First and foremost, a picture of the April 1 (no foolin'!) CB meet in Crystal City, VA. Starting at the left and going around are Dee, RSS, Moe (CC's sister), CC, her friend Karen, JenB and Moi. I take extremely bad pictures so please ignore that corner of the photo. We met up at a restaurant called King Street Blues in the Crystal City Mall. It was nearly the only thing open since the Mall normally caters to the office crowd and this was a Sunday. So if you are planning to visit there sometime, go on a weekday. But we had a great time. Dee, CC and JenB provided presents!! In the form of books, chocolate and bookmarks. Boy do those girls know their CBs or what? Also margaritas were consumed as was bread pudding. We'll be remembering that bread pudding for a long time to come.
Second, take a look at the plant on the right and the close up below this paragraph. This is a plant that my mom grew from a cutting, taken from my sister's plant which she in turn grew from a cutting taken from my aunt. Nobody remembers for sure what its called anymore. I can tell you that mom has been nursing this plant along for a lot of years and it only just recently decided to bloom for her. The flowers are tiny star shapes, as you can see, that bud in the form of a pentagon. They are real as can be but have a waxy feel to them. Also a very strong, kinda spicy smell. If anyone recognizes it we would appreciate it if you'd let us know what its called. My aunt thought it was something like hoya but she's not sure.
Lastly, and completely unrelated to the photos, I recently reread Tom Clancy's The Hunt for Red October. I'd read it waaaay back when it first came out in the 80s and enjoyed it. Don't know what possessed me to check it out of the library recently but I'm glad I did because its a darned fine read. Okay, a lot of info dump. But even that doesn't bother me so much because it helps set the mood of the story for me. In fact I would have said that I really didn't care for info dump in a book but I have to say Clancy did a fine job with it. It reminds me of watching CSI on tv and watching them use cool gadgets and mix chemicals and stuff. I have no clue what they are really doing, but I like watching it. Oh, and as an aside, my mother once met a guy who claimed he was Tom Clancy's brother. Mom says he was very convincing so maybe he really was. I don't suppose that's really all that interesting is it?
10 comments:
Looks like CB's are having fun.
I don't do plants. I killed a Aloe plant and a Cacktus. I'm pathetic.
*snort* mom's the one with the green thumb. And she had begun to suspect that my sister had given her an androgenous cutting. Seriously, its been growing for years and then just a few weeks ago the buds started popping out.
Hi MCB! I'm pretty sure that it's a philodendron. They are very common tropical houseplants.
I had one for many, many years. Although 'one' is not quite the right term. I started with one, that I received as a gift. Every so often I would cut it back, stick the pieces in glasses of water. I probably couldn't count the number of babies this plant produced and that still live here and there (I presume).
None of mine ever flowered though. Pretty cool.
The wikipedia entry on it is kinda interesting.
Is this picture fairly close to what your mom's plant looks like?
http://www.blankees.com/house/plants/heart.htm
Theresa - no, its not a philodendron. We have one of those as well, but the leaves on this one are very different. Not heart shaped at all.
Hey McB,
Aunts know best. Well in this case I think she has the right idea. There is a plant called a Hoya -- actually there are different varieties, but this link gives an idea of one with similar blooms to yours:
http://www.plantoftheweek.org/week166.shtml
Also:
http://www.evergrowing.com/tips/hoya.htm
Hey Mary. Thanks for the links. Yep thats it. Geez I've never seen them outside of the 3 in our family but apparently they are supposed to be popular. Who knew? Its interesting what the one link says about pruning. They do grow like crazy and my aunt eventually pruned hers. Over a year now and no new flowers. So maybe it just needs that crazy growth to bloom.
Well, crumbs. I hate being wrong. I see big, viney, green tropical plant and just assume philodendron. I actually had to go check around some more before I was convinced. I'm so lame sometimes.
Pics of CBs? Ok.
IDing a plant? Ok.
Talking about Tom Clancy? Gotta jump in. I'm wondering, seriously, if your mom met my father-in-law.
A few years ago, I went out late one Tuesday evening because I simply had to have Clancy's latest, Red Rabbit (I think). When I got up to the counter and pulled out my card, the guy raised his eyebrows, looked form the card to the book, and said "Are you related?" I smiled sweetly and said "Yes, actually. He's my husband's uncle. That's why I'm buying his book in the store on release day, to help his sales figures and hopefully get mentioned in his will." He had no response.
However, I DID see TC one time, on the road, near my house. He was heading towards the 301 bridge that leads to Annapolis. His car had very easily identifiable plates. I believe they said "JakRyan". And I thought my plates were bad.
Dee!!! That's awesome! I'm having a "doh" moment because I never considered the name thing. Hey maybe. How many degrees of separation is that? Anyway, tell DH to tell his uncle to tell his brother that THFRO is still a great read.
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