I adopted a few green babies

A Scheffelera,(or Umbrella plant)

   I grew up with houseplants all around me as a kid. So it is  not surprising that I would acquire quite a few as I got older. In my 20s and 30s, I think I had collected about 30 houseplants of different sizes. As we moved to different places over the years and our final move here, many of those plants did not make it for one reason or another. I have to tell you that I cannot grow African Violets. I have tried. My Mother was a whiz with them. They always looked beautiful and they always flowered. And she did not have those fancy violet pots. They just loved her. She passes away, the plants come to me, they die within the month. Eh! That is okay.
  I had gotten into a houseplant slump for the next 10 years because I had the yard to work in. Now the yard is becoming too much for me. Sucks to admit it but it is true. I cannot do all that Iused to do in it and I had to stop becoming depressed about it. . So I started getting some houseplants. Here are a couple that I have gotten recently.
  That umbrella plant is upstairs in my room. It already has new growth. I am going to repot all of these plants in the fall. That is the best time to do it. The heat of the summer is enough stress. I paid $7.99 for that plant at the local grocery store. It was calling to me from the store window as I was checking out.
Buy me Heidi! I want to live with you!
Now, it is a leaf dropper and that tends to piss me off, but I will be okay with it. It is still gorgeous and everyone tells me it will be HUGE!

Philodendron

Big leaves

 This Philly came from my friend A`s Mom`s house. She is moving in with A and there is not enough light in A`s  house for any plants to survive. She has the plant corpses to prove it. This one is in dire need of a repot. I did not know what it was! Then one of my friends popped on Facebook and told me it was a Philodendron. She told me that there are many varieties of this genus (is it a genus?) I had a philly for a long time but it was a hanging one. The kind where it would start to grow and get leggy. You could cut off the stems, put them in water, and they would root. Mine did not look like this one at all. She posted a picture of hers and it is the exact same plant.
It can take a beating! It is in a too small pot with not much dirt. It needed to be watered badly. I watered it, put it on my dresser in front of the window and it bloomed a leaf! It likes it here. If all goes well, this will be a huge plant also. I have this low table in the dining room that I can put it on.

Mother in Law`s tongue/Not my plant

  My ass is too lazy to go upstairs and outside to take pictures so I will just show you this one pic I pilfered online. It is called the Mother in Law`s tongue. I used to have a huge one back when Natalie was little. We moved and it died. Very particular about where it wants to be.
  I bought one on a trip to Home Depot a couple months ago and it needs to be repotted. It is large and it likes living here. And I only paid $5 for it. They wanted to get them out of the store. I have another one that I adopted from the same place as the Philly. That MIL tongue needs some TLC. It is not seated in it`s pot very well. I think I will need some staking for awhile. I am very happy that I have all these new plants to fret over. All my catci do not need me that much so I needed some new greenery to have fun with in the winter months.

Now I need to decide what kinds of pots to put them in!

Bracelet Tattoo

Right wrist.

   I acquired a new tattoo while I was away. I have been thinking of this one for a bit and it was itching at me to get done. I did not have enough cash to have exactly what I want it to become.  I had an opportunity to get the names done first and the cost was  minimal so I went for it. If you didn't already know, these are my girl`s names. I wanted their initials to be next to each other. That is why they are playing off each other in such a way. Later, I am going to have a filigree bracelet design tattooed around it and towards the center on my wrist on the inside to make it a true bracelet. I will not have it go completely around. I like the kind of silver bracelets that are cuff like.
 Even though these girls can really get on my nerves sometimes like all kids do, they are still my girls. They deserve a place in my heart and I felt a spot on my body. Some of you may not agree with tattooing and that is okay. I never had it done before my 40s. My dad had lots of tattoos and he scared us all into not getting any. Plus in the 80s and 90s, it just wasn't the thing to do unless you were around others that gave and received tattoos too. For once in my life, I am a late bloomer!
  Natalie was with me when I got it. I sent a picture to Chelsea in a text message because at the time she wasn't home. She was very surprised and gave it positive feedback. That right there was worth it. To have her know that I really do care about her.
Eventually I have to think of a tattoo of Fred but not his name (taboo!) and I still have to have the ship tattooed for my Dad. All of these are going on my right arm. If I can achieve a full sleeve in my lifetime, I will be very happy.

Norwich State Hospital, Norwich, Connecticut

Someone posted this on Facebook and I thought I would share it. This hospital was one of the biggest in the state. Now it just sits there. This is part one.

This is Part two. Ghosthunters did an investigation there one year.

And here is a video of people illegally touring the facility

My Mother had been here a couple times in my life. She was bipolar and back in the day when you could not regulate your meds during a manic state, you were admitted here. I think I remember a total of 4 times in my life but it could have been a couple more that I do not remember. I am not embarrassed by this fact. I had a bipolar mom. I am still okay. :)

I hope you enjoy the bit of history!

That was long enough

Hello! How are you? What`s been going on?

    I know I said I was coming back on August 1st but now is as good a time as any. Right? Right!

 I had to step away from the computer for a bit and reflect on some things. I am glad that I did. I was able to wash away some things that were weighing on me for a long time.  I learned who were my friends and family. I was still going on Facebook but I was not like on it ALL THE TIME. In fact,  I do not have to be on there as much any more. It is not a priority for me to have to be there like before. It feels good to let that shit go and relax. I had to decide if I was going to be a bitter bitch over a certain situation or not. I had a long talk with a couple friends about it. I decided that I  had to let it all go. And I feel good and free from it all.   I had to decide to move on for my health and well being. I cannot get mixed up in toxic shit anymore.  I was guilty of it in the past. So I guess I got as good as I gave.  I hope no one is proud of it. Because I am not. I am glad I was able to not dwell on it anymore.  I had to. Dwelling on bullshit makes your ass cramp. And nobody wants that.:)

  I have been getting some stuff done around the house. De-cluttering a lot of things. I have been cooking and cleaning every day except on those past days where the dew point was like in the 70s. Those days I laid around and watched True Blood on DVD. I was able to get seasons 1-3 from the library and I am waiting for season 4 to arrive. Then I will be up on Sookie Stackhouse until season 5 comes out. I found some TB fans/friends out there and I love you. :) You all did not spoil it for me and I appreciate that.
  We still do not know what is going on with Fred. He is back to work though (thank goodness) We are waiting on tests results from urologist to come back. It takes 3 weeks to find out. Should know something next week. No stones so they are searching for other things.
Garden is what it is. The cucumbers were attacked by a boring beetle so I did not get even one. Tomatoes are okay. My kale and brussel sprouts are finally showing some promise. I have beets and carrots growing by leaps and bounds. It was a strange growing season because Spring took too long to start but I am happy with what I have grown so far.
I have been steadily picking blackberries every two days for freezing. When the bag is full, I will make a batch of jam with it to put in half pints.
The yard is a freaking jungle! I cannot wait until we get some genuine cooler weather so I can pull and hack away at all of it. Hopefully after this storm, we will get some cooler weather.




I will be back on the weight loss journey again ...yeah yeah yeah. Sure, Heidi. Natalie wants to give the gym another try before I pull the plug and cancel all the memberships. My period is on it`s way so I am thinking we will wait until Monday.

I told you I was not going to be gone for good. I just took a little brain vacation. I have some new plants I want to share and some new recipes that I have tried. I even have a new tattoo to share! But that will be another time.

Have a nice Thursday!

I will be back later

I am going to take a bit of a break from here for awhile. A virtual siesta!  I am stepping away from the computer and trying to have a bit of a life. I have been cleaning up and cleaning out. I am going to come back in a couple of weeks or maybe a month. Lets us shoot for August 1st unless something comes up.
I need this time and I do not want to blah blah blah about it on here.
So you will see me back here  later. I am not gone for good. Just for a series of moments.