Zygopetallum hybrid

The larger plant is the result of one year of care at home. The smaller plant is new. It's subtle to me, but the smaller plant has lighter leaves. I think that indicates the lighting was better, and may be why the larger plant hasn't bloomed. I had it in brighter sun and now there is some sunburn. I don't know yet it it will bloom later. Always learning.

Little Potato

The newest addition to the family. His name is Henry.

Kitchen Update

We are still in the "what have I done" stage. The good news is that with all of the joists exposed, there is no sign at all of any insect issues. The challenge is that the roof needs better support, so an engineer had to be brought in. If the plans go through, work can resume early next week.

Orchid. An intergeneric oncidium hybrid

I bought this as a throw-away last year. After it bloomed I thought, why not keep it. I repotted, and moved it to my workplace window. After a bit under one year, it bloomed. Interesting how that happens.

Kitchen Day #1

Day #1 of Kitchen remodel.  The change is dramatic.  First, the appliances and plumbing go.

Washer and dryer too.

I wasn't here in between.  Now, the cabinets are gone, the drywall, and the dividing wall.  This view faces the North wall, where we'll have the sink.

View from the dining room.  Much bigger.  Even with dark walls, it's more open and brighter, and will be more so soon.  Top layer of flooring is gone.  Two more finish layers, and one in between, to follow.

Looking into the dining room.  It's much more open now.

Kitchen "Before"

I"ve been planning the kitchen renovation for 10 years. The original plan was to do it myself. There isn't time. It's going to be faster and less long term hassle to contract out.  The extra shifts I am working will help with the extra cost.  Silver lining on a cloud.

The layout will change. Charlie is demonstrating the dining room. The wall dividing dining room from kitchen will go. It will be brighter and more roomy, but less formal.  We don't need, and don't use, formal.

There will be a small counter on the right.  I'll use a lighter color.  The original dining room was traffic signal red.  We painted it lime green.  That was ugly too, so I painted it this earthy brown.  I like the brown but it's too dark.  One thing about paint, it can always be repainted.

The old kitchen will go, but we'll keep the current dogs.  The floor will no longer match the dogs - it will be the same oak as the rest of the house.  I know, it will need to be kept clean.  I'm hoping that the better kitchen will keep me inspired to do a better job.  It worked with the bathrooms so I think it will work here.

We'll keep the cabinets and counter for the garage workshop / workbench.  That will be a big improvement too.  Recycle is good.

The mudroom will go. The wall, dividing current mudroom and kitchen, will go. I'm not sure where Baigou will sleep. He likes the basement family room.  That is an option. More likely the laundry room.  That will be downstairs in a formerly finished basement room, current junk room.

Charlie is demonstrating the Northern aspect of the kitchen.  It's better in the photo than it is in reality.  The sink will face the North-facing window instead of being in the corner.  There will be a real gas range, where the current dishwasher stands. 

It looks bright in the photo but is really cramped, difficult to maneuver around, and not so pleasant for cooking.  I like cooking and I think I will enjoy the change a lot.  It's really for Ning but it will be a real luxury for me too.

Baigou is sitting in the approximate location of the planned island.  That currently non-working oven will be replaced with a free-standing gas range with oven.  I've been waiting to replace the oven for 3 months.  The current oven quit working, but was never completely predictable.  The wall behind refrigerator and oven will go, that is the wall that divides kitchen from mudroom.

The fridge will be in a similar location, but in what is now the mudroom.  Also against that wall, a second, small sink for coffee machine and smoothie station.  Those are my luxuries.  I use them several times daily.  The smoothie blender is also the coffee grinder.  Having their own sink will be a nice touch.

Piña Colada Smoothie:  Start with one cup frozen pineapple chunks.  Full the cup to the top of the frozen pineapple with orange juice.  Add a couple tablespoons of flaked coconut.  Add 1/2 cup of silken tofu.  Blend about 10 seconds.  Check for big chunks and blend a few more seconds if they are too big.  I like small chunks.  It's like a piña colada ice cream or milkshake.  The exact amounts of ingredients don't matter.

Pruning Sweet Cherries for Backyard Orchard Culture

For my version of backyard orchard culture with sweet cherries, cherry picking time and cherry pruning time are close together. I wouldn't prune before cherries are almost all picked, because then the birds can find them. Birds have not been much of a problem yet. Pruning now has some advantages:

*Summer pruning is considered to have a greater dwarfing effect, compared to winter pruning.

*In a rainy winter climate such as I have, winter pruning may lead to disease. Summer pruning gives the wounds a chance to seal.

*Summer pruning opens up the tree so that potential buds are exposed to sunshine.

*Summer pruning is an excuse to be outside. It's not so nice in the winter.

*By pruning when the cherries are on the tree, it's possible to see where cherries form. On these trees, they form on last year's growth.

These 2 sweet cherries are scruffy and need pruning. The camera angle was bad, into the late afternoon sun.

I cut off the majority of new growth.  For outward facing branches, I leave 6 inches to a foot.  For inward branches, I leave about 3 inches.  Termed another way, I leave about 6 or 8 leaves on outward branches.  I leave 2 or 3 leaves on inward branches.

One is pruned, one to go. It's much neater now, and I can reach all of the branches without a ladder.

The cherries grow in the first part of last year's growth. So the parts that I have left should be good for next year's cherries.

Now it's easy to see the cherries. Before they were hidden in the lush growth. Better get them before the birds do.

These sweet cherries are very good.  Almost like little plums, with a snappy texture and lots of juice.  I wish I was savvy enough when I planted them to know which was which.  Now I keep better track.

Once the cherries are done, I'll also do some thinning in the center, so they are more open to the sun.  They will also probably need a second pruning in late summer.  Not as extensive.  By now they have done most of their growth.

Cymbidiums (cymbidia?) are growing nicely in full sun now. Currently feeding with 30:10:10 and occasional Epson salts, both at about 1/2 teaspoon per 1.5 gallon. This is less than 1/4 strength for the orchid food. It's weakly but more like every-other-daily instead of weekly, for the ones in full sun. The leaves are that nice light green that websites talk about being ideal for cymbidium and some other orchids.

Miltassia or something similar, I think. It's interesting, most of the oncidium intergerics have similar pseudobulbs and leaves, just different flowers. Miltassia is intergeneric Miltonium or Miltoniopsis, with Brassia. Other than the flower, the plant looks like Oncidium or Odontoglossum - completely different genera.

7/16/11 From an orchidtalk discussion, this is a Banfieldara.  From a RHS forum, some Balfieldara are:

BANFIELDARA = ADA x BRASSIA X ODONTOGLOSSUM x
> ONCIDIUM
>
> BANFIELDARA Gilded Tower =
> = Adaglossum Summit (Odontoglossum x Ada) x
> Brassidium Gilded Urchin (Brassia x Oncidium)
>
> BANFIELDARA = ADA x BRASSIA X ODONTOGLOSSUM
>
> BANFIELDARA Gold Star =
> Brassada Memoria Bert Field (Ada x Brassia) x
> Odontoglossum Yellowstone Basin

Nice looking plant, view of the plant as well as the flowers. I like looking at the entire plant. Photos with just the flowers don't tell me as much.

Yellow Oncidium. It grows so easily. It bloomed once, and never since. It's now in full sun, resulting in sunburn, but also the new growth is that light apple-green that is sought for many orchids. Maybe that's what's needed to get it to bloom. Better get sun while it can, it's already July.

On Epson Salts - It's not clear that they are helpful. Some people think they help the plants grow faster, assuming there is no other source of Magnesium. "in an experiment the use of Epsom salts brought seedlings to maturity and flowering faster than those which were not provided with magnesium sulfate in the form of Epsom salts". The amount is given as ranging from one teaspoon per gallon with every watering, to 1 tablespoon per gallon, 4 times per year. I've rarely been using them, and at the low rate of one half teaspoon per gallon.

The death of one daydream

Inspection didn't go so well. There was a lot more insect damage to structural systems and floor joists, than the owner apparently knew. Bummer. Not just carpenter ants, but apparently termites and 2 kinds of beetle that I never heard of, which apparently hollow out beams, leaving a nice looking shell and nothing inside. Most likely, the support structures and joists will need either substantial work, or replacement. I can't see the current owner going for that. I can't take it on, so we'll probably move on and look at some other places. Damn.

Cherries

Haven't counted how many bowls of cherries this year. Lots. Too many to eat them all fresh.  I need to get out and pick many times this tomorrow, so they don't spoil.  Not bad for some dwarf backyard trees.  Backyard orchard culture works.

Clever cherry pitter is handy for anything other than eating them fresh. I pitted a cup of cherries, added orange juice almost to the top of the cherries, a teaspoon of sugar, about 1/3 cup of silken tofu, and blended them to frothiness in the smoothie maker. Very good "milkshake'. Freezing some for pies. Pies have to wait for the kitchen resurrection. That's another story.