101 in 1001 #65

Remember this plant?

It's been a year, and it's still alive!! Which means, I've crossed something else off my Day Zero list. TRALALALALALA!!!

Oh, you want PROOF that it's alive? Sure!

Okay, it's not looking all that healthy. I think it may have had an unfortunate encounter with a snail. But we also had a month's worth of rain in one night last week, so it's possible that it's just a little waterlogged. IDK.

Anyway, the plant is alive so I'm calling it a big check in the win column!

K xx

Just stop already

Avast mateys! Did ye know it be International Talk Like a Pirate Day? We're devils, we're black sheep, we're really bad eggs, drink up me hearteys, yo ho!! Be ye talkin' like a pirate??

Okay, I'm done now. I can't keep up the pirate voice like I used to. MOVING ON...

You guys, I want you to meet the most infuriating member of my household. This?

Is Needy Plant, quite possibly the saddest looking house plant on the planet. And Needy Plant is also the bane of my existence.

Yeah, yeah, I know. First world problems and all that. But you guys? Needy Plant is SO FREAKING NEEDY. I watered him LESS THAN 48 HOURS before I took that photo. He's a bleeding Spathiphyllum!! They usually only need watering once a week at most. But Needy Plant? Nope. Every day and a half, his leaves start to droop and within 48 hours of watering, Needy Plant looks like he's on his last legs.

Yes, I anthropomorphised a houseplant. Deal with it.

In contrast, here's Needy Plant's next door neighbour.

Also a Spathiphyllum. Watered at the exact same time. Needy Plant has had TWO subsequent waterings, and this guy is still sitting there all "Water? Nope, I'm fine. Don't mind me, I'll just sit here converting carbon dioxide into oxygen. It's all good!!"

Incidentally, the only way to get Needy Plant to NOT require attention every 48 hours is to put him in the shower, and effectively make it rain for 20 minutes. At which point Needy Plant will go for about 72 HOURS before starting to get needy again. BUT the shower drain becomes clogged with dirt and plant matter, so it's not really a win overall.

And Needy Plant lives on the stairs, which means that I walk past Needy Plant about ten times a day, but never when I have a water carrying device with me. So I live in a constant state of "Uuuuugh, I should go downstairs and get the watering can to deal with Needy Plant. BUT I JUST GOT UP HERE. I'll use this empty drink bottle/bowl/Tupperware container instead." Turns out? It's kind of hard to carry a bowl of water half way down a flight of (carpeted) stairs and then tip it into a plant without spilling any.

The morals of this story?
1. Needy Plant is needy, yo.
2. I'm REALLY lazy.
3. I probably shouldn't write entire blog posts about anthropomorphised house plants...

Does your house have a Needy Plant? If so, I feel like there should be a support group or something. Alternatively, are you a plant whisperer and can you offer advice on how to deal with the whole Needy Plant situation??

K xx

30 Days of Photography - Day 11

So I spent the first two days of December alternating between "Wheeeeeeee, I don't have to blog today!" and "Wait, what did I *do* before I started NaBloPoMo???" I still don't know the answer to that question.

Anyway. Today's theme was 'something blue'. Obviously, if I had my way, there'd be a photo of me standing outside the TARDIS. Alas...

Instead, I present you with something that might be considered more purple than blue. But it's pretty and it's how you know that it's the start of summer in Melbourne:

The jacaranda trees start blooming. It doesn't last long, but it's one of the things I missed when I lived in Canberra. For some reason, no one has jacarandas up there. SO inconsiderate...

K xx

Small Snapshots: Macro

Wow. I'm crazy late with this week's edition of Small Snapshots! 

The theme this week is macro, and I'm the one who suggested it, so the fact that I've been slacking on posting this is pretty bad... Clearly, I didn't think the time of year through very well when I suggested macro. Because I'm a sucker for macro shots of flowers, and winter in Canberra is hardly conducive to the presence of flowers *sigh*

Still, I made the most of what was in the garden, and came up with these:

Who doesn't love a spathiphyllum in their living room?

Some kind of mysterious berry thing in the garden

Rose hips

And now for a confession: I really hate that I can't seem to take decent macro photos with my SLR. You CAN take macro photos to some extent. They're just not as tight as I'd like them to be. I had to use my old crappy Olympus point and shoot for these. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with these - the macro capacity on my Olympus is pretty awesome. I'm just having a whinge about the limitations of my SLR lenses! 

You know what? I just looked back through my archives and last year was able to take a ton of good macro shots with my SLR. 

See?! I'd had my SLR for about 2 weeks when I took this.

Clearly I'm blaming my lenses for something that's entirely my own fault... I think my pending unemployment might be the perfect opportunity for me to kick my arse into gear on this!! 

Want to join in? Head over to Kissed a Frog and link up!

K xx