Grand Theft Tree (or possibly just Petty Larceny Tree)

Actually it might not have been stealing at all. It depends on if you consider the mess of growing stuff alongside a road as belonging to anyone. But I like to think of it as a heist because then I can consider myself dangerous and deep into the world of organized shrub crime!

Ahem. Anyway.

I really wanted a maple tree for our front yard, particularly because I finally got around to asking the owner's son if the clumps of weedy-looking business here and there in the lawn were planted intentionally or if I could get rid of them. He said she didn't care about that stuff, as they weren't trees, and they were probably just weeds, so I am going to get rid of them at the earliest opportunity!

This means that I have plenty of space for a tree. The yard could really use one right smack in the middle. There is some stuff growing around that loves the heat, like the rosemary we planted and the lilac along the south side of the house, but most of it prefers the cooler partial shade provided by a tree. Rhododendrons, etc. I'm hopeful that if we can get one established there it will shade part of the yard at least a bit, and the lawn should grow better. Plus the poor rhodie won't get so dry. I water it, but I think it's just not a fan of hot weather and sunshine. I do not blame it. Neither am I.

We went to several nurseries yesterday, with no luck. We found one maple that was the type I was looking for, just a regular, run-of-the-mill maple tree, but it was $100! Everything else was weird ornamental varieties. Does no one plant normal maple trees anymore? We seem to be the only people who want one. I kept a lookout as we drove home for trees that might have dropped seeds that we could use instead, but I didn't see anything til we went out on a walk (read: tree theft reconnaissance mission) afterward.

I found a few dried ones, but they looked pretty old, so we just kept walking. As we strolled down the street, I saw a sapling growing from the left bank alongside the road! We tried digging it out with a stick, but the stick was rotten and broke in two pretty quickly, so we went with the yanking method. We tried to be delicate about it, but there is only so delicate two adults yanking on a tree can be.

We got it out of the bank without too much harm, and it still had a pretty good set of roots left on it, so I'm hopeful. We went home immediately and stuck it in a pot with some good soil, watered it, then went out to get more dirt as it appeared we didn't have nearly enough (I'd only bought enough to start some seeds, as I didn't anticipate finding anything larger).

While at the store, I happened to see the most gorgeous orchid I've ever run across. Did you know they came in blue?!

Me neither!

It was expensive for an orchid, $34.99, so I told myself that that was too much and attempted to keep going. Patrick The Enabler saw the look that came over my face at the sight of this plant (abject adoration, blue is my favorite color) and was having none of it, so he decided that we needed to become the proud parents of yet another tropical plant. (It was not that hard to persuade me, which I'm sure shocks all of you.)

I am totally in love with this plant. It's in the bathroom where it can enjoy the humidity and bright indirect light that we get in there. I now have a total of three orchids in the bathroom. One is a yellowish when it blooms, the other is purple, and now this one. The purple one has just started blooming again after finishing a first run a couple months ago (it was the plant Patrick gave me the day he proposed). I consider this a good omen.

I seem to have failed at taking a picture of the purple one for you, so instead enjoy another one of the blue orchid in its place in the bathroom!

Mmmmmm, blue.

Simply lovely. SIIIIIGH...

So, back to the tree: we got the needed dirt on our trip, along with the orchid, and added more of that to the pot as soon as we got home. We also appropriately diluted and dumped in a bunch of rooting hormone, so hopefully that will help. I thought about dipping the roots like you're supposed to, but I figured I'd disturbed the tree enough already, and the worst that could happen with adding rooting hormone to the soil would be it just not doing anything at all. /shrug

Filled up the pot sufficiently and watered the hell out of it. It looks pretty good this morning, so I'm hopeful. I want it to get a good start in potting soil before we transfer it to the yard. The soil in this area is utter crap. It's full of rocks and quite sandy, so the water just drains right through it. If we were to ever buy the place, we'd need to actually get sod laid down with a bunch of good topsoil in order to have a decent lawn. I must be an adult. I'm complaining about dirt.

Classic! And stolen. Sort of.

Grow! That's all I ask. Just don't die. Hopefully this works. This yard is going to take ages to set in order. And also, the gutters apparently have potting soil in them or something. A few weeks ago we noticed a small weed garden sprouting from the right side of the front gutter, and when we pulled them out they appeared to have potting soil all around their roots. Smelled like it, anyway. So either someone deliberately put potting soil in the gutters (?!) or the leaves and whatnot that clog gutters up had just decomposed over the years into something very similar. Needless to say, we're cleaning the gutters as soon as Jake (owner's son) drops off the ladder. Supposedly that will be tonight, but we shall see. I know you all were just dying to hear about my gutters and crappy topsoil, so you're welcome!

In other news, we watched Bram Stoker's Dracula on Saturday night, which is always a good time. Oh, to wear all the girl outfits in that movie! Lucky actresses. Patrick had never seen it before. I would express more amazement and horror about that, but it'd be sort of hypocritical, considering how I hadn't seen Ghostbusters before this spring. I think Coppola's take on the classic tale is incredibly romantic, and a very satisfying way to end the whole business. Since I am again a sucker for romance (Get it? Sucker, vampire movie..... oh never mind.), I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I looked rather closely at Mina's red dress during the absinthe scene, and I must say that I really like mine better. The plunging back of the original is not really me, and I vastly prefer the corset lacing motif. The sleeves also seem to be better on the re-imagined version. It seems a bit ridiculous, but I have odd considerations of practicality that fit into my choosing of Victorian-era gowns.... go figure. I'm willing to wear bustles and hoop skirts, etc, but heaven forfend my sleeves should drag in my soup! I guess we all have priorities.

In closing, huge congratulations to my dear friend J, who managed to get a job in this horrible market. In Laramie, no less, which is not exactly an easy task. Well done, lady! I told you they'd hire you.