Mish Mashin' Monday and a Marvelous Meme

On Mondays, my Orchids enjoy a 30 minute soak in the kitchen sink.

Even when it's 30 degrees outside, I'll have my morning coffee out on the deck. (1)

Sagebrush, asleep in the snow.

There's still loads of snow on the ground and stalactite size icicles droop from the roof. But there's also a change in the air. A little warmth, a lotta melt, plus the cheery celebration of songbirds. Oh, how I love these subtle signs of spring.

Copper Moose Farm had a seed starting class on Saturday. I don't even know why I went to that. Well, actually, I do. I was so hoping it would be a loosely managed class where I could ditch the discussion and snoop around their gorgeous greenhouses. Yes, houses, plural, those lucky ducks. {Drool.} I wish I could clone myself and work for them.

Those who can't teach, do. {That would be me}
It was a very informative session, and yet another reminder of how I'm the Queen of Cutting Corners. (2) For instance, the proper way to start seeds is to begin with egg carton size thingies, then transplant them into bigger containers. Water at least twice a day during germination.

OR!

Buy those Red Solo Cups ~ popularized by gardeners long before Toby Keith admitted his drinking problem. They're 16 ounces large, so bouncing baby seedlings can produce long, strong roots.
* Poke holes in the bottom. Loosely cover with plastic wrap. Poke holes in that, too. Bada Bing Bada Boom, you just created a teeny, tiny greenhouse that you only have to water once a week.

This is NOT a store bought Orchid! She's re-blooming like this!!!

I'd like to consider myself an efficiency expert. But, the truth is I have the patience of a flea. (3) And, I have the documentation to prove it! Verbatim, that sentence appeared in the very first performance review my mean-ass boss ever conducted with me. (4)

My daughter gave me these cheery Tulips. It made my day.

That's why I landed on the 16 oz cup planter idea. I do not love repetition ~ or, laborious practices of any kind. (5) Why re-plant baby seedlings in different size containers when once is enough?

This is my pet peeve, with respect to gardening books, (6), because I worry that if we make things complicated, we'll scare away first-time gardeners, thinking these chores are too time-consuming.

Poinsettia plants are reverting back to green..

Which brings me to my meme.
I'm only 3 weeks late getting on this but that's actually pretty good! Considering I'm also known as the Princess of Procrastination (7.)

Thanks, Patricia!!

THE VERSATILE BLOGGER MEME:
This was awarded to me by my friend Patricia Tyron of Picturing Plants. Check out her blog, it's chock-full of good stuff.  

The Versatile Blogger Award asks that you share 7 random pieces of information about yourself. So, here goes:

1. I am a guinea pig for asthma testing ~ been plagued with this ailment since I was 7.
2. I devote 4 hours a day to volunteer projects, in addition to freelancing full-time.
3. I'm a split personality, to say the very least. I Tivo Downton Abbey and the Walking Dead.
4. I once spent a whole month in a rental car in Spain tracking the life and times of Salvador Dali.
5. High Tea is my most favorite civilized past time and the primary reason why I think I should move out of Utah. (Since it doesn't exist here.)
6. I wish Twitter, Twylah, Facebook, and Pinterest would simply disappear. (At the very least, I wish people on Pinterest would stop stealing all of my flower photography and claiming that it's theirs.)
7. I quite often put secret little things in my blog posts to see if people are actually reading them.

Passing this meme along to:
Awake with Charm and Spirit
Canoe Corner
Garden Musings
Friko's World

* I'm only allowed to pass this to 4, otherwise there would be 100 more bloggers listed here.

Re-Blooming Pride and Joy

The Rules:

• Post the Versatile Blogger Award to your post/blog.
• Thank the blogger who nominated you with a link back to his/her blog.
• Share seven random pieces of information about yourself.
• Include this set of rules, and
• Forward this award to fellow bloggers and inform them with a comment on their blogs.

* Mish Mashing Mondays was the brainchild of Monica, the Garden Faerie.