The Orchids

I previously mentioned that we were welcomed home by over 50 orchid blooms provided by our orchid regulars, which prompted a request for some pictures.  We had four orchid plants, and added two more from this trip.  Here's a snapshot of each and their story.

The first plant is actually a named plant: Dtps Taisuco Firebird 'NC' X Dpts Ruey Lih Beauty 'RL' [which you can  Google if you want to], and was likely bought at Costco a few years ago.  It now has 6 blooms [about 3.25" wide] on two new spikes.

The next plant is a very well shaped and pretty 'no-name' from Costco.  It also has six blooms [2 5/8" across] on last year's spike and has a second spike developing for more blooms that should open in a month or so.

Here's another 'no-name' with 13 2.5" blooms on two spikes.  This plant was also found limp and dry [with the next one below] and made a remarkable recovery.  This is its second blooming for us.

This next plant is Phalaenopsis Malibu Bistro.  I rescued this plant from a friend's apartment [with the one above] where it was completely limp and totally dry.  It made a complete recovery and this is its second blooming for us.  It now has 24 blooms on one old and one new spike, each bloom is about 3" wide.  Some of the blooms are a little limp right now and I hope they will re-hydrate and last their usual three or more months.  A second plant has started growing in the pot which is quite unusual.

And now for the new guys.  The first was part of a 3 for $20 purchase and is a 'no-name'.  Judy has the other two plants, but I digress.  The bloom is very waxy and star shaped.  It even has a very faint scent, or my imagination wants it to have a scent, whatever.

I had to remove this plant from its pot for easier Canadian customs processing and just re-potted it yesterday.  There are actually two plants in the pot and I don't know if they are clones or siblings, or what.  There's a spike growing from the second plant that may clarify things.   ... or not.

And lastly, a very small blooming no-name from Publix, a Florida grocery store chain.  This bloom is only 2" wide and the picture does not show it at its best since this plant also had to be un-potted on Wednesday and repotted yesterday.  The bloom suffered from the indignities of travel in paper bags, etc. and will be cut off shortly.  Hopefully, the remaining buds will open successfully and the four new blooms will last a few months as they should.

Maybe I should open a store?  ... or maybe not.  These orchids are easy to grow, easy enough to find at the grocery store or gardening department at a reasonable price [under $20] and can provide a fantastic long lasting show of many fairly large and colourful flowers that can last over three months.  Unfortunately, if you buy them in bloom [which I strongly suggest] while you're on seasonal holidays, they'll end up blooming every year while you're on holidays...  Duh.

Back to Ottawa

We arrived back home yesterday [Friday] shortly before 1 p.m. after a 9 a.m. departure and a fairly uneventful drive.  It rained off and on, the traffic really thinned out as we neared the border, and all real signs of Spring were just a memory.  Patches of snow appeared here and there but they should be disappearing soon since the temperature was in the high teens [centigrade].  I'm sure the trees will eventually leaf out as they did down South, but I digress.

By 2 o'clock we were completely un-packed, or should I say, un-stuffed...  with piles of books, puzzles, and other assorted 'stuff' duly stacked for delivery to their new owners in the next few days, and surprisingly small piles of clothing were set aside for the laundry machine.  [Actually, these really only need ironing due in large part to my aggressive stuffing of clothes into the car trunk, but that's another story].  

By 2:30 the computer was downloading all the emails we had accessed remotely during our three months away and the three orchids we brought back were potted up to join the condo-regulars [there are currently over 50 gorgeous orchid blooms to enjoy in the condo!].  

An invite for supper with Nancy, Christopher and the princesses solved the no-food-in-the-condo issue and delayed the inevitable grocery shopping task for the moment.  Now we have about a cubic foot [or slightly more] of mail, magazines and junk to go through and the proverbial nemesis: income tax to deal with.  Oh joy...

It was real fun to be recognized by the grandchildren, a little reluctantly by Caitlyn at first, but as supper progressed, fun was had by all and laughter prevailed.  After supper, the lets-jump-on-Grandpa ritual took place and all is well in our universe.

I guess that settles it, our snowbird escape is now officially over.  Joan is off to the bank machine and grocery store [for carrots] on her way to the barn.  There are over 700 duplicate emails on our 'main computer' to sort out, and it's raining outside.  

Thanks for reading these notes, we'll likely not add much to the blog until we go away again...  Please keep in touch when you can.

Hillsville VA to Brewerton NY

After a 9 o'clock start in very heavy fog, we kept heading east and north east on Interstate 77 until we joined Interstate 81.  We alternated between dense fog and light rain until shortly after noon.  The traffic was very heavy all morning and we ended up following a Quebec trucker most of the morning as he was speeding reasonably and seemed to know where the speed traps were.  After lunch, the skies cleared and the traffic got somewhat better.  We did see some snow patches in some fields and mountain tops this morning, but the temperatures have been warm [room temperature] everywhere except the high mountains. Hopefully, the last miles to the border will be fairly quiet.

We should have a fairly short day tomorrow with some rain but no great issues.  How lucky is that?

PCB to Hillsville, Virginia

Yesterday was supposed to be rainy all day, especially in the afternoon, so we packed the car.  Actually, Joan packed and I stuffed, but I digress.  With the car already packed except for the last minute stuff,  we didn't have any problem leaving shortly after 8 this morning, nearly an early departure record for us...

It rained off and on for the better part of the morning, but nothing really serious.  Certainly nothing to live up to the dire flood warnings from the TV!  The rural scenes in northern Florida are just spectacular, yet very peaceful.  Some of the area is serious grazing land for cattle and it was a pleasure to see contented cattle in the fields rather than in the very high concentration of feed lots.  We also noted that ponds, small lakes and rivers in the area were swollen well beyond their habitual shores due to the recent rains, or should I say deluges.  Further into the day, the signs of flooding disappeared completely, only to be replaced by the signs of drought.  Rivers had visibly shrunken from their usual shores and lakes had new islands that hadn't been seen in decades.  All this a sign of the major drought that has afflicted many parts of Florida,  Alabama, and Georgia.

Traffic patterns in Florida and Georgia usually obey the posted speed limits.  Today, in South  and North Carolina, all bets were off: average traffic speeds were often well in excess of 10 miles per hour faster than the posted speed, and sometimes much faster.  I snuggled in with the jet set and we made very good time in areas where the police are known to be merciless on speeding.  I guess I was at the right place at the right time...  ... or just plain lucky.

Since traffic was moving so quickly, we decided to continue into Virginia.  Crossing the line between North Carolina into Virginia meant climbing a humungous hill, where the temperature dropped, our ears popped, and the sun set.  It was time to stop for the day so we pulled into the Quality Inn in Hillsville, VA. 

This trip was our first this far East in almost ten years.  We are amazed at the volume of traffic, especially trucks, and the population density of the area.  Our usual route home has been further west along the Intertates 65 and 75, where there was much less traffic and many fewer trucks.  Today was much more frantic that our previous trips home, hopefully, tomorrow won't be as bad.