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| Cantaloupe Flower |
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| Second Cantaloupe Flower |
I am not even sure if the plants should be flowering this early, because they are still baby plants, themselves! But, yay! I've cantaloupe flowers!
Today was a hot day, so I watered the back garden in the morning. My utilities bill came in the mail, today, and it includes charges for water, as well as electricity, sewer service, and solid waste collection. It is for April and May usages and it came to just below $300, which is what I budget for the utilities bill! I haven't checked the break down, how much for water, how much for electricity, etc., and our summer water rates haven't gone into effect, yet. I know I'll get a much bigger bill, next time! But, that is the price of trying to grow a lush garden in an arid place!
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| Buddleia Flower Spike |
In the afternoon, I chatted with cousin P, did some (very little) housekeeping, and read. Later, I watched news and knitted. I had started another hat, yesterday, and today, I finished it:
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| Red Knitted Hat (sorry, it's a bit blurry) |
In the evening, I attended this month's rosary prayer gathering, online. It was nice to see everyone and, after the prayers were said, we stayed online and chatted a bit. Later, I called friend R and chatted with her.
Today, I am grateful for:
- Flowers on plants in my garden
- Water for the garden
- Being able to attend the monthly prayer gathering online
- Phone calls with family and friends
- Chatting with my daughter
Today's joyful activities included attending the monthly prayer gathering and chatting with family and friends.
How was your Tuesday? What are your plans for Wednesday?
We have a prayer gathering online this morning. It was incredibly hot last night so I didn't sleep too well. Plans to do some decluttering today. My daughter's birthday. Cannot believe she's 38!
ReplyDeleteI hope your prayer gathering went well, Angela. Happy birthday to Liz! Have fun with the decluttering! So far, I've pulled out two items from the donations pile! A book and a baggy T-shirt! The book will go back to the pile after I finish reading it. The T-shirt will be kept, I think!
DeleteBeautiful flowers,I love the color of the hat!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Natalia. The hat is a bright red! I bought the yarn to make hats for the American Heart Association's red hats for newborns campaign, but, they stopped that, so I thought I'll use the yarn for these hats, instead. :)
DeleteHow do you tell the male from the female flowers on the cantaloupe?
ReplyDeleteThe male flower is on a longer slender stem. The female flower is on a much shorter stem and has a little swelling at the base of the flower which will become a cantaloupe if pollinated. :)
DeleteGood to know.
Delete:)
DeleteI like the fact that you have trained your daughter so well that she has a yarn stash in your home 😂
ReplyDeleteAccording to Google, Cantaloupe vines normally take 90 days to grow from seed to ripe fruit. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you get some female flowers.
Ha, ha, she not only has a yarn stash over here, she also has a fabric stash and, if I am not mistaken, an embroidery thread stash! She couldn't take everything up with her, so, she left most of it down here, along with her sewing machine, which I am now using because my own sewing machine broke!
DeleteYes; the risk factor with my cantaloupe is because I didn't plant "proper" seeds from a packet of seeds from cantaloupe grown for the purpose! I am growing the seeds from a cantaloupe I bought from a store, which might or might not have been a hybrid, in which case, the chances of it growing a viable plant that produces any type of fruit is 50-50 at best! But, I don't mind - I'm having fun just growing this plant! It's sort of an experiment! If nothing else, it's another green plant in my garden! :)
It is so nice to see your cantaloupe seedling flowering. I enjoy watching along and seeing it flourish.
ReplyDeleteI transplanted a small azalea bush yesterday. I planted it too close to some other bushes and wanted to move it while it was still young. To make a spot for it I dug up 2 hydrangeas that never bloomed. I don't like to throw away living plants so I potted the hydrangeas up including some of my leaf compost that I make with our fall leaves. Maybe the compost will help them bloom.
I enjoy dividing the plants I have and watching them fill in over the years.
Every year I try to do that in April and by the end of May I try to do any transplanting that needs to be done so the plants have a good chance of survival.
I still need to move 2 miniature azaleas that are now underneath 2 much larger azaleas. Bad planing on my part. lol
I only have a few day left before my self-imposed cut off so I better get working.
Thank you, Debra. I'm having fun growing this plant! The seedlings I transplanted haven't done anything! Some of them died and the rest are alive, but, haven't grown at all! :D
DeleteSounds like you've been busy in your garden! I haven't had any luck with either azaleas or hydrangeas! I probably didn't water them enough! I hope your hydrangeas thrive with the leaf compost and flower for you. :)
Pretty flowers. :) Love the little red hat. Blessings, stay safe, xoxo, Susie
ReplyDeleteThank you, Susie. Hope all continues to be well with you and Ted. Take care and stay safe. :)
DeleteI will look forward to virtual fruits and veggies from your gardening efforts- today I rather glumly looked at the places that I had planned for spring/summer planting here ... and I came to the decision that my dilly-dallying will just result in more purchases from the farmers who will have little stands in available places ... see how cleverly I have turned laziness into helping the local economy (this might be a talent I use to explain many shopping issues)-
ReplyDeleteI too can attest to the remarkable ability of wool to felt ...occasionally done on purpose, but more frequently caused by failing to carefully sort the laundry- sigh ...I have made some things I need to get to a treatment facility in Shreveport where Paige had her radiation (the chemo facility is there too)- she said she often saw patients getting real pleasure from picking out a new hat after a treatment ... I need to do the same for the places that have been so caring for our sweet Whitney too-
Here's to 'happy watering' ... wish we could share some of this over-abundance of rain we continue to get- take care-
As always, fondest wishes-
Barb
Well, there you go! You weren't procrastinating on planting; you were planning to support the local farmers and the local economy! Well done! :D My mother used to say a similar thing, when I'd tell her that buying flowers or wrapping paper was a waste of money - she'd point out that our buying these items supported the people whose livelihood depended on us buying them! The flower sellers, the flower growers, the people who trucked the flowers; the shops that sold the papers, the people who worked at the paper manufacturing plants, etc. I know there was some truth in what she said. :)
DeleteI hope you are able to get your creations to the facility at Shreveport and the place where Whitney is. (((HUGS)))
Thank you! Some help with watering would be appreciated! :D
By the way, Bushlady had left you a comment on my Sunday's post, at the end of her comment on the post, about keeping Whitney and your family in her prayers. I hope you saw it.
Take care, Barb, and be well.
I hope you get some female flowers, then you can help pollinate with a feather or little paint brush! Your hats (I saw the other photo) are both lovely and will be appreciated.
ReplyDeleteWe had lunch indoors because of the heat. It is now 98°F! This morning I washed some winter clothes to put away and the summer wardrobe is out. Not sure if I want to walk to the mailbox later. Could be another nap is needed.
Thank you, Bushlady. That's what I am hoping, too, and planning on doing (help to pollinate).
DeleteHow is it possible that you are even warmer than we are down here? Wow! I suggest an afternoon nap and a walk to the mailbox in the evening, when it has, hopefully, cooled down! Stay hydrated, too, when it is so hot!
You've had a good day. I absolutely adore that hat. Love the colour and the pattern. I am truly amazed that you can turn these out as quickly as you do. So happy that you have been invited to raid your daughter's stash. It will be just like going shopping for more yarn.
ReplyDeleteWas this your first on-line virtual prayer gathering? It must have been great to see everyone after such a length of time, and I'm glad that you can still "visit" in this manner.
Love the Buddleia plant. It looks so exotic with the tall spike of
colour. How many more spikes are going to grow from that one plant?
Thank you, Susan. Yes, it was a good day. The hat pattern is called basket weave and it is the very first pattern I learned to knit; my stepfather's niece taught it to me when I was 9 and first learning to knit! It's quite easy - knit 4, purl 4, for four rows, then, alternate (purl 4, knit 4) and so on. For the hat, in order to taper it at the top, I decreased the stitches, gradually, doing knit 3, purl 3 for awhile and then, knit 2, purl 2. My daughter said that giving the yarn will be her contribution to my donation - she'll get some good karma from it with little effort, as she put it! LOL!
DeleteNo, this was the second online prayer gathering. We did it in April, too. But, some additional people joined, this time, and I haven't seen some of them in a long time.
This is my first Buddleia plant, but, from what I've seen, I think each branch ends in a flower spike! Or, it will in more established, mature plants. This plant is in its first year in my garden (a gift from gardener M), and it has about 15 or so branches! I am hoping it means I'll get as many flower spikes! One is supposed to cut off the flower spike after it finishes blooming in order to prevent seed formation and encourage the plant to put its energy into more flower production. One is supposed to severely prune the plant to the ground to encourage new growth the next year, too, but, I will let M decide on when to do that!