Plants!

Not much has been happening in our lives lately, things have been pretty quiet.

But my plants are growing! So I figured I would share them with you!

Sweet peas!

This is my second try at sweet peas, the first batch blossomed a tiny bit and then died. The soil they were in was seriously lacking nutrients, and they were thin and really weak vines.

This batch, on the other hand, looks great! They're a good healthy green color, the stems are thick and they're growing well :)

Next on my list are my hanging pots.

Sweet peas and morning glory

I got these off of Amazon and I really like them. They're kind of chintzy, but they're cute, they were cheap, and I'm not too worried about them breaking or anything. I have more sweet peas growing in two of them (sweet peas grow fast, I never really noticed before) and morning glory in the other two. My thought, since those are both vine/climbing plants, is that they'll climb down, instead of up, making a cute vine-trail that spills out of the pots and such.

I'm really considering buying a second set of those pots, maybe hanging them on the other side of the balcony ...

After those is my poor basil plant

Mr Cecil Basil, the strongest of basil plants

I somehow ended up killing most of the basil plants I bought, no idea how. But I have one stem left. You can see the wilted, dead basil in there too. I have no idea how I ended up being a murderer of basil. I took care of all of the plants I got exactly the same, so I don't know how one branch of them survived while the others all died off.

Bellflowers

Then I have these bellflowers that I got from Trader Joe's on a whim. Most of the flowers have died off (I kept them in their original pot too long, I think, and they wilted - but they're coming back, see?) but they seem to be reinvigorated by a slightly larger pot with some fertilizer. Slowly they're becoming more green than dead, and they're blooming again too!

After the bellflowers come my three pots of mystery plants.

What's growing?

I bought some (horribly overpriced) seed bombs from Anthropologie a while ago, and I finally decided to plant them. I had bought two bags of the West Coast flowers (West Coast: includes cornflower, Shasta daisy, farewell-to-spring, garland chrysanthemum, Sweet William, mountain phlox and California poppy) and one of the herbs (Herbs: includes, basil, dill, cilantro, chives and parsely).

Who knows?

I pretty much just crumbled up the "bombs" of two of the bags (herbs and one of the West Coast bags) and layered them in the pots. I have no idea what'll come out of it, if anything (although I have to admit: I'm really hoping they bloom).

So mysterious!

They're all growing really well (to be expected, I suppose, that's part of the point of seed bombs, after all), and I have to admit that I'm really excited to see what sprouts up from them.



After those come my strawberries.

So delicious!

While we've had one strawberry make it all the way into being delicious, that's all we've achieved from these plants. Now they're more protected (there's metal mesh underneath a thin layer of soil. to keep the squirrels from digging them up), but I suspect it might take another season or two before we get any more strawberries. I guess they need to be more established or something.


Then there's the indoor plants.

Upstairs live these three - Ghosty, Heffalump, and Rose, or Graptopetalum paraguayense, Portulacaria afra, and ... a type of succulent I can't remember the name of at this point. These three are really cute and are in our bedroom window. They're doing a lot better than they were before I moved them.

Then there's Mr Tentacles, my octopus plant (Drosera capensis) who is doing really poorly. I can't figure out how to help him, and I don't know if I'm going to be able to keep it alive. I'm hoping to get a bigger container really soon, and maybe that will help.

Finally is the newest addition, Zebra. Zebra is a Hawthoria fasciata, and the first plant I actually did my research on. I only bought him once I knew he would survive in a partial shade/low light environment. He currently lives in the window by my computer desk.


Well, those are all of them. I really like taking care of my plants - I like having green things around, and I like keeping them alive.

Blooms and Post

Here it is: April at last. Tene and I have been in California for a full year. The year has been slow, calm, and rejuvenating. It's been renewing, in a lot of ways, for both of us.

We've been in our new nest for a bit over two weeks now, and I'm just getting the final handful of boxes unpacked (where did we get so much stuff?!) and organized. I've also been buying a few new things - mostly organizational stuff so that I can keep my area(s) clear, but I also went to Ikea and picked up a few vases.

Can I just go on for a bit about how much I love Ikea? It's just wonderful, and I don't really understand the Ikea-hate I've noticed in random places on the internet. It has, so far, been my experience that - while some of their stuff isn't necessarily the best of the best - it's workable. And I don't feel bad if something breaks or gets a little damaged. After all - it's pretty simple to replace. And most of their stuff looks good, in a simple sort of way.

Anyway, I bought a couple of vases and immediately put them to use. I've fallen in love with Trader Joe's in the last year - although I don't go there very frequently (I can find produce for a lot cheaper, as well as meat) to purchase things, I often window shop to see their for-sale plants. A year ago I got my very first house plant from Trader Joe's. A pretty flower from South Africa (says the label) that had bright orange blooms.

I managed to kill it within a week.

I couldn't find the plant - Ornithogalum dubium (also known as a Sun Star) - again, and I ended up waiting for April to roll around again, hoping that TJs would offer the plant up for sale again.

And they did! I went to Trader Joe's for a bouquet for my new vases (which I also purchased), and I came home with another Sun Star. I hope to keep this one alive - I have a much better handle of the care and keeping of plants (like that the containers stores sell plants in are really crappy and shouldn't be considered permanent homes - regardless of how cute they are).

Of course, this year has its own challenges. Our new nest has windows, of course, but they all face north-west-ish. We get indirect and partial sun most of the day. The plants aren't the happiest with this arrangement - especially since the plants I have (sunflower, succulents, daisies ... ) really like the sun. We're thinking of getting some house plants that thrive on low-light, but I'm also hoping that I can keep some of the plants (the succulents and the , specifically. Also Cecil Basil II, the second full basil plant I've owned. Cecil Basil I died within a week of my bringing him home, and the seeds I got from Ikea never actually sprouted - so I guess Ikea is less than ideal when it comes to plants) at least happy enough that they don't die until we move again (be that in a year or five), and I can actually give them the sunlight they need.

As it is, I've been trying to put the plants all outside together in the morning before I leave, so that they can get the most out of even the partial sun. It's nice and fun to see them all in their pots lining our balcony, and makes me happy.

I've been writing more. Still nothing real serious, I'm not quite to that point yet, but I've been getting ideas out of my head and on to paper. I've also been reading a lot more. Finally putting my Kindle into good use. Up until about January, Tene had my Kindle, and I rarely thought about it (even though I had wanted one so bad - up until finally getting it for my birthday last year. Once I had it, I stopped caring). Now I'm finally realizing how useful it is. It fits perfectly in my purse, so I take it almost everywhere with me, and if I'm ever waiting in line I can simply pull it out, turn it on, and start reading. It only needs to be charged once a month (maybe twice) - even with heavy reading. It's great. The only complaint I have so far are the weird prices on Amazon for some books. An e-book should totally not cost more money than a paperback with shipping and handling. That's really dumb. On the other hand, I've been checking out some interesting indie fiction/self published works that have received good reviews and don't cost much.

And finally, after a purchasing mishap on my part (buying the wrong cage, derp), I got my long-awaited package in the mail! It's here at last! a Critter Nation cage for my girls. I'm so excited about this - it's hard to explain. On one hand, I'm excited because it will be so much more space for them; which is good because rats like having a lot of space, and this will hopefully improve their quality of life and make them happier and therefore healthier. On the other hand this cage will also be so much easier to clean. All I'll have to do is open the doors (which are the entire front of the cage), take out the toys and such (they'll remain the most difficult cleaning task), slide out the trays and change the bedding on them, then put everything back. No more tiny doors to work through! No more lifting off the cage top to get to the litter tray! And, since it should be easier to clean I'll hopefully clean it more often - which again will lead to healthier and happier ratties, and a healthier and happier me, too!

Spring Rain

It's a cool, rainy March day today, and I figured what better time to get my plants out-of-doors!

(It is also the best type of day for a day of writing, reading, and hot chocolate, but that is beside the point.)

A couple of weeks ago I decided that I wanted to have some plants around the apartment. I like having green growing things - and supposedly having such things helps the air quality.

So here are the plants in my family, since all of them have begun to grow.

First we've got some dwarf sunflowers and lavender. I had begun to think that the lavender wasn't going to grow, but a sprout has finally appeared, just this morning!

The sunflowers were the first to sprout - and they've grown quite prolifically since.

Next up are the sweet peas (which get taller by the day, I swear they're the fastest growing!) and my favorite flower of all - daisies. I'm hoping that I'll eventually be able to grow some Gerbera daisies, but for now these normal ones will do. They have sprouted, they're just small. The picture is blurry for some reason - even though it's plenty bright outside, I had to turn off the flash (the pictures kept coming out really dark with the flash on), and I guess I was shaking a tiny bit while the shutter was open.

And then we have my difficult-to-kill plant (I'm prone to killing plants, so I decided to get a succulent that would be more difficult to kill). He is named Ghostie - which is what the label on the pot he came in said was his type. I made the mini umbrella to keep him dry (I don't want to over water him, you know).

And then the plant that I'm most excited for - my everbearing strawberries.

So far they've not done much, but you can see a tiny blossom - one of two that have grown on one of the plants. I'm thinking I'll end up separating the plants into two containers after the move - something I think will be better for them.

So, there are my plants, all of them growing well and brightening my day.

More pictures after the jump!

June to August

So, the last time I posted anything meaningful was waaaay back in June. Even before Tene's birthday.

So, for Tene's birthday I made dinner and a cake. I, unfortunately, spent more time on the cake, when what Tene was looking forward to was me making him dinner and having it ready for him when he got home.

Regardless, I had a lot of fun making dinner and a cake for Tene (or, rather, making .... four cakes. They continually failed, and I was trying to make a multiple-layered cake - three of the four layers ended up being useable, if broken in half), and I enjoyed making him dinner.

The cake I made, as I mentioned above, ended up being three layers - and was a very rich chocolate with a chocolate ganache frosting. I also made a little red marzipan robot to decorate it with! The end result wasn't the most beautiful of things, but I was happy with it anyway, because it was fun to make and it was special and everything. The robot ended up looking like the Pusher Robot (possibly the Shover Robot, I can't remember which one is red) - here to protect us from the Terrible Secret of Space. Or like the red robot. That wasn't intended, it just ended up happening. And ... Tene asked me for a red robot, and I only had so much chance to do anything special with him (I wanted him to be much more detailed, but ran out of time).

I've been doing better at cooking dinner nightly the last few months; missing fewer nights than before. I'm really proud of myself for that. My main-made meal is still rather plain - pasta with Parmesan chicken and some type of vegetable or green.

I've become very fond of artichokes, personally. Especially their delicious centers. We eat at least one a week, and usually two each within the course of seven days. Hooray Costco! Bringing us healthy food in bulk!

I've also found that I'm okay at making steak. This was my second attempt, and was better than the first. Although I didn't actually cook the steak (Tene did that for me), I did do all the preparation for it, though. I was focusing on steaming the artichokes, asparagus, and broccoli, as well as frying (and burning) the onions.

I prefer working with chicken to steak, perhaps because I prefer lighter meat to red meat. Chicken is also a lot cheaper (hellooooo Costco and buying waaaay more chicken than I need!), although a lot nastier when raw (I wash my hands a dozen times when cooking with chicken, a lot less when cooking almost anything else).

Which brings me to tonight! Parmesan chicken, baked potatoes, baked Brussels sprouts, baked asparagus, and steamed artichokes. Made way-too-late to be reasonable, but we needed dinner.

In the last few months we've also added some things to our home - Now we have three bookshelves (two are full: one with books, the other with DVDs and video games), and a dining room table and chairs. We also have a nice red couch! Soon I should be getting my craft desk and shelves (ordered them from Ikea today), and hopefully within a few weeks or a month I should also get my computer desk as well. I'm excited that our home is coming together and things are looking so nice. It makes me feel nice and at home.

Speaking of my crafts - I've started up on them again. Right now I'm focusing on soft toys and possibly making a quilt for us for Christmas (a gift for us). I've also been working on fixing Tene's favorite blanket - a quilt his mother gave him when he left for college. Unfortunately (or, perhaps, fortunately I suppose), it has been well-loved, and is falling apart.

I'm doing the best I can to repair it, but it's taking a while and is difficult.

I'm hoping to get a sewing machine in the next few weeks/month or so, which will make my soft-toy making a lot easier (and save my back).

Otherwise, not much has been happening the last couple of months. Tene's been working and I've been sticking around taking care of home (and loving it). I'm starting to take up Yoga again, and I've joined a couple of local groups for books, writing, and crafts. I'm hoping to start taking classes again,  but I know it will be a while before I can - I'm really getting impatient, though, and wanting to return to school.

Well, that's all that's been going on around here. I've managed to kill three more plants (two small roses and a flowering plant called an Orange Star - I had named them Rosie and Posie, and ... I never named the orange one), and the girls are doing well. I'm hoping to get something to make a play area for them soon, so that I can have more than one of them out of the cage at the same time - as it is right now I'm too afraid of them running off in two (or four) different directions at once - leaving me unable to find them again.

So, that's it! I'll try to post more regularly again from now on.

Ratties, Ratteries, and Pets

Shortly after Avi's death I had a really hard time with my depression. We're talking absurdly hard time. I would cry when I saw her empty cage - and it took me a good week to finally move it out of my room. I had a very hard time adjusting to not having any pets.

Then I read a horrible story about a kitten killed in a horrific horrible way (no link, because the story is old and because it's so sad: here's some links to cute things instead) and it made what I was dealing with worse.

Well, then I started planning on getting married and moving in with Tene. I started doing better when I moved in, and I soon saw a doctor (I like my doctor) and she put me on Zoloft. I haven't done excellently on Zoloft (I was started at 50mg, which wasn't enough and so was raised to 100mg where the side effects made me feel miserable practically all of the time and my mood didn't improve at all, lowered back to 50mg - again wasn't enough for me, now I'm on 75mg ... Next time I see my doctor I'll likely be referred to a psychiatrist and I'll play the "Wheel of Meds" game again), but I've at least been functional/moderately able to manage my mood. I've still had a lot of motivational problems, as well as mood problems. No hyperactivity, though, which is good.

Something that seems to help me is having something - really anything - to take care of. At the moment, that's my plants - the bamboo and my bulb. The bulb is starting to sprout finally, and I'm becoming excited to see what kind of plant it is (I found the bulb downtown, unplanted, and figured I'd take care of it). I tried planting some bonsai seeds, but they're not sprouting - I suspect that they're far past their expiration date. Anyway, I think that I should try to take care of something that can return my affections.

Unfortunately it's unlikely that I'll be able to have rats in the current apartment, and I would have a hard time affording some basic things for them right now (let alone spaying and/or neutering them ... ). But, our lease is up in June, and we might not sign on for another six months, but instead move to a different apartment complex - perhaps one that allows pets! Or one that would honor therapeutic pets (this complex allows companion animals for the blind/deaf/etc, but not therapy animals).

So, in the meantime, I'm going to try to save some money up for some new rats - 3 of them, to be exact :). I'm also going to keep my eye on two local ratteries: Adelaide's and Frannie's. I've sent an email to both of them about my intention/desire to adopt in six/seven months, and I hope to keep in touch with them over the intervening months.

Tene and I have also talked about getting a cat, but I'm uncertain if we're actually going to or not.