Thursday, May 7, 2020

A slice of life. Bread & Flowers.


 A little slice of heaven? Yesterday a very thoughtful neighbour stopped in for a social distancing visit. He brought a loaf of bread with him to give to me. I haven't seen bread since March. I have never enjoyed a slice of bread so much or appreciated eating one as I did last night.

 See! I'm not making this up, it's actual real life slices of bread! First I just enjoyed a slice with butter, I wanted to savor the moment. Then I had two slices with peanut butter and jam, mmmm so good. I had some for breakfast too. I think this is probably something that will stick with me for life. I imagine going forward, every time I buy a loaf of bread, I will think about the time I was basically under house arrest because other people were too stupid to follow simple directions.

 Moving on to spring, although ironically the weather is calling for snow tonight and tomorrow. The temperature is supposed to suddenly drop because the polar vortex is coming back for a visit... oh yay, like that relative who always shows up unannounced and not welcomed.

 Yesterday I did cuttings of my grandmother's Coleus flowers. I'm the last one of the family who is keeping the tradition going. Everyone else is either too elderly now or moved to an apartment.

 There was almost a mass extinction of the Coleus in 2019, my sister lost all of hers to a fungus. Last spring 80% of my cuttings rotted just before I put them outside. The ones I planted did not do so well for a long time and finally rebounded by fall. However when I brought some in for this year, the rot came back with a vengeance. By Christmas I only had two little stems left about the size of my baby finger, less actually and with only a couple of leaves on each stem. I put my magic green thumb to work and I managed to save them. They grew enough to make all these cuttings.

 The cuttings save on me having to buy a lot of flowers, plus there is that connection to my maternal grandmother (who I still miss), this is what they look like by mid summer.

 Being the king of procrastination, I also did something yesterday that I should have done long ago, I sowed spinach seeds indoors. I have been thinking about doing this for five weeks now. If I had of gone ahead like I wanted, I probably would have been eating spinach leaves by now. Anyway our growing season doesn't start until June so I will have little plants ready by then, hopefully!
 Okay! Come on little guys grow! It's been 24 hours already, I'm not seeing anything! I'm going impatient! Lol


25 comments:

Deedles said...

First of all, that slice of bread has a horrified expression on its face if you look at it sideways. It's screaming, "Oh no! Don't eat me!" Believe me, I speak bread fluently :) The spinach is going to be slow growing because it knows what's happening (Brian Breadslice told it) once it reaches eating age. I was going to say maturity, but there are people out there who eat *gasp* baby spinach! Oh the horror!
I so wish I had a green thumb. The best I can hope for is chartreuse. It's going to be 90F here for the next couple of days. I don't know whether to hate that fact or to be thankful that I have another reason not to go outside. I may be solar powered, but my heat tolerance without a pool or ocean tops off at 77F.

Bathwater said...

Bread can be so delicious! I think we are all a little impatient for things to change.

Sixpence Notthewiser said...

Ohhh bread? Yes please!
And I love that you’ve kept the tradition of those flowers (they look awesome mid summer!) and I really like that you know how to propagate them. I’m trying to save a Jade plant I overwatered. Ugh. It’s taking me forever!

XoXo

Deedles said...

On a more serious note, I'm not a big bread eater. I am, however, lamenting the fact that I have no buns to stick my weenies into. Life's simple pleasures and all that.

John Going Gently said...

Gifts of bread
Biblical and ancient

Jimmy said...

Coleus does well in pots. Just keep the blooms pinched off (but I'm sure you knew that). You haven't mentioned Mr X lately.

Mistress Maddie said...

"I always take my afternoon tea and half past three, and my buttered toast waits for no one." Winston Churchill

You want bread...ill mail you bread.

RJ said...

You certainly have a green thumb!

Sooo-this-is-me said...

Deedles... I didn't notice that, only you would see that lol... it's a gift!
I had about three snow flakes, my friends south of me have been getting snow all day. (Tehehe)

Sooo-this-is-me said...

Bathwater, impatient is a good description!

Sooo-this-is-me said...

Sixpence, yes I have been given a green thumb and a chicken thumb, give me chickens and they multiply!

Sooo-this-is-me said...

Deedles, can't take you anywhere can I!

Sooo-this-is-me said...

John, I didn't think of it that way, interesting point.

Sooo-this-is-me said...

Jimmy yes pots and they love shade. Mr X is fine.

Sooo-this-is-me said...

Anne Marie, home baked bread, mmmm that sounds delicious!

Sooo-this-is-me said...

Maddie, actually no wait, I'm going to mail "me" to you... I'm bored.

Sooo-this-is-me said...

Richard, yes one of my very few talents. Lol

Bohemian said...

What a thoughtful Gift the Bread was! I can relate, our Neighbor brought over Two Home-Baked Loaves thruout this Lock Down and OMG, it was a Sensory indulgence indeed! I haven't baked Bread from scratch for Years, so fully appreciate the Labor of Love to make Home-Made anything! The Tradition of your Family with the Plants reminds me of one we kept going for Decades with a Plant my Parents called a 'Money Plant', so when the last of it Died, after 3 Generations, I didn't even know the real name of it to replace it, tho' I suspect it was a form of Succulent Kalanchoe Plant. The original one I brought Home from Kindergarten and the Myth was the Leaves formed Baby Ones when you were going to enjoy Prosperity. We fully Believed the Storyline since every time it propagated that way, Money always seemed to show up more than usual, which was a nice coincidence to add to the Tradition of passing Baby Money Plants to all Relatives and keeping it going as long as we did.

HuntleyBiGuy said...

To go with your chicken legs 🦵😜 Although I’m not speaking with authority since I’ve never met you. Just couldn’t resist.

HuntleyBiGuy said...

That was truly thoughtful of your neighbor. And I’m sure it was great to talk to someone in your own space.

And you are very talented Mr Ripley. But being in a farm you would know all about nurturing plants. Glad you were able to keep the legacy going.

Sooo-this-is-me said...

Bohemian, nothing beats homemade bread! That was very thoughtful of your friends. Interesting story about the money plant.

Sooo-this-is-me said...

HuntleyBiGuy, yes I thought it was nice of them. They are great neighbors.

Sooo-this-is-me said...

HuntleyBiGuy, yup I gots me a pair of chicken legs! Lol

Ur-spo said...

Such a lucky fellow to have a neighbor drop of bread and to have seeds to grow- I miss both.

Sooo-this-is-me said...

Dr Spo, seriously I think you should move! Lol