Yeah!
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Did I post about my cactus? I can't remember, so I will just tell you now. I have wanted a prickly pear cactus for some time. So pretty- and I think they'd be a great theft deterrent if planted under our windows.
Cactus ripe with pears- also called figs. (image from Wikipedia.)
I stopped at Lowe's a few weeks ago to look in the garden center. They have several ornamental mini cacti, but no prickly pears. I asked the sales clerk and he told me I could just put on some heavy duty gloves and go find a wild one, lop off one of the segments and go from there.
Last week I had to run an errand on the square, and there- in an enormous flower pot, was a massive prickly pear cactus, yellow flowers basking in the sun. And laying on the sidewalk were two segments! I grabbed a bag from my car and brought them with me. One segment is the standard size, the other is so tiny! I stopped at the library and checked out a few cacti books.
Prickly pears are in the Opuntia family. Members of the opuntia family have two types of spines- the big obvious ones, and little tiny, nearly invisible ones called glochids- which hurt severely I must say. You have to carefully peel prickly pears before you eat them- injesting the glochids will cause severe discomfort. Opuntia varities are easily propagated by simply placing a severed segment in the proper type of soil. I've planted mine in a pot for the time being. After they have sprouted roots I'll transplant them to our yard. Oh, joy!
Another Wikipedia image- hopefully our flowers will be this pretty.
I love the drive to our aunt's house. The road is lined with them- sprawling green teardrops with lovely yellow blossoms. I enjoy the red variety, as well. I'm also curious about the prickly pears themselves. I saw some in the produce department the other day. I think I'll buy some next time. The stem part of the cactus is also edible. You can buy it in jars at the grocery store- they are called nopales. Tasty in scrambled eggs.
Cactus ripe with pears- also called figs. (image from Wikipedia.)I stopped at Lowe's a few weeks ago to look in the garden center. They have several ornamental mini cacti, but no prickly pears. I asked the sales clerk and he told me I could just put on some heavy duty gloves and go find a wild one, lop off one of the segments and go from there.
Last week I had to run an errand on the square, and there- in an enormous flower pot, was a massive prickly pear cactus, yellow flowers basking in the sun. And laying on the sidewalk were two segments! I grabbed a bag from my car and brought them with me. One segment is the standard size, the other is so tiny! I stopped at the library and checked out a few cacti books.
Prickly pears are in the Opuntia family. Members of the opuntia family have two types of spines- the big obvious ones, and little tiny, nearly invisible ones called glochids- which hurt severely I must say. You have to carefully peel prickly pears before you eat them- injesting the glochids will cause severe discomfort. Opuntia varities are easily propagated by simply placing a severed segment in the proper type of soil. I've planted mine in a pot for the time being. After they have sprouted roots I'll transplant them to our yard. Oh, joy!
Another Wikipedia image- hopefully our flowers will be this pretty.____________________
Today we took a trip to Home Depot. We had a gift card. After brainstorming everything we might possibly need immediately upon move in, we bought the following items:- 2 emergency escape ladders for our bedrooms- they have hooks at the top for placing over the window ledge, and drop down rope ladders for escaping in case of a fire.
- vacuum cleaner- I've not had one for the past year. yuck!
- fire extinguisher
- drop cloths for painting
- oven cleaner- to clean the apartment's oven
- Murphy Oil- to care for our cabinets
- hose, sprinkler, spray nozzle, hose mount
- Scotch Gard for carpets
- broom
- hand-held vacuum with pet hair removing feature
- grout sealer
- paint guide, tape, brushes, rollers, paint tray and liners
- 2 door mats, green and tan striped
- small nails and pictures hangers
- tan paint for living room (will deepen leftovers to dark brown for master bathroom)
- blue paint for master bedroom (wiil deepen leftovers for dining accent wall)
- light turquoise paint for girls' room
- purple paint for girls' bathroom
- Pur faucet mounted water purifier
- extension cord
It's all Glidden paint in a flat finish, except for the purple- we got it in a satin finish because of it's improved mildew fighting abilities.We bought one gallon of Tropical Lagoon GLB20, one gallon of Steel Blue GLB21, a quart of Lilac Bouquet GLV09, and 2 gallons of Gentle Fawn GLN02.
After I've finished those rooms, I'll take any remaining Gentle Fawn back to have a chocolate brown and some mildew repellent added to paint our master bathroom, and some dark blue added to the Steel Blue to do the accent wall in the kitchen/dining.
We're having conceptual issues at this point. The archway in the living room presents an issue- the corners there are also rounded so there's not a defined "stop painting here" line. Should we even paint that wall? Or will we have to continue the paint into the entry way so it doesn't look weird. And I really want a blue accent wall in the kitchen. So that big room would have one blue wall, two tan walls, and if we don't paint the archway wall- it'd also have a cream colored wall. Isn't that too much?
Also, I want our powder room to be a deep red- but it's a small room. Would that be overwhelming? I already have the towels and rug for in there... Help!
1 comment:
Hmm I would need to see pictures of the entryway door and bathroom to give an opinion. If in the bathroom you could accessorize with light rugs and towels etc and plenty of mood lighting it would probably be fine, and if the cabinets are lighter and not dark wood. As for the living room problem i think I see it in a previous post and it looks like you could end it on the living room side of the arch? Could be wrong though. Thanks for the education about cacti!
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