Friday, December 30, 2011

Maintaining Amaryllis Bulbs

The top of my medium size bookshelf. Left to right. Coleus rustic orange, velvet lime. Amarylis, and a succulent dish which I designed myself - a moom cactus, with Echevaria.


Two stalks of blooming red amaryllis.

A close up of the flower.


AMARYLLIS (naked lily) December 30, 2011.

i got amaryllis from trevor and vj for christmas. I have no experience with this bulb but it come with instructions. so, will, it is worth a try. any plant loves me, so this is another member of my family.

it is the variety red lion. red flowers in the window box, so it is put in its vase downstairs and hope it will show me flowers soon.

before i discard the kit, the instructions is here:

MAINTAINING AMARYLLIS BULBS:
Unlike most other bulbs, Amaryllis bulbs will bloom again and again, provided they are properly cared for.
  • after the bulb finishes blooming, cut off the flower stalk close to the base.
  • keep the plant moist and add houseplant fertilizer regularly. after the last frost, you can put the amaryllis outside in a sunny spot.
  • stop watering and feeding in August/September and allow the plant to dry out completely in the sun.
  • in early fall, remove bulb from soil and clean the bulbs of old scales and spent foliage.
  • re-pot in a clean container with the neck of the bulb above the soil, water and place in cool, sunny spot. water sparingly until the first sprout appears, then keep moist. In about 8 weeks, the bulb will bloom again.
i will add notes if these instruction works, and how i tweak ( as I am known as the mad scientist on plants) them to suit my needs.

Currently, I planted the Amaryllis in my basement. I have a garage light " a flourescent 48" hanging from the wall " in my laundry room. This is how this amaryllis is planted. It showed about 2" of sprout already.

Since 8 weeks is blooming time, approximately that will be February 24th, 2012 from today (12/30/2011).
  • UPDATE: Feb. 18, 2011. Probably the estimated date is close to when it flowers. I have two big stalks or red flowers, and very awesome. It was so heavy that it fall off on the side. I have to cut two big stalks and put em in two separate flower vase.

Kids Milestone for 2011 - A mothers perspective



Kenneth is 7 this year and he can count in his head. He said, you got
40 pokemon points, but I got 70 to destroy you, so...i got 30 points
left and i won! BTW, he is in grade 2 this year and he started
learning more French that I can imagine.

Karlina will be 3 on Feb. 2012. Her most important milestone being is
being able to wash dishes, by simply tossing them in the toilet bowl
and start flushing. She then bring the plate back in the kitchen and
says "clean". And the kettle is boiling to put the " clean" plate in for sterilizing.

Kieren can walk now, he will turn 2 in June 2012. He is good at
sweeping the floor and hitting my head with the broom too. He has one
kidney only according to CHEO, but Dr. Chadha said, his right kidney is there - but it is not functioning.
In God grace, he also eat very well. He drinks milk a
lot, which I am contemplating in getting a cow to have a ready source
of milk everyday.

What i am trying to say is that "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you".

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Today, I stumbled upon Linus Torvalds Blog



this is my fulltime job, and it pays a lot!
if you count the number of diapers leaving my house each garbage day.


today, I stumbled upon Linus blog because I was trying to find reference for open source software.
http://torvalds-family.blogspot.com/

while i thought geek dom and blogging does not mix, Linus prove me wrong again.

And i dare comment on his post about mingling with the Hollywood stars. He describes how fun it is to be Linus and Tove around them. And then, I look back this post was way back in February....who cares!
http://torvalds-family.blogspot.com/2011/02/pearls-before-swine.html


And they got 3 kids?

So, 10 years must have pass, my old laptop still runs on Linux, the desktop runs on Ubuntu.

No, no, no, days before Ubuntu was bittersweet. I got no kids that time, and I worked on my pajamas. And the cleaning lady comes once a month to clean up after me. And Sega Dreamcast was a hit!

And who am I kidding? I still work on my pajamas, smeared with yogort, and I walk on cheerios each morning, while getting to the coffee maker.

Man...life happens so fast, eh?
This ain't an easy run, like running a marathon.

While I plan to do something else, like going to group fitness at Goodlife called Body Combat, I end up drifting in memory of 10 years back when I work on my pajama, and I call the cleaning lady once a month to clean my one bedroom apartment.

Now, in the day called "present", I am sorrounded by 3 kids, with boxes and gift wrappers from Christmas, and I lost the number of the cleaning lady.

So, I run around in circles, while what I was trying to do was find the number of the cleaning lady.

I stumbled on a post about Freecycle and Al Gore, and Ice Cream, and I thought gee....It was not Al Gore who invented the internet - someone named Tim Berners Lee, then I googled for reference. And I said, gee....Bill Gates got rich on that boom, I wonder how my pal Linus was doing...and here goes, I end up finding his blog on google.

The Earth must have been that perfect circle because I run around in circles and I end back in my living room dealing with the mess, with my daughter chasing my youngest son who is about to drop an apple to my aquarium to feed fishies! But then, it was jut last week when Karlina squirted a whole tube of toothpaste to Kenneth's aquarium upstairs because "fishy need to clean teeth".



Wednesday, December 21, 2011

my kids




kieren


karlina

kenneth


karlina and kieren


kenneth and kieren


Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Yim Anthony : SPAM

I do not know if anyone still falls for this, but this is the 3rd email I got with the same message.

What county is +44, just wondering if anyone got feedback. Is this a long distance spam to entice to spend on long distance bills, or is this a spam to get your money? or both?

Angie


Hello,

My name is Yim Anthony, Owner Rainbre Minning Ltd. I am 74years of age

with a terminating illness. I got your contact from a small business

forum where small businesses are discussed while where i was looking for

a reliable person who can make and handle investments with funds that i

will provide. However you should meet the following conditions.

MY WORKING TERMS

1. Considering my age, I intend to remain anonymous (you will be the front man)

2. I do not entertain third party (you deal with me directly)

3. All information i shall reveal to you must be kept in full confidence and trust.

4. We shall sign and seal a non-disclosure agreement.

5. I am proposing 20% of profits from all investments for you.

6. You will have to come and meet with me for discussions and release of

Investment funds as i don't do business only on internet and telephone.

7. Draft an investment Plan summary and send to my perusal and consideration

I can also assist in project funding and loan finance at reasonable interest for long Term ONLY.

Please call me on +44 7924511684 so that we can discuss about this

I await your investment Plan.

Regards,

Yim Anthony

Monday, December 5, 2011

Tiger Lily


Wavemaster: Free Standing Punching and Kicking bag (Work out, not time out!)

as weather cools down, here is my stress relief, boxing, cardio bag residing in my basement. bought it for about $80, it survive the kicks, punches and push of moi moi, and my 3 kids. 
just make exercise a family affair.


don't give your kids time out, give them a work out!

 

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Hybrid Tea Roses: Archieves from my Balcony Gardening

 hybrid tea roses

you can tell these pictures are old. :) 2004-2005 i think.
my son was having fun looking at girls on the streets down and the roses in the balcony. 
these are in huge - self watering pots. 






Mother In Laws Tongue, Snake Plant (Sansevieria trifasciata)


a very hardy houseplant, can tolerate low light. very little water needed or they rot.
how little water?
I water mine once every two weeks, half a cup of water. (4 inch pot to 6in pots)


the big pot - about 2 gallons (the plant has new baby), 1 cup of water, once a month.






Friday, December 2, 2011

Flowering geranium (Overwintering Geraniums) - Caliente Pink

Pelargonium: common garden geranium

This plant was given to me, for frost would have killed it anyways.
I took some cuttings from it, and the mother plant in an "indoor soil". 
I put it in a pot in the basement, just to keep her alive, till next spring. Looking scragly, but she flowers.
A welcome distraction from the snowy outdoors.