Cactus Kate

My mom and I have made it a sort of tradition to go to Arizona in the spring.  It’s a great trip, we get to see lots of great stuff, and I love spending time with my mom.  This year, we have to go a bit earlier than usual, as my job situation is different this year, and I have to be here for the high tourist season.  It will still be great, and I can’t wait!  It’s a time to see new birds, eat good food (which Moab can’t really offer, unless it comes from one’s own kitchen), and this year it’s a chance to be MUCH warmer earlier. 

You can see photos and info from previous trips here:  2009 / 2008 / 2006

Obviously, there will be photos from this year’s trip, too.

There hasn’t been a lot going on around here plant-wise (or bird-wise, for that matter…).  I guess I can share some plant pictures I have taken in the last week or two.  I am sure you are all just DYING to see them!

Here’s my nutso-the-clown Euphorbia obesa (supposed to be ball-shaped – but this one had to assert its individuality).  It blooms year round (that’s what that messy stuff you see on the top is).  This is one of my oldest plants.  I got it in January of 2001:

My Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera buckleyi) is currently blooming.  It is one of my most neglected plants, and still it gives me flowers several times a year.

This is my Gonolobus cyclophylla (now called Matalea something-or-other, but I am sticking with Gonolobus).  I am very proud of it.  It pretty much came back from the dead this fall, and has put out these lovely leaves.  It’s very small, by the way…it’s in a two and three-quarter inch pot.

Below is one of my three Fockea edulis plants.  This one has a lovely round shape, and is growing nicely.  I got it in December 2005.  I have another one which I got in 2001, but it’s not quite as pretty as I had no idea what I was doing when I got that one, and it suffered at my inexperienced hands.  The third one I have I got last spring (2009), and it is doing well, but much smaller and more spindly-looking.

Aloe ‘Pepe’ is the name of this little hybrid.  It is another tiny one.  The whole plant is only about two inches across.  As you can see, it has a pup.  I am glad it is happy enough to offset!

…and last, there is Bowiea volubilis.  It is just starting to put out its growth for the year.  It does this every year at this time.  I feel very lucky that this one is doing well.  I have no idea what to do for it, to keep it happy.  It seems to like my passive neglect, though, so until someone tells me concretely what to do for it, I will stick with that care regimen.  I got this one in December 2005, too.

Thanks for listening to my plant stories and ramblings!

I have been busy lately.  Between the traveling, working, and everything else going on, I haven’t had time to ‘blog!

Rich and I went to southern California for a family gathering.  Rich hadn’t seen his sisters in several years, and Rich’s dad is not doing too well health-wise, so it was a good thing we went.  It was nice to see everyone.  Rich and I had a good time visiting, eating tacos y burritos, and just being away from Moab for a while.  Chris was in school, so he wasn’t able to come with us.  It was kind of a bummer, but I think he enjoys visiting my parents when we are gone.  Here are some photos from the family gathering:

I got out all our polymer clay and paints recently, and cluttered our kitchen table with them.  For some reason, amid all the other things going on, I have been in the mood to make stuff.  I have a number of gourds sitting around, awaiting inspiration.  My recent project, though, has been to paint a pelican skull I found on a beach.  I have been looking at it (sitting atop my clothes dryer) for several years now, trying to make time for it.  I finally found time, and it is now almost finished.  I need to find a nice piece of wood to mount it when it is done, so I can hang it and admire it.  I wish I had taken ‘before’ photos, but I didn’t.  I have a few ‘in progress’ photos, though…

It’s harvest time in my garden right now.  My garden was incredibly sad this year.  My sage plants are the only things that actually really produced anything this season.  I did get lots of tomatoes out of my patio tomato bush, but technically that’s in a pot, not in the garden.  I got one (that’s right, ONE) jalapeño chile.  My thyme looks very sad, and hasn’t really done anything since last year.  I didn’t get a single gourd, and got only one cucumber.  The sage plants, though…they have been producers.  Here is one of about 5 pans like this that I have harvested so far – and there is much, MUCH more.

Moab’s fall tourist season is starting again.  Town is getting a little busier now, and I am working more.  The extra hours and money are nice, but as with every year – I look forward to the end of the season.

Speaking of industry – I can’t think of too many things MORE industrious than these paper wasps.  They have been busy all summer creating or gluing or regurgitating or whatever it is they do to produce their own brand of paper.  This wasp nest is located just above my garden.  They dive-bomb me every day when I water.  As for the size of the nest…a regulation basketball would fit nicely inside.

Thanks for visiting, and for bearing with me in this slight lapse in blogging.