Lenny boy

 

"Variety is the very spice of life ,that gives it all its flavour",William Cowper 18th cent poet. 

I know that is a well-worn cliche but it seemed appropriate for my post today as it is rather a mix of topics. 

I also find it quite curious where some of these quotations come from. I have to admit I like to find out the whys and where froms of idioms and quotes. 

A dog with personality and a mind of his own 🐕

I thought I would tell you about Lenny. He isn't my dog but my sister's dog. His antics do make me laugh!   Lenny is a young dog and has just had his second birthday

The birthday boy!   That is the red bow I crocheted for him. My sister tells me he doesn't mind wearing the bow at all but I am not so sure as he does look a little forlorn in this photo. He is probably thinking, "Jeez what I have to put up with ... a flipping red bow."  LOL!

Now this Lenny boy is a bit stubborn and pretty lazy. He is definitely a city lad! My sister lives in Torquay, South Devon and there are lots of lovely walks there to the coast, the beaches and also plenty of beautiful country walks too. She likes to get lots of exercise and takes Lenny out several times a day. As far as Lenny is concerned that is fine for doing his business and chasing the ball a bit in the park but other than that... there is public transport one can use instead of partaking of his human's fanatical urge to walk everywhere!  

Lenny has bus rides on the mind! 

Where there is a bus stop he stubbornly SITS to let his human know he is exhausted and cannot possibly walk any further!  Although my sister tries to avoid all bus stops Lenny joyfully even tries to cross the road dragging his human with him to get to that bus stop! 

Heaven forbid that a bus draws near when they are on a zebra crossing because he automatically SITS or tries to drag his human to the door of the bus.

I do have to say though in his favour that he is very protective of his home and will warn strangers or invaders loud and clear that it is HIS home! Mind you if said stranger should be allowed into the home he will launch a frenetic licking attack just so they know that he is in control. 

He patrols daily the inside perimeter of his home warning passersby that he is on home security patrol duty. Should said passerby get too near to his human's living room window then his body language comes into effect to warn them of the dire circumstances should they try to pass that barrier!

 Can you see who has invaded Lenny's personal space on the other side of the glass?

 

Lenny does have friends who pop round now and again to see if he wishes to play. 

"I am invading your personal space Lennyyyyy na na na naaaaa"

I am looking forward to meeting Lenny in person in the flesh next year.

Baby Orchid 

For those blog friends who have showed an interests in how to separate a baby orchid from the mother plant, transfer and pot the babe.

Materials: Orchid potting mix(bark). a small transparent pot, a sharp knife, water, kitchen roll.

These are the instructions my sister sent me who received the details from her teacher:

The babe needs to have at least two 2 inch approx aerial roots before pulling off of the mother plant. Wet area of baby root and pull off very carefully.  If you find it is not coming away from the mother plant easily then use a sharp knife.  Slice down root area very carefully but do not cut the baby's roots at all.

Add soil (Orchid soil is mostly bark so it is very loose) in a small transparent pot. Small as in very small as orchids like to feel snug and cosy in their pots. Don't bury the babe in the soil just gently cover it with soil, light layers and the aerial roots leave them don't try to push them into the soil as they will break off.

I haven't potted my babe as yet. I think the pot I have bought is too big (see above). 

I also have to find out from my sister or online when to water it and how much, also the light conditions.

Since posting this yesterday I have been looking at video clips online to see how to water the baby plant. There are lots of videoclips giving advice and tips of how to do this but this one in particular clarified some of the doubts I have. It also contradicts parts of these instructions I have posted here but that is fine I expect everyone has their own way of doing this. All the same I think I am going to go with cutting the stalk a little bit below the Baby plant itself when separating it from the Mother plant as advised in the video clip.

I found this VC easy to follow.

By the way I have read that it will help to heal the plant if you add cinnamon powder on the bare cuts when pulling the babe away from the mother plant 

Surprise! I do believe I have another babe on its way on the same mother plant.

Crocheted Christmas gnome impersonating a Christmas card

I just need to find a little "Merry Christmas" sticker and my card  Tree gnome will be on its way.

✍Replies to comments from my previous post completed✍

Happy Blogging

Amanda :-)

Crown of Christ

 

Last Sunday we went to the market in the seaside town of Campello. It is mostly a food and clothes market but they also have a few plant stalls. 

 

 

Campello Market

They have a large selection of veg there and I usually find what I can't find here in the city like these scrumptious Raf Marmande tomatoes...

and snake cucumber which doesn't upset my stomach as much as the ordinary cucumber does.  

 

I of course made a beeline for the plant stalls and bought this plant which I have never heard of before, pretty easy that of course as I am a newbie gardener.

Here it is called the Crown of Christ because legend has it that the twisted thorny wreath from this plant was used to make the thorny crown worn by Jesus at the crucifixion.

 

 Google tells me this succulent originates from Madagascar and is called Euphorbia and flowers all years round. It is very heat tolerant and drought resistant...right up my street!    It likes about four hours of direct sunlight per day. It will get that here!

 

 

RAOCK

My RAOCK gnome is all ready to be dropped off to bring smiles to someone out there.  I don't much like his eyes he looks as if he is scared or he's a bit on the timid side perhaps so I have given him a sparkly piercing on his nose to brighten him up.

I used some oddments of worsted weight yarn so he is a bit bigger than I had anticipated,bigger than my hand in fact. I don't think he would do to hang on a Christmas tree as the size of him would topple the tree over; never mind he is a fun make after all.

Pattern Designer: Julia Musatova

 

 

 

 

 

CAR Maintenance

Our 12 year old car past its MOT in March this year with flying colours so we thought except for the usual check ups of oil,brake fluid,tyre pressure and lights everything was in good working order.

Google image

 

Nevertheless a fortnight or so ago our neighbour who is a policeman (Guardia Civil) gave us a tip off that police are issuing fines to drivers who do not have their car number plates in good order, in otherwise are old,battered and illegible. Fair enough we thought, so Sr P went and checked the car plates weren't bent at all or loose and gave them a good scrub and asked me what I thought. They looked fine to me and I could easily read the registration number and letters even from a distance.   

Well! so much for sprucing up the number plate, the other day Sr P was stopped by the police and told he had to renew the car number plates and the fine would be 200€ if he didn't. Luckily he got away with that warning. He went straight to the garage to get two new number plates and that cost 50€.  The mechanic even agreed with us that our car number plates were in good condition and could only surmise the police saw it was an old car and the plates were used and immediately focussed on that!

Good job! Sr P did not argue with the police about it otherwise we would be paying a fine and new plates.

 

Google image

Putting it to use 

 I send out lots of crochet mostly to family and as I have mentioned before I really do like to see my crochet travel the world.  I also very much like to see that it is being used or displayed.

Awhile ago I sent this crocheted plant pot cover to my sister in Devon,UK. 

She has just sent me this photo.  

Love it and so glad it is put to use!

 

Happy Blogging 

 

Amanda :-)