Trying Something New

I bought some Keiki cloning paste. A Keiki is a baby orchid that grows from the bloom stem, so it is an exact clone of the mother plant. A Keiki might grow on its own, but not all that often. Keiki paste is a growth hormone that can trigger a Keiki to grow or just more blooms. I have been wanting to try it. Currently I only have one spent bloom stem to experiment with. 

I peeled off the sheath and found a tiny nub. I accidentally cut the tip off with my fingernail

Here a small glob of paste is applied

Tagged. Now we wait. Might see something in about 3 weeks.

This is the one I'm trying to clone. Normally I trim the spent bloom stem all the way off. This one I did not, so it's the only one I have to experiment with.

Ugh

 Migraine with aura. I was getting them every day for awhile. I was also taking some new supplements. I decided to drop all the new supplements for awhile. 

I haven't had any migraine episodes for awhile. I kind of forgot about them. Today I said, to myself, "I should start taking the Krill Oil again." So I did.

Half hour later and I have this:

I took two headache tablets as soon as I noticed it. It's going away. Still blurry on the right, head is tender, proof-reading twice, LOL

I have no idea what it is about the Krill Oil that triggers this.

I'm going to throw them away.

What's Up With the Plants

 The orchids are doing very well, except for the dying purple one, which seems to be beyond recovery. It hasn't completely died, so it lives is a zip bag on top of the orchid shelf. 

Oh Purple, how I miss thee

I may have mentioned before I was learning about fertilizers and I chose RePotMe brand MSU as it was recommended by a grower I follow. It was spendy, $29 for 4 ounces. It has made a huge difference in the health of my orchids. They are growing shiny new leaves, healthy roots, and I have at least one bloom spike!

Michigan State University formula fertilizer, with all the minerals orchids need when watered with rain, distilled or RO water. I'm using cheap bottled water most of the time, sometimes distilled. There is a different formula for tap water that has appropriate minerals but is not too hard for orchids (like mine).

The leaves are showing a lack of proper minerals

A flower spike!!

My set-up, showing filtered afternoon sun.

LED lights 

My succulents, for the most part, are doing ok. Everything is inside. I didn't have that much outside anyway. I decided that if something kicks off I'm not going to get stressed about it. I put all my Jades in the spare bedroom window. They seem to need their watering monitored more closely than some other succulents. 

Spare room window. The "empty" pots have sleeping oxalis bulbs in them.

My Sedum Cape Blanco is struggling from accidental overwatering

I got a Lithops bloom this year!

Adromischus Little Spheroid, one of my faves

Pachyveria Powder Puff growing crazy

Croton

Beautiful sanseveria Moonshine

More sanseveria

Sanseveria Samurai

Titanopsis

Lavender steps

close up

Oxalis blooms

I need to go through my collection and rearrange them for winter. I might need more lights. After I do that I'll take more pictures. I am done writing for tonight. I'm sleepy and we have a fun weekend planned, chasing autumn leaves.

I Am So Far Behind!!!!

I will try to catch up.

Labor Day Weekend

My daughter and her hubby had planned to come up early Friday, but family business came up. My hubby worked a short shift (eight hours) so he was coming home at 9pm. It worked out perfectly because my daughter and hubby arrived about 9:40pm. We brainstormed plans for the weekend while they snacked on some cheese. They didn't stay late because we decided on an early-ish start on Saturday.

West of the Lake Gardens

The Plan...Saturday, antiquing, this time in Manitowoc. Spontaneous stop......West of the Lake Gardens, which was a big hit. Sunday was set aside for the Wade House in Greenbush, Wisconsin, which was amazing. We paid for our tickets at the visitor center, and the guy behind the desk called someone on a walkie-talkie. 

"Your ride will be here shortly" he told us. "Go outside and wait under that window" (pointing to a large stained glass window on the other side of the room).

As soon as we got outside, a wagon drawn by two beautiful horses pulled up. Let me repeat A WAGON PULLED BY HORSES was our ride!!!!! I wanted to jump up and down and squeal like a kid but I restrained myself. 

Here are some pictures from our visit. Our Ride!

The Sawmill

The Wade House (picture from Wiki commons)

The Blacksmith Shop

The Carriage Museum

After Wade House, my hubby wanted to drive us up to Door County. We stopped in Sturgeon Bay and then drove up to Egg Harbor to eat. We were having so much fun we decided to spend the night....somewhere.....on a holiday weekend. My daughter started making phone calls. The only rooms available were $300 for the night, and we needed 2 rooms. We kept looking. We finally found a house for rent with two bedrooms, $310 for the night, in Sturgeon Bay. We stopped at a drugstore and grabbed some things, since we didn't pack anything, and drove to the house. It was good. Buggy outside (Northwoods bugs) but clean inside. We decided to go out and found an Irish bar. We had a good time.

We set off early Monday, got some breakfast, and headed north. We drove all the way to Ellison Bay which is near Gills Rock, because...family name. Unfortunately we had to head back because my daughter and her hubby had to drive all the way back to Indiana that night. 

Sunrise in Sturgeon Bay. I don't see many sunrises because our apartment faces west

The house we rented

Sister Bay, Door County

Walking around Sister Bay

The goats on the roof, Sister Bay

Gnomes, Sister Bay

Ellison Bay

Ellison Bay

Inside a gift shop, flowers and pots

Technically we didn't make it all the way to Gills Rock but we visited all the gift shops that sold Gills Rock merch. We were short of time and faced with a long drive back.

Note to ourselves...plan better next time. Spend more time in Door County. Reserve a room. Leave some time to visit downtown Ripon. There are not enough hours in a day. nor days in a weekend.