I have been traveling. An unusual situation at work sends me away. Normally, I love it. And in a way, I still do. But I miss my plants. Terribly! I come back after a week and things have changed, grown, had bloomed...died. What a lucky woman I was to be able to see my landscape every day and watch over it, watch it change, help it along when it needed. I need to adjust to my being away. I am not sure my traveling will end next next month? So I enjoy my plants when I can, appreciating them more than ever before!
On a good note, on my free time away in San Francisco I found my slightly sought after ZZ Plant. I will get acorns and acorns for that one when I get the chance to get that to the DataBase! :) I have been admiring the plant at my local nail salon for many years. I had to have one. I sort of made a part time search for it. While on the streets of Chinatown, set in the front shelves of a tiny, tiny beauty salon, there was my plant! The only one! I left it there the first time. But when it was still there the following week, I knew that was my plant! All of Chinatown has been preparing for the Moon Festival this week. The smell of moon cakes baking fill the air in Chinatown. My plant is a nice rememberance of the preparations. I will return this week to parades and all festivities that celebrate the Autumn Moon of the Chinese calender. The plant will wait for me at home. I will bring sweet little decorations for it. What a great souvenir!
When I can't feel the love from my plants while being away from home, I have managed to grab up some love from far away cities.
Sometimes, not often, I have to travel for work. This is one of those months. I enjoy traveling. But it has been so long since I've traveled that one of the first worries I had were the care of my plants. My next worry was not being able to earn acorns. Because as you know, since joining ATP, I am all aobut the acorns! LOL
When I got home after 5 days away there were some pleasant surprises and one not so pleasant surprise. My brugmansia was in full bloom, probably with the most flowers it has ever had! It is in the front yard and greeted me when I came up the driveway. My onions sets came up and there was a pot full of green onion stalks. My new Plumeria (Thanks, Mike) were doing exceptionally well but they needed a long drink. I gave them a big drink of water before I even brought my suitcases inside. However, I may have lost one of my bougainvilleas. DH didn't bother to water it. The other I had just given new soil but I didn't get around to this one, waiting because it was in full bloom. Now I am sorry I didn't give it some fresh,moisture-holding soil. I have been babying it the past few days but it's not looking very good.
I have another chance to travel again this week. I will worry about my plants again. And acorns.
Can you see those large bands of Tropical storm Isaac? I think Houston will benefit from the rain. Already, in the afternoon we get short down pours. I'll take it for the garden. The trees need it. My pocketbook needs it! The water bills have been horrendous! Anyone else a Weather Watching Freak? I suppose it goes hand and hand with gardening. HEY ISAAC! BRING IT!
Thank you, Isaac, for some badly needed rain in Houston. Mom Nature's drink is so much better than city water. My sprinklers get a rest for a couple days! Yippeeee! I don't even mind the Bad Hair Day!
If you've ever driven in the great state of Texas then you are familiar with Bucee's. Even if you never stopped in one of these giantic convenience stores, you at least know about them by their annoying billboards every mile or so for 10 miles until you get there. By the time you get near you are wondering, "What are Beaver Nuggets? and "What's so great about fudge and beef jerky?" "And yes, btw I DO need to pee, thank you very much." Bucee's boasts to having the cleanest rest rooms---and they DO!
I avoided Bucee's for a long time and I don't know why? On vacation we stopped just for funzies. That's all it took. I am a Bucees Addict. I loooove their fudge and Beaver Nuggets snacks are like crack. I always buy at least 2 bags. DH loves their beef jerky and freshly made sandwiches. Personally, I think he just likes to play with the ordering touch screen. I like Candied Japaleno dip and they have the best tuna.
Why am I telling this and what does this have to do with gardening, you ask? Well, every Bucee's Fan also has Bucee's paraphanalia and this family is no different. Our home has Bucee sleep shorts, Bucee T shirts, Bucee key chains, Bucee's bumper stickers, Bucee travel cups I could go on and on, all with that famous beaver head. Our Bucees T shirt says, "My over bite is sexy" and "I'm a different kind of beaver". My big giagantic 54 ounce Bucee's travel cup I use exclusively for the beach AND for when I am working in the garden. I put some ice in it water, Gatorade or sometimes a whole lot of wine, and the insulated cup lasts me nearly all day on my Wednesday Yard Days. Some Wednesdays me and Bucee don't get a lot done especially when I pour wine into the cup . LOL And everytime I pick it up, it reminds me of our road trips to the Texas Coast, the beach, our other getaways, and smiles. As if I don't get enough smiles from my garden already?
