Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday

A bowl by George Bucquet with the turtle cast in its base.

Here's a view from the underside.

Oooooh! He's made a new bowl with a herd of turtles in it! We're going to have to find that one.

Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday

Concrete garden bench.

Another miraculous resurrection!

Not only have outdoor plants been rising from the dead, but one in the house also came back from the great beyond.

A few years ago, I got some African violets from The Home Depot. I planted them in a couple of those two-piece pots where an unglazed pot holding the plant sits in water (and fertilizer) held by the outer pot. The water seeps through the inner pot's wall and keeps the plant watered but not soggy.

One of the plants promptly died. I ended up with a pot of potting soil.

Being the lazy sort, I just left the pot of soil on the coffee table with the other violet. After some time, a couple of months?, some tiny leaves appeared in the soil. My violet lived!

Years came and went and the violet continued to grow.

A few weeks ago, I noticed that it had some blossoms forming. The first one has opened!

There is one more blossom on the stalk.

It's a start.

Here's the other violet I planted at the same time. It's been more successful.

Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday

A ceramic tray, 13¾" x 7¼". Signed "J. P. Baillieux FRANCE."

Kind of makes you proud!

Years ago, we planted six Pride of Madeira plants (not to be confused with "Pride of Madeira") in the back yard (three each of two varieties). These plants are seen a lot on the sides of Southern California freeways. They produce large spikes blue of flowers. They don't need good soil or a lot of water. They were perfect for our yard.

They grew and produced pretty flowers for several years.

The product description for their seeds on Amazon.com says that they can withstand temperatures down to 24-26°F. That is colder than we ever got.

Then came Sunday, January 14, 2007.

At 6:30 that Sunday morning we got down to 21.6°! We had never experienced such a freeze here. Ten or eleven valves on our water line broke. Those cost about $12 each to replace.

The Prides of Madeira didn't survive.

We were back to bare ground.

In the spring of 2008, I was mowing down the weeds. Among the weeds I noticed a bunch of fuzzy-leafed plants growing where the Prides of Madeira had been. I quit mowing there and let the little plants grow. It turned out that they were indeed baby Prides of Madeira.

They grew into cute knee high plants that year. Last year they grew larger and a few actually bloomed.

This year they are going to put on a spectacular show. They are starting to open up.

Here's a close-up.

It will be interesting to see how the two varieties mixed. So far, I don't see a lot of variation.

Turtle Tchotchke Tuesday

Kitchen sink drain stopper/strainer.

We love to have Jobs

On Monday, March 29, I got an email from Apple Store telling me that part of my order had shipped. It wasn't supposed to be delivered until Saturday so why was it being shipped so soon? It turned out that it was coming from China.

My iPad was on its way!

If you want to see why this is exciting, you should watch last week's episode of "Modern Family." It's a hoot. And very true to life.

Tracking express deliveries coming from China can be painful (watched pots, you know). It wasn't till Thursday night that it reached the U.S. There it was, in the land of Palin. I hope it didn't pick up too many cooties while it was being processed there.

I checked its progress Friday night before going to bed. It was still in Louisville, KY, and had just gotten its "Import Scan" on the morning that it's supposed to be delivered! I was getting worried.

I woke up Saturday and, before getting out of bed, checked its overnight progress using my iPod Touch that I had had the foresight to leave on my bedside table before going to bed. It had made it to Ontario.

It was still in Ontario.

There was no update on its progress after it left Ontario an hour later. I expected it to go to the local processing center then be shown as "Out for Delivery." But nothing. Lunchtime. Nothing. Relax, Chuckbert, Apple knows what they do.

After lunch I heard the noise of a truck coming to a stop nearby. Could it be? YES, IT WAS! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

Witness the pain I went through:

My iPad:

My iPad and its friends, all reading the New York Times.

We see my MacBook Air, Motorola Droid (what, not an iPhone?!), iPod Touch and, oooooh!, my iPad. Just to complete the Apple family, I've included my iPod classic. I don't use it anymore. It doesn't talk to the Internet and the Touch plays all the music I've ripped. Can anybody give it a good home?

I needed the iPad because I've been using my phone and iPod to browse the Internet even though the computer was only a few steps away. Imagine, not using a MacBook Air because it is too big!

And the iPad can do other things. It's a book reader. I've downloaded a few free books.

Unlike the Kindle, it displays color pictures.

Speaking of "The Cask of Amontillado," I remember a few things about reading it in junior high school. I especially remember the line:
"The Amontillado!" ejaculated my friend, not yet recovered from his astonishment.
"Ejaculated!" we all tittered!  This was followed quickly by:
Unsheathing my rapier, I began to grope with it about the recess
"He unsheathed his rapier and groped it" (well, with it). We were on the floor in convulsions.

I have to go and get to know my new friend now.