What are you doing today (Number 2)

[Horus]

Well here is another job for you LLL, its time to plunge your Moth Orchids in water for a couple of hours

[Jayway]

LLL, go do voluntary work, in big towns in UK they welcome drivers to take the meals round to the homeless people. There are Holiday Homes where disabled people go for a couple of weeks to give their carers a rest, I did this, you can stay a fortnight, they give you bed, food and trips out pushing wheelchairs for the guests. I always seem to get someone that had to pee in the middle of Hampton Court Maze !This was an excellent time, I enjoyed it so much I stayed 3 months and went back for 4 years. I had planned a trip a couple of years ago then I ended up in hospital with pneumonia - -

[Mad Dilys]

I did 20 minutes cycling today and walked home.

Fixed wheel is ok on the flat, but I struggled to get it up a steep little slope, and having got to the top I couldn't freewheel down the other side, but had to keep peddling!

I can feel it a bit on my hamstrings, hope it won't be too bad in the night as I'm prone to cramp, so will take some quinine before I go to bed.

Tomorrow Inshallah I shall walk with my trusty rollator both to and from as it's only a fifteen minute walk for me and I've asked for a bike with gears tomorrow.

I was very lucky not to have a bad fall as I went through the park gates. They had been fixed with quite a narrow opening, but there was a pothole that I didn't notice as I was leaving a smooth path. My front wheel dropped into it and the rollator tipped up throwing me - fortunately - into the gate. I bruised my hand quite a bit, but better than going right over the top or on my knees. I shall be ringing the Council on Monday to get it fixed in case someone else isn't so lucky.

[Horus]

Lucky you were not hurt MD
I reckon you will do better with some gears on your bike, fixed wheels can be hazardous

[LovelyLadyLux]

@Jayway - here if you do anything at all with people it is typically gov't regulated and you need all sorts of certificates - food safety, first aide etc. and we have a "Volunteer Bureau" you have to go through. I don't have an issue with having a criminal record check done and essentially giving them my CV if you wanted it but what I do have difficulty with is the extensive commitment they want i.e. 8 hours/week for 1 yr. They are extremely rigorous in wanting quite a large commitment.

Initially I thought going into the school and helping kids with reading would be interesting - but you have to comit to the entire school year and to going 3 times a week for 4 hrs/time. I think I had a holiday scheduled and told them this so they (Volunteer Bureau) didn't want me. This put rather a damper on my enthusiasm for volunteering. Same with going to the local animal shelter. You have to commit to extensive times and they have so many volunteers you actually go on a waitlist but if you can't be totally free for 1 yr they say 'thanks but no thanks.'

I have joined one club which is a group of women who engage in philanthropic projects. I just started in January and don't mind that so much, kinda enjoy it but will have to see. I also volunteer at Canadian Blood Services. That is interesting but it only happens for 1 afternoon a month.

Will figure something out that starts to occupy my time.

[LovelyLadyLux]

@H - thanks for the reminder on the orchid. Will give it a plunge this evening

Today I also went cruising a couple of the garden centers and bought a Buddlia Davidii, 1 upright Stonecrop sedum (love 'em as they're so tough) and 5 dianthus. Got them all planted this afternoon. Going to need to go and start chopping off the dead daffodil heads soon as lots of them are fading away now.

[Mad Dilys]

I treated myself to 3 miniature roses yesterday. They are the nicest ones I've seen, obviously new hybrids about 12 inches tall with perfect flowers exactly like full sized hybrid teas. One red, one apricot and one pink - lovely.

[Horus]

They should brighten up the garden

[LovelyLadyLux]

@MD - I never really thought about IF you go up a hill or incline that you have to also come back down and the free wheelin' peddling could be detrimental.

As for miniature roses are they somehow hybridized to stay small? Are they regular roses grafted onto dwarf rootstock - in other words - same idea as dwarf apples?

Orchid - it is still flowering and looking exactly as I bought it. Am starting to think I bought a plastic plant as it has yet to even drop so much as 1 flower. It must like the spot I've got in but it is remarkable how well the flowers are staying. Am now realizing that many of the hotels I've been in (Hawaii) that have been decorated with flowers probably never really swapped them out that often. I always thought it would be an on-going matter where they'd have to constantly swap out but now am thinking they really probably didn't.

Not sure what I'm up to today. Had a gf come over last evening and we talked and talked and talked and suddenly it was midnight!

[Mad Dilys]

Hi LLL, try this site for details about tiny roses. http://www.heirloomroses.com/roses/mini ... s.html?p=1

[Horus]

Looks good MD

[LovelyLadyLux]

Interesting URL MD. Most of the miniature roses that are sold here look like "Ann Hooper" or "Anytime" (on the front page of the URL for me when I opened it). Most of the minis do not look like traditional tea roses in that they only have the flat look with few petals.

I must say I do love roses and all the old varieties really appeal to me.

I've grown roses in the past and went out daily to patrol for aphids and sprayed re: black spot and allowed for air circulation etc. but over the years I've given up. We're typically just not hot enough, dry enough to grow good looking lush thriving roses here. They're too much work and often all the diseases the outdoor roses get just don't warrant the work. There are some varieties that just go great guns but many of the more modern hybrids aren't up my alley.

I did just plant a clematis. I've never grown one before but when I moved the palm tree out I found a small snippet of one growing along the ground. It must have been planted by the previous owners but it wasn't on a trellis and was growing ON the rocks. I never noticed it since I moved in but I also wasn't crawling around under the palm. I dug it out moved it back to the fence and have strapped it onto a trellis. I'm positive it is a clematis and even in a week it seems to be thriving. Will be super curious to see what type of flowers it has.

[Mad Dilys]

I used to grow and as part of my job sell quite a lot of clematis and wonder if you get the dreaded Clematis Wilt in your part of the world?

You have a beautiful plant growing well and overnight the leaved wilt and it starts to die back. It travels right back to ground level and usually kills the plant.

If you are lucky and cut it off at ground level it may shoot again. If it is growing up on a single stem it's unlikely however. But it usually only affects the one stem from the ground.

Clematis likes to grow in clumps and thick foliage covered in flowers looks better than a bare based single stem - it is more resistant to disease too.

So every time I plant a single stem clematis I try to cover about 4 buds on the stem with soil, pegging them down in a circle if necessary. They will root and soon start to scramble upwards making a more robust plant and if one stem is affected it doesn't mean a complete loss.

I had a Carnaby Street clematis which doesn't make a huge plant but even though it was only 4 feet high and about 6 feet wide it had about 20 beautiful pale blue flowers 9 inches in diameter - lovely.

Try Armandii if you can get it - winter flowering and evergreen, smells of almonds Mmmmmm.

[Horus]

I know what you mean about the Clematis wilt MD, I lost this beautiful 'Nelly Moser' the same way, it staggered on for a few years but finally gave up the ghost

[Mad Dilys]

Lovely, Horus and one of my favourites.

It's very odd how it hits individual plants and leaves others right next to it, or even sometimes one stem rising from the ground.

I've found a similar thing with Rosemary.

[LovelyLadyLux]

There are lots of clematis sold here I've just never tried to grow one. No idea if we have that wilt here or not - maybe. As I said clematis are popular here. They're sold in 4" pots with the clematis tied onto bamboo sticks and/or they're sold in gallon pots tied up to a larger stick. I'll have to go and have a look as I don't know if there is only 1 stem or a bunch. I dug a hole and scooped out all of this one but seems to me it is one stem. I was noticing though I think there is another one sprouting out there. Was poking about in this area and I believe I'm seeing another clematis sprouting. Will have to get out and have a closer look as I might be digging up another one.

Yours is definitely a beaut H. Sad if all that lovely flowering is now gone.

Good tips MD. Need to write that into the book.

[Mad Dilys]

I'm delighted to say that I had a notification from the Hospital today for a pre-op appointment with my Surgeon on the 20th April for my "other" knee. Hurrah!

I'm extra thrilled this time as I know what to expect - not going to be brave this time, but take the prescribed painkillers. They are given for a reason and the physio's were always telling me to take them but I thought it would be wimpy if I did - how wrong can you be? Also I have a good leg to stand on this time so should Inshallah be up and independent sooner.

So roll on 20th!

[Horus]

Good news & Good Luck

[Ruby Slippers]

I've always wanted to grow jasmine and honeysuckle! I remember a huge honeysuckle bush in our garden when I was a kid and the scent on a Summer evening was heavenly. Jasmine reminds me of Egypt - naturally!

[Horus]

Honeysuckle is quite easy RS, I've got two