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Rate-my-[granny's] Space

I've always been a fan of HGTV.  Especially those shows where neighbors switch houses for 48 hours, and return home to find that their wood-paneled and lace Victorian sitting room has been transformed into a silver and purple "Beach-Hut on Mars".  Haha, Classic.  Our afternoon is almost as exciting.

See, my grandmother says she is having company "soon".  She's not exactly sure when, which could very well mean that they're showing up tomorrow.  So after service this morning, we head out to her house, with cleaning supplies and a few accessories from Wal-Mart and Ross.

I'm hoping this post doesn't imply that my Grandma's a slob, cause' she's not,  but.... well, let's just say that if Granny's given a choice between organizing her kitchen cabinets or going to hang out at the Senior-Center with her homies to play bingo, the kitchen's gonna stay quiet.  Ditto for the guest bath and bedroom.

So while Mom takes apart and puts together the kitchen, I start in the guest bath.  Granny's had the shower doors removed recently which opens up the space,  but there's this unattractive black caulking between the tub and wall.  It ain't mildew or anything quite that gross...just a discoloration of some very old compound that's hard as rock and smells like petroleum.  (above)

An hour or so later, after chiseling, goo-gone-ing, washing and cleaning the surfaces with rubbing alcohol, I apply a vinyl tub-wall strip in place of caulk.   (left) Looks a lot better, don't you think?

A few decorative items dug out from storage, fancy-schamncy soap, new towels, bath mats , a more subdued shower curtain, a donated plant and voila!  Granny's new bathroom:

BEFORE:

 

AFTER:

 

 

[Re-]potty training

It's been a rather slow and uneventful day at the office.  The boss is asking me what happened to "The Plant". 

The reference is to my Sansevieria trifasciata Laurentii that he's nicely relocated to his end of the office.  I haven't said anything of course, since his desk actually does gets more sunlight than mine.  Besides, he signs my paychecks.  Who am I to object?

"The Plant" in question had been brought home and has been awaiting an overdue repotting. 

Today, I decide to take my other overgrown office Sansevieria home as well. 

Here they are, overcrowded but happy to be out of the office.

 

After managing to get the stretched out plastic pots off the rootballs:

While I'm at it, I decide to go ahead and repot the rest of my Sansevieria collection including the Sansevieria cyclindrica [left] , and another trifasciata cultivar [right] I bought this past Saturday, both of which look rather uncomfortable and cramped in their pots.  I also repot a few Hahnii (birdsnest) types into terra-cotta pots so the whole collection matches.

Voila!  A few minutes later, everyone looks happy, freshly potted in their new larger terra cotta pots.

 

Ain't that a handsome bunch?  You know, they look so good, I don't think I'll be bringing any of my Sansevierias back to work after all.  Anyways, I already have a nice varigated Spathiphyllum (Peace Lily) on my desk.  Think the boss will notice if I substitute a fake plant on his side of the office?

Went out for Chinese...

I'd been trying to decide whether to merge my plant related adventures to this blog and had hesitated for a few reasons. 

For one thing, I know many of you could probably not care less about a new growth on my Dendrobium loddegesii.  Second, I am just a little bit embarassed about my near-frenzied addiction to plants.  But then I got to thinking:  Exposing my plant-psychosis isn't as bad as say, me posting photos of a nasty looking rash to my blog (and I have).  

LEFT: [ON CHAIR] A GROUPING OF SEDUM REFLEXUM, MY NEW AGLAONEMA, A NOID SAINTPAULIA. [ON GROUND] DRACAENA MARGINATA RED, CHLOROPHYTUM COMOSUM

Besides, the majority of my friends who take the time to read my ramblings already know I have a thing for plants.  It's part of who I am.  So beginning today, I'll be starting to include more botanical themed posts.  Let's begin here:

I had honestly gone out this afternoon planning to just grab some potting mix to repot my Sansevieria trifasciata Laurentii at work. Its root-filled plastic pot  was starting to bulge out and split and  I had brought the plant home with the intention of transferring it to a nice terra-cotta pot before schlepping it back to my desk on Monday. 

You can probably guess from the word "intention" in the previous sentence, that I got sidetracked a teensy bit.  Yeah, I  know, big surprise.  I came up with the bright idea, (all by my little self, mind you) of picking out a plant for one of the wooden plant stands Ralph had made for me last week.  And why not?  I'd be at the garden center anyway and it would save me time to do both errands at once. 

Quite proud of myself for such good planning,  I set off to pick up a bag of cacti potting mix and a plant.   Just one.  Or maybe three. 

So here I am, with a new Aglaonema Silver Queen hybrid (a.k.a: Chinese Evergreen...therefore the name of this post) and two new Sansevierias...a nice trifasciata cultivar and a great looking Sansevieria cylindrica with leaves so long and  pointy, you could poke someones eye out from across the street. 

As a justification for all of this foolishness, the plants were about half the price of the same ones I've seen around town.  And I forgot the potting mix.  I suppose the  S.trifasciata  from work will have to wait until later this week when I'll REALLY go to pick up a bag of potting mix...and maybe a plant for the other stand Ralph made.  You know, I could probably find a way to blame all of this on him.

Dinner and Scattergories @ Lambert's Place

There's a strange squishy sound underfoot, kinda like cooked, mashed beans and ground beef.  Oops!  It's actually half a pot of Neal and Celeste's chili that unfortunately made it's way onto the floor of their apartment.  Happily for us, the other half made it's way into our tummies tonight, along with other delights at Lambert's place.  Javier is back in town for a few days (evidenced by the opened jar of peanut butter next to the Insight volumes) and we set aside this evening for some food and fun. 

PHOTO SET HERE
 

"Permanezcamos Cerca de Jehová" District Convention, Maui

 Wowee!  We've survived 3 District Conventions in 1 month!  I don't know how C.O.s do it...I am pooped!  Of course, I am exaggerating a bit since I only attended the Saturday session on Maui but I am not kidding when I say I plopped into bed for a nap when I got home this morning.  I'm thinking it might be Maui's heat and dryness.   Or maybe the endless billowing of dust clouds from the windy canefields.  Or maybe the hoardes of tourists.  I know it can't be old age...............

Spent Friday visiting Alii Kula Lavender Farm in Kula, then the afternoon playing tourist in Lahaina.  Enjoyed an excellent Saturday at MAC (Maui Arts and Cultural Center, not the makeup counter at Macy's, ahem).  There were about 160 in Spanish and about 1300 in English...very comfortable theater seats and a good view of the stage.  Everyone worked really hard and you could tell... the parts were delivered with feeling and enthusiasm and it was a real joy to be there.  Thanks Mara, Casey, Mateo and Frankie for your help!  You guys are awesome!  Thanks Jeff, Pat, Sherisse and Mom D. for your hospitality.

More pictures soon!

PHOTO SET HERE