A tale of two plants....

 This all started a few days ago when my brother-in-law asked me if I would like a cutting from his Dieffenbachia plant.  It was getting too tall and he needed to cut it down.  Years and years ago I had a lovely Dieffenbachia plant which I remember as being pretty easy to take care of. My kind of house plant.  So I said sure.  He said that if we had a pot and some dirt we could come and get the plant this evening.  He was also offering part of the plant to his great niece.  

So this morning my wonder spouse and I took a trip to Menards for plant soil and pots.  We bought enough of everything to share with his great niece.  We still have more than half of the bag of potting soil left.  

We bought quite a large bag of potting mix and two pretty pots, one for her and one for us.

My brother-in-law gave us the top of the plant as well as three pieces of the stalk. It turned out that his great niece couldn't take any of the plant home because it's toxic to cats, so we got all of it that he wanted to share.  I was doing a little reading about the plant after we got it home and read that you should always wear gloves when cutting it because of the toxic sap.  I did not know that but figured it out when my left hand started itching and burning.  Happily, after lots of hand washing it's feeling much better.   

The Dieffenbachia is a tropical plant, native to Central and South America.  It likes a warm humid environment and bright but indirect light.

Little did this lucky plant know that it has just come home to the perfect environment.  We have an indoor pool in a room with skylights, shaded windows and a lovely touch of humidity. All of our plants live in our pool room and thrive there.  Doesn't it look happy already snuggled up with some new friends. It's almost like being at home in the jungle.  I'm anxious to see if the pieces will sprout.  

Star Wars...

 Today is 5-4-26, aka May the 4th.  To those of us who have know and loved the Star Wars series it is also known as Star Wars Day because of the well know line in the movies "May the force be with you."

I have been a fan of the Star Wars series since the very first one, originally simply called "Star Wars," came out in 1977.  The subtitle "Episode IV A New Hope" was added to the title for a re-release in April 1981 to align with the release of the second Star Wars movie "The Empire Strikes Back." A series was born.

My first husband and I took our children to see the original movie when it first came out because we wanted to see it ourselves and thought our kids might enjoy it.  We were hooked from the first blast into hyper-space, but the true joy was watching our son.  He was five at the time. Our daughter (three years old) slept through most of the movie but our son literally sat on the edge of his seat through the entire show.  He was hooked.  

Over the years we've enjoyed all of the Star Wars movies together, but more than that.  That first taste of 'space travel' led to 12 years of involvement with Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama first as an attendee, then as a counselor.  Since college every job he has had has been space related.  He never became an austronaut but he has experienced weightlessness, and helped countless children enjoy learning about space.  

If he called me tomorrow and said "There's a new Star Wars movie coming out. Do you want to go see it?" My answer would be an instant "Yes!"

Bloomsday???

 My west coast brother lives near Spokane, and he has informed me that today, in Spokane, is "Bloomsday."  He described it as "a springtime ritual in Spokane where 50,000+ people risk heat stroke while chasing a dozen or so Kenyans around a 7.5 mile course, snarling downtown traffic for several hours." He also informed me that he has avoided participating for the last 50 years.  Since this is the first year that he has ever mentioned this event to me I thought I might look for a few more details.

The Lilac Bloomsday Association sponsors a major 12K (7.456 miles)  road race held in Spokane on the first Sunday in May.  Today's was the 50th running of the race. The purpose of the race is to promote fitness, sports and community well being and to celebrate the enduring spirit of the "Lilac City." I did not know that Spokane is the "Lilac City" but I have seen some beautiful parks when visiting there. The event, which attracts thousands of participants every year, winds through some very picturesque and scenic areas of the city. 

On the other hand today was also "Lemonade Day" and "Garden Meditation Day."  My brother decided, wisely I think, that these were a better use of his time.

watching on TV

 It's a really good thing that I was not at the Kentucky Derby this year.  Of course I never have been to the Kentucky Derby so this year was no different.  I watched it on TV as usual.  It's fun to watch on TV but I would like to wear one of those amazing hats.

The reason it's good that I wasn't there is becaise this way I didn't loose any money.  If I had been there I would have bet some money on Great White, the physically largest horse in the race.  I liked his looks. Sadly all my dreams for Great White were shattered while they were still getting the horses into their gates.  As they were trying to get him in, Great White reared up, threw his jockey, fell over on his back and almost rolled over on his jockey.  Great White was a non-starter, out of the race before it began.  They wouldn't let him run after that fall because there wasn't time for a vet to check him out thoroughly to be sure he hadn't injured himself.  I presume they checked out the jockey also but the commentators didn't say anything about.

It was a very exciting race though.  Golden Tempo came all the way from the back of the pack to win the race.  It was amazing to watch. Golden Tempo was trained by Cherie Devaux, the first woman trainer to win the Kentucky Derby.  The jockey who rode him, Jose Ortiz, had his first Derby win in 11 trys.  Hooray for all concerned.  It was a great day at the races.

a delicious dessert...

 My west coast brother told me that today is, as well as being "May Day" which we all know about, "Bread Pudding Recipe Exchange Day."  Evidently my west coast sister-in-law makes her bread pudding from day-old Cinnabons.  That does sound delicious to me, but I will not be asking her for her recipe.

My interest in bread pudding is all about the eating, not the making.  This will come as no surprise to those of you who know that my wonder spouse does most of the cooking in the family.  He does make fantastic fudge but has never yet made bread pudding, at least since we've been married.

As a matter of fact, I had never even heard of bread pudding until I accompanied my then boss to a Century 21 Realtor's Convention in Las Vegas.  This was about 40 years ago.  We stayed at the Golden Nugget Casino Hotel - a beautiful fun glitzy place on the old downtown strip.  My boss not only introduced me to the yummy bread pudding which was on the buffet every evening but also taught me to play Black Jack, a game I have loved ever since.  Happily I live some distance from Las Vegas which has probably saved me quite a lot of money.

In case you're wondering, yes we actually did attend several motivational and educational sessions while we were there, but always made time for bread pudding and Black Jack.

Book review...

Have you ever been so caught up in a book that you can't put it down? Those of you who read this blog regularly know that I am an avid reader and that I enjoy discovering a new series of books about the same characters.  This started with the "Little House" series and it is still my great delight to discover a new series that I really enjoy.

Currently I'm reading the second novel in "A Scottish Isle Mystery" series by Lucy Connelly.  I will readily admit that I picked up the fifth book of the series, on a display shelf in our local library, because I was attracted by the author's name.  When I discovered it was one in a series I requested the first four and am happily reading my way through them. 

Don't let me mislead you.  If you like very sophisticated angst filled novels about tortured souls you might not find these books to your taste.  But, if you, like me, enjoy a good murder mystery in a book filled with interesting likeable characters set in a small community in Scotland (one of my favorite countries) then I think you will enjoy this series. 

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to my book.

Woops...and yummy...

 Last night I forgot to blog.  This is rare for me.  Except when I'm on vacation I write my blog every night.  

In my defense, last night I had a pain in my hip, my real one not my bionic one, took a Tylenol PM, and fell asleep on the job.  But I'm back at it tonight having watched my wonder spouse work for a couple of hours to get my trusty computer connected to the internet with a wired LAN instead of Ethernet.  We're not there yet but he enccouraged me to write this blog and get off my computer so he can get back to work on the improvements.

So here is tonight's blog.

Today I met three of my friends (friends I have know since high school, which is a very long time) for lunch.  We tried a new Indian Restaurant (new to us anyway) called BB's on North Anthony.  It was a delicious experience.  I had a mild chicken currie dish made with a cashew sauce, also a milkshake like drink made from dates and coconut milk, quite tasty.  I highly recommend this place.  

Now I'm signing off so my EE wonder spouse can get back to his improvements.