eLPy's Blog, page 21
March 23, 2014
A New Day – 47 – Old Man Winter Prevails
Lake or snowy meadow? Yeah, that’s water under there…huh…
In some places, some back roads winter prevails…real strong.
I don’t think I need to say anything here…
A New Day – 47 – Old Man Winter Prevails
…but so does the beauty! In the more northern regions of course there’s still a lot of snow (so where it is melting for us, let’s be grateful!). If you’re having trouble realizing your own spring…go north! LOL! But even as I’ve settled into the melting snow and warmer weather, even as my cold tolerance drops like the temperature of bath water, I still hold a great appreciation for what beauty exists because of the snow. Plus this crazy winter meant that we got to be impressed…A LOT…okay, too much.
That old man is one productive…………
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March 21, 2014
A New Day – 46 – After a bit of slumber…
The world around me kept moving and beeping and breathing. I grew stronger, but I still waited. I watched as the world outside became dormant under bitter cold, so much seemed to slow down or come to a complete stop. I didn’t stop, well not completely, I’ve been working underground adding to what you can see. Once I was this tiny little helpless thing but I’ve grown a lot. It’s pretty cool really, heck I’m proud. In fact I put in a lot of work in the space around me, more than some people said was even good for me. Ha, that’s what I say, ha take this!
Yea baby, I’m back! Don’t underestimate the awesome power of a little African Violet flower!
Yeah, that’s right, you see me, I AM BLOSSOMING! A lot of folks look right past little beings like me, all petite and fragile. But, you see this texture, this color? And that ain’t even the half yet. This is just my debut, not even fully blossomed yet. Oh yeah, and I fit right in with my Orchid friends. We’re from a different clan and all but shuh, a flower’s a flower and in that word is beauty and power! Boo ya! Let spring begin because I’m here to grace it!
Stay tuned to see my blossoms revealed. Until then I want to show you a little bit of what it’s like inside my world. What about you, your little piece of this grand life, what’s it like from your viewpoint?
Life inside an African Violet
My caretaker, this eLPy chick, picked me up and knew right off the bat that I deserved to be repotted. People told her not to put me in a much bigger pot – I was in like a 3″ little plastic thing – but she didn’t listen. She bought this snazzy pot just for African Violets like me, probably like 7-8″ if not a little more, filled me up with an African Violet medium, poured water into the bottom pot (which then gets sucked up through the inner clay pot when my soil is dry, cool huh, I pretty much water myself as long as she keeps the pot full), set me by an east window, and just let me grow. My first round of blossoms gave up, I had other things to do, but I took off. You see these leaves? Yeah, I’ve been busy. But now after a little bit of AV food in the water, spring time love, and I am ready to blossom! Makes eLPy think about her Grandma really, she liked us, I guess that’s part of why she got me that night. So don’t be afraid of us or overlook us, or be afraid to let us grow into bigger pots. Let us wake, let us live, let us blossom.
It’s spring, let life live!
Even without my flowers, I’m still beautiful!
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March 19, 2014
A New Day – 45 – ‘Pink Fred’ is revealed!
In my last post a couple of days ago I introduced you to my newest Orchid, Paphiopedilum ‘Pink Fred’, whom I picked up after the Orchid Show. At the time that I got ‘Pink Fred’ it was “in bud” with a large bud, medium sized bud, and a very small third just starting to develop. Four days after bringing it home Fred’s largest bloom opened to surprise me with this small elegant pretty flower. (The plant to the right is a Phalaenopsis that bore my twin keikis.) ‘Pink Fred’s’ leaves are mottled like the one showing on the left.
Now I just wonder how long it will take for the others to bloom. I’ve not seen any Paphs with more than one bloom at the same time so this ought to be a treat.
‘Pink Fred’ the Orchid has bloomed!
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March 16, 2014
A New Day – 44 – Meet ‘Pink Fred’
I reflect upon these last weeks and the glory that has been bestowed upon us. We’ve really been blessed with the spring-like weather we’ve been waiting for. This has everyone in a good mood. But even better when you take an easy trip to the Orchid Show and get a new Orchid plant. This guy is a Paphiopedilum ‘Pink Fred’ (FairFred x primulinum purpurescens), apparently a nice cross with Cochlopetalum. I bought it somewhat blindly as its bud hasn’t opened yet but it will soon. Mostly I wanted this specimen not only for the mottled leaves but because it is a multi-bloomer, not all Paphs are, my other one isn’t. Here’s what it looks like right now.
In bud Paphiopedilum ‘Pink Fred’
Does spring have you itching for some new things? New activities? Extra smiles perhaps? More color in your life?
Cheers!
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March 15, 2014
A New Day – 43 – Chicago Botanic Garden Orchid Show
Now that my computer and I are friends again I’m going to take you back in time some to the pictures I have managed to take over the last couple of weeks. Starting out are many photos from the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Orchid Exhibit. This was a first for me but certainly not my last. As you can imagine this will be a bit of a large post even as I do refrain a little from posting more pics. But let me take you first to what I saw when I walked in…
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THIS is what greeted me. I thought, “I WANT SOME!”
Here’s a closer view of one of the baskets, this is a type of Phalaenopsis, AKA Moth Orchid, very common type of Orchid…if you didn’t already know. ;-)
I can’t say for sure what kind of Orchid this is, at first amateur guess I thought Miltoniopsis but pretty sure it is a member of the Oncidium alliance. Either it had me wanting one!
As you may have already learned from my earlier posts I’ve been bitten by the Orchidist bug and am thoroughly enthralled with their care and culture (especially after believing I was only capable of killing them). As I’m sure any of you other enthusiasts are thinking, these hanging baskets full of orchids made me want to find a way to repeat this. After kicking myself a little in the butt to get moving I decided it best to grab a quick bite to eat, I mean geez, if I can’t make it past the entrance I’m in trouble for the rest of the exhibit!
Coming into the café I was greeted by delicious smells, Orchids, and mini Orchids on every table. Here’s what I wrote while I scarfed my vegetable frittata down:
Catch me entering the compound & you’ve caught me smiling. Catch me eyeing the center display of large hanging baskets of Orchids at the entrance & you’ve envisioned me entering heaven. Catch me discovering a café with a warm Frittata & hot coffee & you’ll find me to be complete.
Every table with a mini potted Orchid, here I’ll take a picture for you. Can’t linger long though, this is all new to me but I don’t have all the time in the world so while I’m the world’s slowest eater, today I’ll be in & out only pausing to write these words. (But oh! How this Frittata with a little salt & pepper makes me smile.)
It’s quiet in here this morning with a crowd of mostly older folks having rode in on their bicycles.
But I am ready with camera bag & curiosity, brimming with delight & hope that as my smile spreads on my face like some kind of happy rash (is there such a thing?) there’s nothing in my teeth! (Alotta Frittata & coffee that’s not too hotta after alotta skim milk!)
Before taking this picture I was then off and on my way into the exhibit, without anything in my teeth!
First the lobby…
There were several of these large stands…okay I mean MANY in the lobby just before the exhibit along with some vendors from whom I bought ‘Pink Fred’ who you’ll see in another post.
After showing the lady at the entry the ticket confirmation in my e-mail I went through a bit of a darkened hallway with Orchid displays on either side and then into this room:
This tree was said to have taken many, many hours to create.
The show started this day at 10am. After my quick breakfast I was in at 10:15 and there wasn’t too much of a crowd. However it did pick up and being that this was my first such “plant show” and public photography adventure if you will I did feel pressured at times trying to choose the appropriate camera settings and get the shots I wanted while also moving along the narrow paths through the exhibits holding my winter coat as it got very warm in those greenhouses! That said the following pictures are in no particular order but these plants were arranged on large columns through the lobbies and three different greenhouse rooms. Some of them, when noted were found in the above room.
This Paphiopedilum was one of many in the above room, also known as Lady Slippers.
These large columns were created using bamboo. Then mini Phalaenopsis Orchids were mounted all over them along with some moss as you can see.
While they had many plant labels I didn’t always catch them. In this case I’m not sure the exact genus and species but I do believe it is of the Oncidium Alliance.
I believe these to be a form of Cymbidium and a more terrestrial Orchid at that.
As you can see Orchids come in MANY different shapes, sizes and colors. There are thousands of species and tens of thousands, hundreds even, of hybrids.
This was so impressive. I want to share the individual Orchids with you but I think you’ve just got to get a load of this as a whole. Anybody else want one of their own! Me me me!
Here are some more of the moth Orchid kind, Phalaenopsis. But you see here they have a striped color pattern.
The greenhouses were pretty dense with all kinds of Orchids.
This is most likely in the Cattleya alliance, beautiful ruffled flowers. I’ve yet to add one to my collection but Cattleyas in general are fairly common in the Orchid world.
I’m going to save some of the rest of the photos I took for a later post, just to keep you coming back! Do you have any Orchids? What species? Are you an experienced Orchidist or an amateur like me? Perhaps you collect other plants like succulents or maybe Roses are your thing. What’s your poison? Maybe you collect something else entirely, cats, dogs, trains, movies or video games? When I was younger my siblings and I collected everything from Baseball cards to X-men (my favorite for sure) to Mickey & Minnie Mouse.
If you’ve yet to visit a Botanic Garden anywhere then I encourage you to sooner than later. A trip to your local greenhouse or Botanical Gardens can be a very welcome respite to this crazy cold winter we’ve had. The Chicago Botanic Gardens are rather extensive; they have lectures, shows/special exhibits, summer camp for kids, special programs and more. Like I said in a previous post, just walking through a greenhouse can be a bit like heaven if you’ve got a taste for all things green and humid.
On the note of all things plants, if you’re in need of a horticulturist visit my blogger friend the Midwestern Plant Girl and search through her archives for the information you may be seeking or send her an e-mail with your question.
Or if you’re into Orchids too and want to talk everything Orchids head over to the Orchid Board. There’s a lot of really helpful people over there that have aided me with my own Orchids.
My trip to the Orchid Show was pretty awesome even if I was a bit limited in terms of time. It was inspiring and heart warming. I saw a lot of beautiful Orchids I couldn’t have imagined and great ideas for potting and mounting them. Our ingenuity as people is really something to take advantage of not to be buried away and never capitalized on. God made these plants possible and then people put in the work to make these incredible displays. That’s what happens when you put in work!
Cheers to you and yours!
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March 13, 2014
A New Day – 42 – A Snowy Blanket of Glitter
All winter I wanted to capture how the snow when illuminated often looks like the ground is covered with glitter that twinkles like grounded stars (or perhaps it is a snowy galaxy of stars!). I succeeded on Day 13 to show individual sparkling snowflakes up close but I’ve still wanted to catch them “in bulk” so to speak. Well today I did very early in the morning. One more example of the things I’ve come to appreciate this winter. Covered in snow and yet there’s still so much beauty. Cheers!
A Blanket of Glitter
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March 12, 2014
A New Day – 41 – Bowing to winter again
And so the snow falls again…
Just when it seemed Lady Spring was amidst us Old Man Winter reminded us he never just goes away. After several warm (upper 30s, 40s) days and rain, that rain transformed into snow overnight. It then froze and this icy surface held the snow in place on branches and bushes more than it usually does. It was quite beautiful really. By the next day the snow was still holding tight and long into the evening. Along the long edge of the driveway is a tall row of honeysuckles type shrubs, they stand between I’d say 12 & 16 feet high. With the weight of the heavy snow and ice on them they became something else entirely. Such is the nature of…nature…to transform what we know, to bend and mold us as we go. To shift and shape us to the rhythms and movements of the seasons, we are at once at her mercy and under her guidance.
Even the plant life is feeling the weight of the snow!
The whole row usually stands tall like this one, though this is the tallest, but you can see even it is a bit fanned out by the weight!
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March 11, 2014
A New Day – 40 – “Rescue” Orchids
Catching up a bit here but in this day’s image I’ve shared with you two new Phalaenopsis Orchids I “rescued” from Lowes as they were dying and heavily discounted (well they were extremely under-watered). In the Orchid community they call them “rescues” for the obvious reason, I took them home in hopes to bring them back to full vigor!
The new ones are the pink & white flowers mixed in with my various other Orchids – not yet flowering, or thinking about it, rather trying to recooperate from my Orchid abuse – and the Orchid from Meijer’s I call Desire from an earlier post. Oh and that’s an African Violet on the end that I potted in an oversized pot so it’s been spending all its energy growing new leaves (successfully see?) instead of flowering.
Enjoy! If you’re a fan of Orchids please do share!!
The purple one is from Meijer’s and was dyed using a patented process so next time it flowers they will naturally be white.
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Discounted “Rescue” Orchids from Lowe’s
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March 10, 2014
A New Day – 39 – Textures
So far this winter I’ve tried to make a point that there’s a lot going on even when you might not see it. Color isn’t as evident as the rest of the year but on A New Day 2 I showed you there’s a lot more than you might think. “Life” isn’t as tucked away inside and under the snow as we think like I showed on A New Day 14, Day 21, Day 25, Day 28, & Day 38. I reminded us all that it’s never far away. And of course even when things aren’t obviously extraordinary, ordinary is really only one prefix away as I showed on A New Day 10, Day 11, Day 13, & Day 16 to name a few. And don’t get me started on all that we may have to enjoy inside: Day 27, Day 31, Day 35, Day 37. Oh and did I ever tell you guys what the pictures from A New Day 20 were of? Dried uncooked scrambled egg.
One of the more obvious visual joys of winter: textures. And that’s what I have for you today? Some.
The veins of life under a dying tree’s bark.
What’s your favorite winter texture?
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March 7, 2014
A New Day – 38 – A Little Bit of Everything
How do I say this…we’re having a warm streak? I hesitate to use this phrasing as we are nearing Spring and things are expected to be warming up. That said this week signaled the beginning of temperatures that are warmer than what is normal for this time of year. This day for example I believe got as high as 45 degrees F.
Walking I saw masses of people out yet again, walkers, runners, dogs & walkers, dogs & runners, bikers, deer, birds, squirrels, cats, flowing water, and a lot of random things. Spring wasn’t just in the air, she was stopping in for an early visit!
This fella (?) was probably 30-40 feet off the trail.
Some other walkers pointed this guy out who was at least 30-40 feet off the trail.
What’s red and round and here not usually found?
Sycamore seed pod. They were all over the trail.
Nature has a lot of lessons for us; even water flows over the hard obstacles in its path.
Warming weather means happier people and more activities. It’s amazing how much is out there to be seen and taken part of when we just get going. Being around active people, like walking on a popular trail, encourages you to give it a shot. During this time of year a lot of people have fitness goals, the best way to achieve these goals is to locate various ways to keep yourself motivated and surround yourself with like-minded people. Find other people who are chasing their goals, you will each propel each other. Your successes are encouragement and further motivation. I’ve discovered the same in terms of photography & writing. From my fellow bloggers to forums to connecting with other artists we encourage each other to stay on track. At the end of last year I shared some things I do to get myself writing when I might be feeling less than inspired; I did this not only to share part of my life and strategy as a writer but also to lend other writers some strategies if they’re having trouble getting words on paper. (How I Keep Myself Writing) I know of fellow bloggers who participate in photography workshops & meet up groups. Like minds don’t always think alike but they get us thinking about what it is we like.
As a self-published author it’s really important to connect with others, other writers & readers alike. As I said before I take part in the Goodreads group, The Source, and this keeps me connected with what other writers are publishing in all different genres, what readers are interested in and looking for, and it also shows me what not to do as well as what works. Screening and reviewing books keeps me on my toes in terms of editing and writing. I’ve connected with other authors as well, in addition to the obvious advantages supporting each other sends a bit of Karma out into the world. 
Self-published authors have to put in work to be seen and that means connecting with others, but the same goes for artists of every form. Life is all about mixed media so don’t stay cooped up forever, let the world see you.
(Now you see why I call this a little bit of everything? :-D)
What do you do to stay interested in your practice, your career, your hobbies, your goals?
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