New Orchids!

Will received a new orchid from Jen as a thank you gift for us watching her kitties over Thanksgiving.  It is a Trichocentrum cebolleta: a mini orchid from Costa Rica.  Don't worry-- it was legal for her to bring it into the country. It came in a vial with half jelly-like substance and half air.  We guess that it could get water from that substance; though we aren't sure for how long.  Now it is planted with orchid bark and moss and we are waiting for it to do something.

Speaking of doing something, when we put the orchids into the large pot (remember this? ), we weren't sure if any of the orchids would survive.  We figure some would die from being moved around or being overcrowded.  But surprisingly enough, we have lots of new orchid growth: new leaves, new roots, and--most exciting-- new spikes!!  When the flowers come, we will call ourselves successful in this experiment.

Bangkok's Grand Palace

I made it to Bangkok after a rain delay in Chicago and an airport change in Tokyo.  Came into Thailand only 12 hours delayed. All of us--Jen, Will, and me-- had travel issues getting into the country.  But we were off!

The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew, or Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Everywhere we looked were flashy stupas (the bell-looking towers), and mosaic-encrusted statues and buildings.  The main temple houses the country's most revered Buddha--a diminutive statue made out of jade. It was only recently discovered that is was jade. It had been covered in plaster for decades in order to prevent it from being stolen.

We couldn't see the Buddha though-- they were getting ready for some ceremony.  We caught  glimpse. He sits high on a pedestal with his umbrella overhead, wearing the rainy season clothes. 

15!! Hot Air balloons!

A few weeks ago, Jen and I went to a Virginia Hot Air Balloon Festival, Craft show, 10 K race, and wine tasting. We had to get up super early to drive down there and, having been to the hot air balloon festival in Albuquerque, we were looking forward to balloon lift up.

We were disappointed, not because the scenery wasn't gorgeous:




or, at least interesting:



But once you go to New Mexico and see 300 balloons go off at once (even if you are there for 4 days and you only see them go off once), anything less than that isn't that impressive. So, sorry Festival organizer who was excited that there were going to be 15 WHOLE hot air balloons at this show, though not all were taking off or landing where we were, but we would be able to see them over the Shenandoah Mountains. Yeah, At first we thought he said 50 and we were impressed, but he corrected us to 15. 1-5.

The only interesting balloon was the beagle:







However, in the end it was worth it. Of only because of the freshly popped, sugary-saltyness of the kettle korn....

Visitors

Jen, for an extermination reason at her building, had to evacuate her condo/building for a few hours today with her kitties. They came here for a visit. Coco and Clifford, both tabby cats, are lovely. Almost the opposite to my cat in terms of attitude, though all three are a *bit* big-boned. Ahem.

Coco was immediately comfortable. Once set free from his cat carrier, he was smelling everything, checking everything out though still confined to the kitchen. Clifford, not so much. His freedom from the carrier only meant hiding in one of the few doors he could open and staying there the entire time--which was about 3 hours.

Coco turns to me as if to say, "and where *is* my Fancy Feast?"

Meanwhile, Clifford decides that he wants the lemony-fresh smell of the old mops in the cupboard....only to decide that the deeper coat closet was much safer.

It is like the "Where's Waldo" books of old.

And in case you were worried about kitty confrontation, Jackie was shut up in the guest bedroom, sleeping in the sun the entire time, having been bribed with soft goat gouda cheese. Because she needed the extra bit of food....

Autumn is *officially* here

How do I know that autumn is here for realz?

I went with Jen to her company's picnic last weekend and not only did they have an apple press--to make apple cider with their own, homegrown apples--but they had these:


That's right people: homegrown, home made caramel apples.

It is Official: Fall is Here.