in bloom.

anyone remember how that weird orchid i got went into flower right away? well, it has progressed. this things is amazing and weird. it flowers in a long fleshy tube covered in little yellow-green flowers. you excited to care for this thing, roisin?

homesteady.

in preparation for some more adventuring, the reverend and i have started going through our home, trying to pare down and tidy. with all the family shuffles and inheritances (pretty much objects) of the past year, it is no easy task for me. above is my effort to get ruthless on my vintage apron collection (keep an eye out at the upcoming spring trunk show). of course, ribbon took the apron pile as an invitation to assume her trademark 'sausage cat' posture all day.

in other homebound news, one of the weirdo orchids i brought home from last month's orchid show has gone all nutty. at first, i was excited at the prospect that it was sending out new bulbs (and thus didn't really take pictures), but it seems clear that this is the strange way in which this bulbophyllum falcatum flowers. it wasn't supposed to flower for a year! i feel so lucky. orchids are not often a quick gratification kind of plant. but bulbo is defying the odds and putting on a big show as a mere baby. i wonder what those wormy little bulbs are going to open into (anything?)

ah, the small joys of a shut-in.

a celebration of parasites.

a trip to the southern ontario orchid society's annual orchid show is becoming something of a birthday tradition. this year it happened to fall right on my birthday. i love taking pictures of the show displays (even if it is a fight with the throngs at times). there is not much to say so i will let some images speak for themselves.

i ended up picking out three smaller orchids from the sales rooms this year. we are on a budget so i focused on value while trying to get a couple of new things. in order, they are some kind of weird crawling varietal called bulbophyllum falcatum, a phalenopsis in a new colour (to me) and something with thin spikes that i don't know the name of.

hopefully i will be able to provide for these new guys' needs. the last weird orchids i got fell victim to a string of house sitters and bugs. it was sad and made me take a brief moratorium on new orchids. but i am now gingerly reentering the game. wish me luck...

a moment at home and forced wanderings.

look! there are my most rugged orchids. they have moved from the misty bathroom to the bedroom for a brief moment (until the deadly radiators come on) so that we can contemplate them in the mornings while trying to lurch out of bed. i guess feeding them this summer had an effect. this is the most successful bloom i have ever lead them into and it has lasted months now. good work, guys.

i have been trying around the house, i really have. a few pictures and paintings have found spaces on walls. it's slowly coming together around working hours. but there is still a lot to do and a lot of rummage to tame. aside from a few vanquished corners, this place looks like a rubble heap.

i am thankful, therefore, for a weekly excuse to escape it when i go hang out with willy after school on thursdays. these engagements afford me a justified reason to wander around and see things like this in my neighbour's yard:

...i have a general envious respect for that particular neighbour's garden. it is full of beautiful flowers that seem to bloom in perfect sequence over the year - but it always looks kind of untamed as well. i wish i could have a yard. maybe someday.

on yesterday's cross-city after school walk, we also happened into bookhou on dundas street. i am ashamed to admit that i had never been inside it before (confessions of an overworked shut-in) because i have been a big fan of arounna's work for years.

her new collaborations with roisin (a new city of craft conspirator, too) under the name repeat studio are on my wish list, too. imagine using this yardage for a dress. or even just a bit in a quilt.

the shop is lovely. i especially like that they live upstairs and that there are kids in tow during shop hours. it may be a handful for arounna but willy liked making them laugh, too. and look at all the house motifs in her collection. there must be something in the air. i can't stop thinking about drawings of houses. i think i am working towards a whole village on one of my walls.

epiphetical happenings.

the one things that generated the most communication from our subletters on this past trip were the bathroom orchids. count 'em - twelve blooms on one plants, and another plant pushing out buds.

yup, things are pretty exciting around here.

the calm amidst the storm.

in all the holiday mania, i neglected to mention that one of my orchids is in bloom (i know how much you all must care about this). the first bud opened on the morning of city of craft and it seems pretty happy. although...three blooms seems to be the norm when any of my orchids bloom (and i have only ever had blooms out of my phalenopses). anyone have any orchid tips for greater blooms.

i think it is also time to wish my oncidium a safe journey across the river styx. i have no idea what happened. it was doing great and pushing up new bulbs and then all turned black and died in the space of a couple of days. here's a photo from its greatest moment when i had just brought it home from last february's orchid show:



rest in pieces, little guy. i am sorry to have let you down.

today i also made a bit of time for quilt sunday at the workroom. it was a slim turn out but a good one. and, while quilting didn't dominated (shannon and i had a real crochet hen party in the corner), we all got lots of crafting done. and chatting. i always find these informal gatherings to be great think tanks for future happenings. we had some really great chats with jacqueline (of soak - which is an amazing product, by the way) about interactions with the corporate world and the pitfalls thereof. how boring. we totally exhausted maisy.



...as per usual.

shannon and i also got to raid the stash of yarn that leah left when she departed for europe. what a score! shannon and i have totally different tastes in yarn, too, so we happily split it all down the middle. look for all this stuff in the form of future boobs, dinks, plushstaches, plants you can't kill and sweets (from shannon) and neckwarmers and hats (from me). i can never keep up with shannon's prolificness. hey leah, do you have any special requests for your european tour? i could use some of this stuff to make you something. just name it and i will see what i can do.

southern ontario orchid society orchid show.

i got taken out to the orchid show as a birthday gift. it was too much! and i got to bring a couple little guys home. take it in...











all this and more.