Category Archives: gardening

trying not to kill the beautiful things

gardening, health & fitness 2 Comments

Revenge of Trumpet Creeper, Continued

Remember those cute little bumps that cropped up on my face back in September?

I keep meaning to post a follow-up about that. Because, boy howdy, that was not the end of it by a long shot.

By the next morning (Thursday the 25th) they had expanded to become an embarrassing and slightly swollen red rash. By that Friday, my eye was swollen nearly shut, and it was time for professional medical intervention.

(Weird swollen face photos ahead. You have been warned.)

As I mentioned before, I did have an off-site training session to attend on Thursday, during which I kept my hair as much in my face as possible, even though (in retrospect) it really didn’t look that bad.

Starbucks selfie

Antihistamines kept me from scratching my face off, but the redness and swelling didn’t seem to be going anywhere. In fact, they were getting worse. My face felt like it was sunburnt during that hour’s drive home.

I conferred with both my husband and my BFF that evening, and they both agreed that I should really take a sick day on Friday to hit up the local Urgent Care. I e-mailed my boss to let her know I wouldn’t be in, then went to bed.

Definitely calling off work tomorrow

During the night, the left side of my face swelled up like a supernova.
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bloom day 1 Comment

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day: November 2014

If you would have asked me last year to write a post about what was blooming in my garden (or in my house) in the month of November, I might have laughed. Now that I’ve been participating in GBBD for a few months, though, I’ve been paying closer attention to the small things.

For instance: I found this mum blooming in late October, and I had completely missed it last fall (since I still don’t know what all the previous homeowner planted).

Fall Mums
[Taken 23 October 2014]

Not long after, we got our first frost here in NW Ohio, so I’m glad I got a nice photo of the mum before then. The pollinators didn’t seen to mind the wilty petals, though.

Bee on Fall Mums
[Taken 3 November 2014]

While I was doing my fall cleanup this month, I also spied a single confused bloom amongst the creeping myrtle.


[Taken 3 November 2014]

Also during my fall cleanup, I documented the last rose bloom of the season, on my unidentified pink rosebush.

Very Last Rose of the Season
[Taken 3 November 2014]

That’s probably going to be about it for the outdoor blooms until March. Until then…

 

Houseplants

Back in September, I cut some sedum blooms to bring inside as part of a flower arrangement for my son’s birthday party. Over time, everything else in the arrangement wilted — but the sedum only faded as sedum does, and the leaves stayed green. So I kept it in water. Then it started growing roots, so I planted it in potting soil. Then, this month, it started blooming.

Sedum
[Taken 5 November 2014]

They’re teeny tiny blooms, and I should probably be pinching them off to let the plant grow stronger roots… but they’re welcome color on my windowsill.

My African Violet decided it was time to bloom, too:

African Violet

As a special surprise, my Christmas Thanksgiving Cactus has started to bud, and may actually be in bloom around Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Cactus

 

With a little planning, we CAN have blooms nearly every month of the year. I have some ideas about getting blooms in my house and on my property this winter (and in winters to come), and I wouldn’t even have considered it if not for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day.