A sprout at last...

Well, I failed to keep the weekly updates – simply because there was no action... I did read that it could take a while for signs of life, and that kept me going... Especially whilst I’ve been off sick with a lower respiratory tract infection.

But I thought I saw something in one of the pots yesterday, and today has confirmed it – there is a sprout.  

A sprout - not sure what it is yet - hopefully a VFT!

This is in the peat option - there may be a sprout in the peat free, but due the green colour of the growing medium, it's hard to see...

The growing media after 6 weeks - the peat medium is the top of the image- the peat free option is the bottom.  Supplied by Wacks Wicked Plants.

I have to admit, the sprout did make me think of the Terry Pratchett / Neil Gaimen book – Good Omens – The nice and accurate prophesies of Agnes Nutter – witch.

“He had heard about talking to plants in the early seventies, on Radio Four, and thought it was an excellent idea. Although talking is perhaps the wrong word for what Crowley did.

What he did was put the fear of God into them. 

More precisely, the fear of Crowley.

In addition to which, every couple of months Crowley would pick out a plant that was growing too slowly, or succumbing to leaf-wilt or browning, or just didn’t look quite as good as the others, and he would carry it around to all the other plants. “Say goodbye to your friend,” he’d say to them. “He just couldn’t cut it. . . “

Then he would leave the flat with the offending plant, and return an hour or so later with a large, empty flower pot, which he would leave somewhere conspicuously around the flat.

The plants were the most luxurious, verdant, and beautiful in London. Also the most terrified.”

I freely admit to thinking of this quote when I checked the pots – but wasn’t quite cruel enough to read it to them...

Karen

It’s the time to make your play

Take the rose today

It’s the time to have your say

Take the whole bouquet

Have no regrets and don’t keep hanging on

Now all your yesterdays are gone

A busy day

It's been a busy day...  Baking and planting.  The planting doesn't really show - the Venus Flytrap seeds are tiny!

Venus Flytrap seeds - image courtesy of Hampshire Carnivorous Plants

So, I've planted them after standing the growing medium in the pots for 36 hours in rainwater as per the instructions.  

The growing medium after standing in rainwater

The seeds have been scattered across the serface - now comes the waiting game... The seeds can take anywhere from 10 days to several weeks to grow, and it's pot luck as to which variety of VFT I get.  Not that I mind - I love the challenge of growing the seeds...  

I seem to have the knack of getting awkward carnivorous plant seeds to grow... I can get Sarracenia seeds sprouting without problems - but I guess leaving them in the 'fridge for 6 months in damp sphagnum moss does the trick... I know it's a long term project, as these plants don't really mature for 4 / 5 years - but it's worth it.

As for the baking - three lots of biscuits.  Triple chocolate cookies, vanilla biscuits and sweet mix spice biscuits. 

Triple chocololate chip, Sweet mix spice and vanilla

They're easy to make, and I know what's in them, so there are no nasty nuts to worry about for me.  

Ah well, time to call this quits - I want to listen to my audiobook.

Back when I get chance...

Karen

It’s the time to make your play

Take the rose today

It’s the time to have your say

Take the whole bouquet

Have no regrets and don’t keep hanging on

Now all your yesterdays are gone

Trying to grow Venus Flytraps from seed

As those who know me well know, I love my carnivorous plants.  But, there's one problem...  The government is looking to ban peat from being used in compost..  And my monsters grow in.... Peat.  

But one nursery Wacks Wicked Plants is offering Venus Flytrap growing kits - in two versions.  Peat (the normal growing media) and peat free (the new variety growing media).

Taking the media out of the boxes (very helpfully labelled so I knew which was which) I placed them in the supplied pots and labelled them, thinking I wouldn't know which was which... But that hasn't been the case.

The media is visibly different. The peat based compost is the dark brown with the usual perlite mixed in.

The peat free? Well I am glad I knew it was compost. It looks nothing like the compost I am used to when repotting my monsters... It looked like someone had emptied a bottle of bleach over the compost.

I’ve labelled the two pots so I know which is which once they are fully hydrated and will plant (ok carefully place) the seeds on the top once the compost is ready... Then let the experiment begin!

Growing media - peat with red lables, peat free with green

The pots are standing in a saucer of rainwater in a minimally heated (frost proofed) south facing conservatory, so light won’t be an issue as these seeds need lots of light to sprout...

I’ll update on a weekly basis and give my honest (and hopefully) unbiased opinion. And no – Wacks *didn’t* ask me to do this – this is my interest in my beloved monsters...

Time to call this quits – got to go and work on my other passion... My car.

Back with updates tomorrow – the planting!

Karen

I gave no thought to wisdom

It all but vanished in the haze

This fragile hand of fortune

Had changed and turned it all to grey

Death of a legend

I got home this evening, and Mum mentioned that one of the founder members of one of my favourite rock bands had died...  Then she said it was Magnum.

I went onto Magnum online, and saw this:

The lead guitarist of Magnum.  The statement read as follows:

From the Clarkin family:

On behalf of the family it is with profound sadness that daughter Dionne is sharing the news of the passing of Tony Clarkin.

Following a short illness, he died peacefully surrounded by his girls on Sunday 7th January 2024.

“I know that Tony has touched so many people through his music in so many different ways. I don’t really have words to express what he meant to me right now as the grief is too fresh.

As many of you know Tony had a great affinity with animals. It is the family’s intention to set up a charitable trust in his name to aid this cause, further details to follow. Please do not send flowers or cards, as he would have much preferred expressions of sympathy to go to charity in this way.

It was a privilege to call him my Dad.”

“I didn’t look to live forever”

The world is a poorer place with your leaving Tony.  You were a true gent.

Karen

I know if I could live forever
Nothing would change to better
Nothing would change at all

Secret Santa - bang on!

 It's the time of year I used to dread at my previous company...  The dreaded Secret Santa.  Because it was very rare that I actually got anything I liked...  Think I only managed it 3 times in the 18 years

I was there.

But not here.  Both times the gifts have been bang on for me - last year was a "Voodoo doll" - and don't mind admitting that gets used when someone really annoys me.

This year - perfection.  I'm known for my love of Carnivorous plants (my computer background is a Heliamphora specimen that I saw in Kew Gardens (The Princess of Wales conservatory has a collection of carnivorous plants I would have sold a very good friend for glue to have!)

So, this year I wasn't too worried...  But opening my Secret Santa left me speechless.  Simply because it was the *last* thing I expected....

A pair of socks.  Not just any socks - they're from Dolly Cool....

Yes - they have Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors. And considering I grow Venus Fly Traps, they're perfect.

So all that remains for me to do is say "THANK YOU SECRET SANTA"

Ah well, guess I should call this quits - I'm on lunch and need to eat.

Back when I get chance....

Karen

I gave no thought to wisdom
It all but vanished in the haze
This fragile hand of fortune
Had changed and turned it all to grey

Cameras replacing mirrors blamed for spider housing crisis

I make no apologies for posting this - it's had me laughing when not much else has made me smile recently.

Enjoy.

Karen

When things never happen like you wanted
Dark nights always keep you in the shade
Some words would be better left unspoken
No joke there’s a price that must be paid

‘No one thinks of the little guy' says friendly neighbourhood spider.

TopGear.com's roving correspondent, Cory Spondent, with his mostly incorrect exclusives from the world of motoring...

The rise of cameras replacing wing mirrors on EVs has triggered a housing shortage for spiders, it is claimed, with the number of eight-legged stowaways in sharp decline.

Cameras - which are typically sleeker than traditional mirrors in order to cut aerodynamic drag - don't offer enough surface area on which to anchor a harmless-yet-unsightly cobweb.

Wide-angle lens cameras also tend to be entirely sealed, meaning spiders have nowhere to hide while you dismantle the web on your 1.0-litre Corsa that will be entirely rebuilt by tomorrow morning.

"I thought the advent of auto-folding mirrors was bad, but this situation is much, much worse," explained a spider, who asked to remain anonymous. "It's getting harder and harder to find somewhere to live.

"Manufacturers don't seem to realise we need simple, affordable housing, not this luxury stuff that only the top one per cent can buy. Where are my hundreds of eggs going to hatch?"

"Eventually we're just going to have to move into your car proper: under the seats, hanging from the headliner, inside the instrument binnacle,” it added, before whispering: 

“We could be anywhere.  Like the sound of that? Huh? No. Now spec that Ioniq 5 with real mirrors like a respectable human being and we'll consider the matter closed."

The wheel bearing - AGAIN

What was I thinking?  Those idiots that serviced my poor little 208 in September last year have made a real mess of my car.  The driver’s side wheel bearing has now been replaced, but it looks like they managed to make a real mess of the car.

I was asked if I had any suspension work done…  Yes – when the idiots allegedly dealt with the passenger side wheel bearing and wheel hub.  Well, it looks like they fitted the wrong one to the car.  So, it’s got to go back to the garage that has replaced the driver’s side bearing and get the passenger side sorted out.

The garage is going to strip the car down and take lots of photos for me, so I can blast Peugeot customer service about the idiots – and I will *never* let them near my poor little monster again.  

The so-called main dealer here in Banbury is a garage I would recommend – TO AVOID LIKE THE PLAUGE.

I’ve still got work to do, so I’ll call this quits for now.

Back when I get the chance / my temper has improved….

Karen

Like a broken wheel stops turning

You ain't going nowhere

Now you've got to heal that burning

Or you ain't got a prayer

Like a broken wheel