The weather was cold and miserable up in the country… but I still had a wonderful weekend. Our friends gave us all sorts of fresh food from their gardens… basil and mint, squash and hot peppers… yum. It beats shopping at the supermarket, that’s for sure.

The food was the best part of my birthday – my birthday wish was for roast chicken, mashed potatoes, veggies and apple pie… and it was perfect.

I got a vintage book from the 1970s called “House Plants – How to Keep ‘Em Fat & Happy”. After murdering several houseplants, with my current collection looking quite forlorn, it is apparent that I need some guidance. This book has a warm practical character that is just great. I’m feeling more confident already. Knowledge is power. I’m going to throw out my scrappy old plants and save a few cuttings.

Here’s a photo of my wreckage. After such a celebration of growth and the power of plants to feed and enhance our lives, I must come home to my own shameful ignorance.

I truly am dismayed at my failure to pay attention to the needs of these living things… I am going to reduce the collection to just the spider and perhaps the other odd leafy plant. The basil I will eat and the ivy is nothing but a ghost now anyway. I resolve to visit and enjoy my plants instead of being forgetful and inattentive. After all, it only takes a moment.

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