Ouchie Cactus Monday and some pots!

Danger in the nite

Happy Cactus Monday everyone. This cactus is called Austrocylindropuntia subulata. Yeah I know really big name. I just call it the biggest most dangerous cactus I have. It has been raining a lot here lately and last night taking the garbage out I brushed up against it. The rain has soaked the ground so much that the plant has leaned toward the sidewalk. Ouch! Not a bad poke though! You can't tell from the picture but this plant is huge and some of the spines are about 4 inches long. So I took a flashed nite pic and this is what I got. Better than I thought it would turn out. So now I will have to prop this thing up somehow. Hmmmm!

On another note, yesterday I went to Sam's club. It was in the evening I was getting tired. But they had a whole bunch of amazing pots for sale. I couldn't believe the prices! Some were shaped very interesting. But this one was shaped like a huge fish. If you can imagine it was kind of bent in half with it's tail facing up and the body and face with mouth wide open facing up. The body and the mouth were the pot. It was the only one. But I was tired and it was heavy so I didn't get it. Last night I dreamed about it. I jumped out of bed this morning to go get it and a couple of others. Wouldn't you know that it was gone. I even had visualized a great place for it. I got the ones below and asked an employee if another Sam's had them. Nope...it's a road show??! But they would be back to replenish. Yeah! I will call everyday and when comes in I will have them hold one and go get it! Ahhh!

Here is the cool chicken I got! It cost about $21.50. Can't wait to plant it with succulents! This is a lesson on when you see something that awesome and cheap you better get it!

This one cost about $19.50. It has a wire stand already attached. What a great deal. So I will be calling Sam's everyday until they come in. They are going to be so sick of me! LOL

HCM!

Weeds are beautiful too!

It wasn't until I started taking photos like a mad women that I realized the tiny beauty in the world. Through my lens I have discovered such amazingly gorgeous flowers and tiny things. This post is kind of a departure from my succulents but I wanted to show you what I have found. I don't know the name of all of them but if anybody knows let me know. A bunch of these flower shots were taken around the Folsom lake area. It's the closest largest lake near Sacramento, CA.

I believe that these are called Lupine. I find it so facinating when I take pictures. I take lots and lots of the same thing from many different angles. The more photos I take the more chance that at least one will be amazing. Hopefully!

I bet that people think I may be crazy jamming my camera into the weeds. But the tiniest flowers are so pretty. At first my husband Stan thought I was pretty silly until he saw the photos on my computer. Ha ha!

I found this interesting weed in the grass near the river at Coloma, California. We were visiting the place where gold was discovered and the gold rush started here in California. The name of this one is Claytonia perfoliata.

This flower I found while we were hiking in the Sierra's with Stan and my best friend Lorna and her husband Dave. What a beautiful area!

I think this is a type of clover. I love the little hairs on the stem and around the bottom. And pink isssss my favorite color.

California poppy

Wild Thistle

Last but not least is this pretty white flower I found among the weeds. What I didn't realize until I saw it on my computer were the tiny bugs on this flower. Crazy how small they are. Cindy at Bug Safari will like this and maybe she can name them.

So I hope you enjoyed my foray into the world of weeds. Nothing exciting going on in Roseville lately except for the fog. It's been as thick as pea soup. Also my poor little Scout had to have 4 teeth pulled yesterday. She broke one in half and we thought it was going to be just the one but when he got in there he found she had some dental disease and had to pull 4. She even has stitches in her little mouth. Poor baby!

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Enjoy!

Hibernating succulents and a rat!

My succulents are still in the garage and doing ok. When ever we have a sunny day (like this one) I open the doors and I swear I can hear them go Ahhh! So I noticed that some of the plants have some shriveling in there leaves. A sign of lack of water. I have not watered them since I put them in here. So I went out and got the hose and started putting a bit of water in the pots that I thought needed it. I was busy doing my chore and since I have a lot of plants under the table I was bent over some other pots with my hose sprinkling away. My face was about 5 inches from a big pot right under me when I looked down at it. I thought to myself, "Is that one of Scout's dog toys in the pot?" And about a second later I jumped up as I realized NOOOO! This is what I saw!

I definitely jumped about 3 feet in the air. This rat must have eaten some bait that we have in bait traps around the house. Yes we have problems with rats, ever since we moved in 15 years ago. So he must have gotten cold and climbed in this pot and hunkered down. Yuk! I waited for Stan to come home and had him get rid of it. Sure freaked me out!

Yeah...things are still alive!

Everybody have a great weekend coming up!

Happy Cactus Monday let's look at Crassula's

Happy Cactus Monday

Crassula's

I think that Crassula's are one of nature's greatest works of art. They come in so many different sizes and shapes. I have no idea how many kinds there are but quite a lot. Here are pictures of a few that I have or have had (boo hoo).

Crassula falcata

Crassula argentea Finger Jade

I love this type of jade plant. The leaves are shaped kind of like a regular jade but are slightly curled. I have a lot of trouble with jade plants in the ground over winter. They can take a little cold but once it starts freezing they are pretty much done for.

Crassula adromiscus

Crassula's are propogated by leaf or stem cuttings. A lot of times you will just find little babies growing at the base of your plant because leaves have fallen down and rooted.

One of my favorites but hard to keep alive Crassula capitella ssp. thyrsiflora. The next picture I post will be the flowers. So tiny and pretty. Can't seem to find the right conditions for this cool crassula.

Here's the flowers for you! Aren't they pretty!

This is a plant in the crassula family. I am adding it cause the flowers are so cool. The next picture will show it. This one is called Monanthes polyphylla.

Crassula perforata

Crassula springtime

Crassula perforata variegata

Well that is all for now! I have a lot more so I will have to do a Crassula post #2.

Have a great week everyone!

High Hand Nursery

Since it is so cold and bleary all over the country I thought I would try to brighten up everyone's January. High Hand Nursery in Loomis, California is one of the most amazing nurseries in Northern California. I will probably do quite a few posts on this great nursery because over the last couple of years I have visited and taken photos there. I don't know the whole history of this nursery. But I have googled it and all I know is that it started as a fruit stand in 1901. It is by the railroad tracks and at one time I believe it was a fruit packing company. I will try to find out more for you on this great place.

This is the coy pond near the entrance of the nursery. I love this area. Sitting all around are big cushy seats with big pillowed seats and backs. You can just sit under the beautiful tree and people watch and enjoy the coy pond and listen to the water coming down the little water fall. It is very relaxing. When my Dad and I go to this nursery we have lunch and afterward Dad settles himself down in one of these seats while I wander all over the nursery taking photos. Oh yeah the conservatory is a huge green house with three sides of the greenhouse being made into large glass garage type doors. These can be opened in great weather and tables are placed outside to allow for more customers. In the winter or cooler evenings they are closed and it is very comfortable.

This is a photo looking into the Conservatory. It is really a beautiful place. You can see the sliding open doors in the back where the sun is shining through. I am also standing where one should be and there is another open one to my right. Behind me are two large brick and ceramic pizza ovens surrounded by a great counter and seating. You can sit and watch them make hand made pizza and people watch or check out the beautiful plants.

And Oh yeah they have some great succulents for sale and super displays like this one. They took this old rod iron bench and turned the seat into a great planter. Since this pic was taken I have gone back and it has spread out and is much filled in.

When you wander out to the garden you are taken into another world. It's not just groups of potted plants bunched together. It's like a mini jungle but organized. Grouping of plants that look wonderful together sometimes surrounding outstanding sculptures such as this one. It reminded me of "Midnight in the Garden of Good Evil". Great movie if you haven't seen it. So on Flickr this is what I named it.

Here is a shot of Rudbeckia that I took a while back. I know it's just one flower shot but I have a lot more to come. I promise, this is just a tease.

Talk to you soon and have a great week!

Happy Cactus Monday and Happy New Year!

Spirit in the Sky

Happy New Year my friends. It is good to be back. I took a couple of weeks off because of the craziness of Christmas and New Year. I hope that everyone had a wonderful and happy time this holiday season.

My sister came for a 10 days visit from Phoenix and stayed with my 88 year old day. I think that he enjoyed the company but she found that his pantry was infested with pantry moths. So I went up and helped her clean out and throw everything away and clean it out. He has so many that I am going to call an exterminator tomorrow to go out and spray. It is going to be hard to get rid of them. Yikes!

Sooooooo, we had a great Christmas at our house and then the day after we traveled down to South Pasadena, CA to visit with my husbands family for about 5 days. His parents live in this beautiful house on the side of a hill overlooking the valley. The backyard is terraced and there is a set of concrete stairs that you have to go down to get to the bottom terrace. Yep it's pretty steep. In the bottom terrace is this incredible aloe plant. It must be pretty old because it is huge. At this time every year it is in full bloom. But you can't see the plant from the backyard unless you lean over the upper terrace or walk down the stairs. I couldn't believe it when I found it last year. Tons of bees are buzzing around and going in and out of each one of the little flowers attached to each stalk. They don't mind that I'm there taking pictures and some land on me and I just blow them off. They just want the nectar. I stayed down there and visited this gorgeous plant for a long time.

My father in law is disabled with primary lateral sclerosis and my mother in law has the beginnings of dementia along with severe osteo arthritis. She thinks that she can still take care of my father in law but in reality she cannot. But we cannot get them to accept in home care. They can afford it so that is not the issue. It's a very tough situation to be in. Not sure what we are going to do yet.

Sorry....had to get that off my chest. It is very troublesome and I don't really have much say since they are not my parents. All I can do is suggest solutions. But if both parties say no what do you do?

On to New Year. We came home in time for the festivities and went to our best friends for dinner, present opening and Dick Clark. What a great time. Nice and relaxing and just what I needed.

But my sister and her girlfriend are still visiting so went to meet them, her son and my Dad for lunch today. We went to BJ's and I had fish tacos. Yummy! But it and the cookies I ate tonight are my laugh hurrah. I have eaten like a starving child the past few months. Probably stress. And I have gained a ton of weight. So my New Year's resolution is to go back to Weight Watchers and lose the weight AGAIN! My problem is that I stop going and I am someone that needs the support and accountability.

Love to everyone and Happy Cactus Monday!