Household Oddities

Brrr - cold and windy today.   I was out and about without the camera yesterday, and today I'm enjoying a warm cup of tea, some delicious sweet rosemary shortbreads from our grateful neighbor and waiting for the sun to come around to our side of the building.

Here are some other dwellers in our apartment that are looking forward to direct sunlight.  Plumbago - we had a lighter variety from my aunt that is very popular along the coast in Spain, but we took its winter dormancy period too literally and killed it.  We got this variety which produces fewer flowers in the flower heads, but is more at home in this area - we've seen in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Early this year, after letting it get too leggy (we have a lot to learn), we cut way back and thought we would get no blooms until next summer. But the odd single flowers are showing up now.

























I bought this coffee plant in a supermarket about 4-5 years ago when it was about 5 inches tall.  Now it is over 4 feet and very full.  This is the first year we got beans!  1. I'm wondering how it got pollinated - not many coffee plants in Brooklyn.  2. If I plant a bean, will another grow?  Too few for even the smallest doll-size cup of espresso.

Oxalis Triangularis are supposed to go dormant for a few months every year, but ours never do.  They grow toward the sun and close up at night.  They would look better in a window, but our wards munch on them.  We keep these shelves full to discourage more snacking.

The piece on the wall to the right is one of a pair. We took it to the Antiques Roadshow in Connecticut a few years ago.   I don't think the expert really knew what they are, but he guessed they probably came from a Mediterranean Church during WW2.  My aunt found them in an antiques store years and years ago, and they were on a porch for a long time.  Our typically over-heated Brooklyn apartment is drying them out and the paint is chipping, but I still love them.

A note about AR - when you see the show, everyone is so happy and having a great time (like we did), but I was surprised at the amount of people who were annoyed or outright angry that their treasures were not worth what they expected.  PBS should do one show, or segment, of people storming out telling everyone who will listen that these "so-called experts don't know $%@&."  And don't ever bring a painting to AR - those lines were the longest!

The true odd Bean, Mr. Beans, catching those first rays of sunshine as they hit the apartment around 12:20pm at this time of year.  From left, a coffee tree branch, the infamous pot of grass and the ficus tree that wants to take over our whole apartment.  It has given me 5 sons and daughters from cuttings, but really, who needs that many ficus trees?!