plant update

When I went to the nursery a few weeks ago, I showed pictures of my plants to the clerk and he gave me some good advice.  The most important thing I had to do was re-pot everything with the proper soil.  Not only was I using the wrong soil but I hadn't filled the pots up enough.  The soil should be level with the rim of the pot.  He also suggested I use a little fertilizer and water them every night.

Then, about a week or two after I re-potted everything it rained all night and it did the plants a world of good!  All of the plants showed marked improvement.  Take a look:

this one is doing well, but he's got a few mushrooms growing in his pot and I haven't figured out why yet.

 

these are the ones I thought had dried up and died...they're looking pretty green and lush now.

tomatoes come from flowers!

10 new buds!

Not bad for someone who has killed almost every plant she's had.

pet peeve #1

People who ask me to translate English songs into Italian that we are presently listening to at a bar, club, restaurant, in the car, etc.

Stop it.  It's not an easy task and a lot of times the lyrics are not that interesting.  If you really must know the translation to Foo Fighters "Big Me" then at least wait till I know and like you a little better.  Do not ask me to translate 5 minutes after I've said "nice to meet you".

Arcade Fire

There was a time when I'd go to concerts at least once a week.  Living in Toronto, it was easy to satisfy my passion for live music and, honestly by the time I moved to Italy I had had my fill of concerts to last me quite a while.  I've been living here almost 5 years now and I have to admit, I miss going to concerts (my eardrums, on the other hand, have been quite happy to get a rest).

Last night we went to Lucca Festival to see Arcade Fire.  It was kind of a last minute decision and when we arrived, they were already 4 songs in.  I've quite literally seen hundreds of bands, some better than others and Arcade Fire is definitely in my top five.  But the thing that struck me the most was the emotion and excitement I felt as we walked in.  The last concert I saw was Arcade Fire in 2007 in Ferrara so it had been a while.  The sounds of the music and the crowd reminded me of why I used to go to concerts so often.  Good live shows always energize me and this one was no exception.  I was still full of energy at 4 am!

plant update

It's been almost two months since I started this little experiment and now finally I'm starting to see some growth (and also some deaths).

The tomato plant is doing well....she's gotten very tall and I'm going to the nursery this afternoon to get her a larger pot and a stick to lean on.  I have noticed some yellowing of the leaves though and I'm hoping she's not sick.

The following have not multiplied like crazy...in fact, they seem to have dried up and died.

I spoke to a lady that has a passion for succulent plants and she told me that they need to be watered every night during the summer so I've started doing just that and some have bounced back (I'm still hoping the above plant still has a chance).

The two plants above are doing the best.  Both were given to me from larger plants and I was doubtful they would take but since I started watering them every night they've been doing really well!

I should really learn the names of the plants I have.  Does anyone have any idea what they're called?