suddenly snowing, people running about like it's the apocalypse, video, texting, and all you can think is, arghgh, my plants!
ReplyDeleteThat seems like a reasonable thing to be concerned about, doesn't it? :!
DeleteIt's a good thing I turned in all my British currency.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like winter has arrived in London!
I think even currency with the Queen on it will work for a good long time.
DeleteYou have a small garden that is enclosed by fences and many other plants. Plants should be fairly well protected.
ReplyDeleteYeah, and the avocado is on the patio, which will help retain some warmth, I think.
Deletethe trick to covering plants outside is to cover them all the way to the ground and secure the covering with bricks or something else heavy even in pots, and make sure they are watered beforehand. if you only cover the green part and not the roots you might as well not bother, especially in a pot. but maybe you already know that.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm familiar with all this from my years in Florida, where we had to cover tender plants almost every winter. (Probably a lot like you!)
DeleteIt's been in the upper 30's at night in Tucson. I'm not covering anything. If they die, they die. The last Tucson house was such an ordeal with wrapping plants, I'm done. Plus all my flannel is in Spokane.
ReplyDeleteI am slowly coming around to that same viewpoint. Dave gets really sick of me hauling plants in and out of the house. (Even though I'm the one doing the hauling!)
DeleteThe photo of the avocado in its winter wrap is wonderful! Did Olga help y'all get it covered?
ReplyDeleteHa! If by "help" you mean get underfoot, then yes!
DeleteAn early cold snap with snow takes us by surprise. The avocado looks well protected. It should be raining and/or snowing in MA. The weather is unpredictable. Snow for Christmas would be nice.
ReplyDeleteThe snow WAS a surprise, at least to me, though apparently it was in the forecast and I just wasn't paying attention.
DeleteNo snow here yet although our mountains are getting inundated. Not just lots of snow but blizzard conditions. Hope the plants all survive! At those advanced ages they've probably had tests we couldn't even imagine.
ReplyDeleteAt least we don't get blizzards here. We've only had one snowfall that I can think of that could be called a "blizzard," and by New York standards it was nothing.
DeleteNot a half bad image of Charles, altered from reality quite a bit. Your avocado looks like an art piece- an installation with lights - so cool!Sorry you had to get the ladder out just to cover it so lovingly! Our little avocado is still struggling under the pink light ,to live. It has never gone out into real sunshine.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it looks considerably fresher than Charles in real life! I wondered if he had to approve it? I bet he did.
DeleteOooh, new money! I got all excited when King Charles appeared on our new $1 coins, but so far it seems I'm the only one who has one, unless all my friends just don't bother checking their change.
ReplyDeleteInteresting! And I thought Australia was doing away with the monarch!
DeleteThose joggers look cold! It’s currently a chilly 14 here. The image of the avocado under the sheet is eerily wonderful. So does this mean you and Dave are “new money.”
ReplyDelete