Thursday is Plant Day

 

Most all the plants look good.  A lot show very good growth.   Up above, the plant that looks kind of cactusy is Opus.  (Yes, the penguin.)  In the cat, specifically the cat's back, is Stanford.  I was relieved to find a cat planter that didn't have the plant coming out of the cat's bottom.

Again, air plants don't get names.

The day will come, we all know, that everyone in Equine Alley will be named.  I live a rich life.

Speaking of...

This arrived yesterday.  How do I not find a place for this gorgeous one?  I might have to start an Alley Annex on the opposite wall.

How in the world could this have happened?  I saw

one print of a horse on a sofa.  Who knew there were SO many prints of animals sitting on couches?

For the past three days, we've been warned about thunderstorms breaking out at night.  Nothing.  Look, weatherpeople, don't keep teasing us.

Things I Wonder About

 Why do things always spiral out of control?  Can they slant out of control?  Can they straightline out of control?  Swerve?  

Why, no matter what else is served with them, do you keep going back and back to the french fries?

If you can take a shower in the morning to wake up, AND a shower at night to relax you for sleep, how does the shower know which to do? 

Is there curds powder, too?

Does half Hell ever break loose?  Is it always all?

Do the Four Winds ever blow at the same time?  Wouldn't they cancel one another out?

How do people keep their glasses on their foreheads?  Not their heads, their foreheads.  I can't do it.

Why do men use Grecian Formula?  I have yet to meet a woman who doesn't like (really like) a man with salt and pepper hair.

More on hair: why are they called "beachy waves," or "mermaid waves?"

Is it possible to sleep wrong on your shoulder?  Like you sometimes do on your neck?  Asking for a friend in pain.

Bad Stuff, Good Stuff, Stuff in the Middle

Today, I couldn't find my glasses for about 10 minutes, which was bad because I couldn't find my phone.  As in I couldn't see my phone in front of me.

Twinnie sent a chest-puffing message to Tap about dealing with the roadwork.  With his little DayGlo vest, hardhat (he's all about safety) and whistle, he could bark with real authority.  The Loud Machines are not out there today, so he must have skeered them, Aunt Kim.

The leggings I'm wearing today

have a print from mid-thigh down.   I've lost count of how many times I've brushed my legs today, thinking something was there.

Check this out:

Far left there?  Looks SO much like Hannah.  She'd accessorize it out just like that, too.  Second from the left is me, before I got my hair cut.  Yep, I got a new look.  Two weeks ago.

A pixie.  I'll try to get a better picture for you.  No one else seems to like it, but I do.  What styling there is that can be done I haven't grasped yet.  Somehow, my hair looks a bit less white.  Go figure.

Sleep and Not

Since I'm doing the plant thing now, I'm looking at/for info on diseases and treatments.  Today, I was told that the leaves on my peacock plant showed clear signs of "droopiness."

Words hurt, you know.  I spoke to the [still unnamed] plant and deeply apologized.  I'll be leaf-monitoring for the foreseeable future.

Here in Athens Clarke County (we're united, you know):

And it is a hellish mess.  Everywhere.   The last three nights, they've been "improving" the road beside my house.  BRIGHT LIGHTS!  Lots of beeping when backing up!  Big engines in big equipment being big loud!

Truth be told, I don't mind it that much.  My bedroom is on the other side of the house, so noises are slightly minimized.  But there is Tap.  Tap, who will holler if I drop an empty paper towel tube in the kitchen.  He has barked and barked and carried on...  If I get up and look outside with him/for him, he settles.  It already looks like they'll be busy tonight, so we'll see what shakes out.

Plants and Prizes

 Nicely done, Google.  If any of you are interested, search Google for "Spain," "Spanish team," etc., and watch what happens.

I had the match on all afternoon, though I didn't have eyes on it constantly.  Right now, the NASCAR race is on.

Some of my day was spent taking baby air plants from their parents.  Can plants have doulas?  Midwives?

On top, the parent plant with twins!  Two pups from two different sources in the hand at the bottom. They look enough alike, though, that I put them together.

Now, these two might be preemies.  They got to go into the special XXS jars.  Even at that, I had to put them in very carefully or they'd fall right in.

Then there are these 3 guys.  Each of them was on its own, and I decided to move them all in together.  They've been christened "The Hudson Brothers."  IYKYK.

Plans Were Laid...

Going to bed last night, nothing in the world sounded better to me to eat than waffles.  I put out the pancake mix, the syrup, and my waffle iron.  Ready to go.

Then, today, nothing sounded better to me to eat than a Gyro Plate from Mediterranean Grill.  It's this great little place with an interior that reminds me of the Five Guys where Hannah once worked.  So, all the waffle makin's are still on the counter, and my take-out tray is on the stove, making it easy to grab bites as I go by.

It's still bloody flippin' hot.  The restaurant had air conditioning, though, and there were no other stops for me to make, so I didn't have to get back out in the heat.  

The tape measures and fairy lights jar project is done.

Can you spot the issue, though?  Each light strand needs its own battery pack, and what are you supposed to do with all of those?  Not the smooth, quasi-magical look I'd like.  Still kind of fun, though, I suppose.

Names and Places

 Goldfish crackers are a genuinely universal experience, aren't they?  I don't know how many flavors there are, but it's a lot.  There were always some form/size package of them in the pantry when my children were growing up.  Hannah was a particulary big fan.  Remember the milk carton?

Still just brutally hot here.  When I got in the car after therapy today, the outside temperature registered 104.  

Time for some more introductions.

The Boston fern on the left, looking scraggly, is Billrussell.  The Jerusalem rose is Sally.  Second from right is something with the word "heart" in the name;  that's been christened "22."  On the right is Vince.  You can see all the debris the the weather of the week has left on the deck.  There's been more wind and thunder than rain, so there is the deck to clean and branches and pine cones to pick up in the yard.

You can also see a jerry-rigged lock system keeping the doors shut.  One day, completely out of the blue, the doors wouldn't open.  At least from the inside;  you can open them without any problem from the outside.  It's the weirdest thing.  When the cats were alive, opening the doors was a little iffy anyway.  They were both old, but could move if they saw something interesting.

And how was I ever going to deny that face an adventure?

Size and Position

 Did y'all know about these?

(By the way, the baby with the sunglasses does not have fangs.  A trick of the light.)

Then, you open to eat them, and you genuinely feel a little bad for eating babies.  But that feeling passes.

I know some are watching the Tour de France at present, has anyone been interested in the World Cup?  Me either.  I did watch the Argentina / England game.  I had an appointment with my psychiatrist that was scheduled during the first half.  Driving home, there was practically no traffic, which I finally realized was due to people being somewhere watching the game.

Framed.  But which way should it be hung?

The only "giveaway" is the artist's signature.

Can you imagine if this little guy were on a sofa?  My head would explode.

Possessions

 This is all my yarn in the world.

I honestly didn't realize I'd parted ways with so much of what I had.  I'm saddened and proud simultaneously.  Does that make any sense?

Hovering in the background is the little table and sleeping lion that greet you when you come in the front door.  On the little table:

I believe at one point I said I'd update you on plant names.  In the conch are artificial flowers.  They don't get names.  In front is Michi, in the scallop is Spat, and in the evening gown is Marsha.

On the bottom shelf of the table is the one thing that could get me back to teaching.  Working at my desk, if a student came by, I'd grab the frame and hold it up to them without even raising my head:

SPARK JOY OR GET OUT

Tuesday Things

 Oh, Sam.  You thoroughly delightful man.

It's a slightly darker world now.

There are a couple of purchases from Sunday I didn't share with you.  Dueling cats earrings:

I can hardly stand these.  Look at their little boots!

This

is a worry stone.  It's basically a small clay leftover that a potter has depressed and shaped a bit. It's rough, though they did have glazed ones.  We each got one, and joked about racing to see whose will wear through first.

Lastly, this note card which I bought to frame.

Couldn't be any cuter, huh?  Well, hang on.

CUTER!  The ears are amazing, but look at that eye.  It's both sleepy and adorable and squinty and threatening.  Plus, once I get it framed, I can't hang it upside down!