Euro Soccer Party

Hubby got a couple guys together to watch the game. Fun, was outside chatting with a happily preggers L while they were whopping it up. Made too much food and snacks as usual. LOL.

Movie - Wall-E

What a cute little movie, good for the free tiks! The little kids were just sobbing away at the end.

Was going to see the Panda, but the tik guy suggested Wall-E instead, and said there wasn't crowded. Very surprised, expected giant crowd for the opening.

Last Cym of the Season

One of my Tistroncobb 'Peaches' is blooming, one unopened bud left. Beautiful color and form.

From Blooming Orchids!

Lunch w/ MA

Fun lunch, tasty Japanese at my favorite little restaurant. MA is just hilarious and so entertaining! Cats the main topic, it's really nice to know someone else who talks just as much about their furrkids.

TV - Kidnapped

Wow, this was a really good psychological serial. Very well done, well shot, and well acted. There was a stellar front cast. The whole thing was just fantastic for a TV show. We were very entertained.

Too bad it never took off. I can understand why, though. Downfall with continued serials instead of self-contained episodes. We caught the 2nd episode on TV first, and kept feeling like we missed a lot, so saw the 1st one when we got it on DVD. It really cleared up a whole bunch of things for us. There was no way to really access it from the middle, you'd always feel like you missed a lot.

Books I Gave Up On

And that's saying a lot. Until today, I've usually finished books. The only continuing book on my slate is Bill Clinton's My Life which feels like it's actually going to take my lifetime to read. Boring, but not bad, writing. Anyway, the first ever books I'm throwing in the towel on:

Three Cups of Tea - Shitty grating writing, got better enjoyment actually making myself three cups of tea.

Slavery by Another Name - I was so interested in the topic, what a disappointing read. Have the names of a couple older books on the same topic that I'll explore later, hopefully they're written better.

Little Work Get-together

Oh my fucking god, it was so goddamned scorching hot yesterday. Today's just as pleasant as pie. But of course. Since we needed to work outside. Complaining aside, got a lot of cleaning done on Sat before the little get-together. Woohoo! Got a bunch of weeding done, swept and organized the deck, and scrubbed out the patio furniture.

Small party, only 7 people invited, 6 showed. The last one (recept/assistant?) was a rude-ass, texting Hubby about bringing a guest, then not showing. Thank god dinner kept warm but didn't dry out. Not a good impression for your highest-up, even if you're planning to leave the company in a few months. Anyway, I'm very glad she didn't come, after learning about her cat.

Everything went well, but I'm a perfectionist and got annoyed with forgetting little things. But excellent for not having held a party for a couple years. Just like riding a bike.

Finishing the Bathroom

YAY. Finally started putting the last touches on the bathroom - after 2 yrs. TSP'd everything, got the ceiling brushed up, put another coat on the window trim. Think I'll just replace the vanity, the gloss paint didn't take. Got a couple hand towels that didn't work, but I knew that already, I just really liked the design. Darned.

Feeling tons better after talking with A.

Movie - Indiana Jones & Crystal Skull

Ok movie, I guess, Hubby said he was entertained. But then, he's a big fan of the Indy movies, me not so much. I found myself wondering when it was ending, and kept looking at my watch. Didn't entertain me enough, or I was distracted. Sets were very nice though, especially the ones at the end were almost spectacular. The ridiculous ending even sat ok, accepted at face value. Not feeling the sidekick son, though.

Indy holds up pretty good and to prove it, stripped down to show the audience. Definitely something to be proud of, he looks fantastic. Love Blanchett despite the horrible accent. Mark of her good acting that she managed to pull off the ridiculous villain without looking ridiculous, just good campy. That's talent. Could easily have descended into crap.

Geez, it's sad when these were free tiks and we couldn't find anything we were interested in seeing, and finally had to *settle* for this movie.

TV - Montalbano: La Forma Dell'acqua

Very good show, pretty good story, can't wait to read the book. Sly, funny, sharp and sardonic dialogue. Sexy, sexy man.

TV - Maigret: Cécile est morte

Finally, a very good episode! Great tight story. Good twists but not contrived, and Dandurand was just perfect.

Catt Repotting Completed!!

Yippee!! DONE! Can't believe it. All that dipping, scrubbing, root wrestling. Done. Done. Done. Every single orchid on the two carts. Yippee, yippee! I'm so tired, and have a headache from smelling the malathion. Shaved several years off my life. Shit, that poisonous crap stinks to high heaven. Poison of last resort. 2 more applications should do it.

Ahhh, now to sit, relax, enjoy an iced coffee and Maigret & Montalbano.

Book - The Black Tower

Why did this book seem as interminable as the poor terminal patients? Not sure, but not going to bother trying to analyze it now. Overall, the plot was good, the ending satisfying, but the journey was not fun. Enjoyed the stark, harsh scenery, wished the characters were as interesting.

Dalgliesh is having a second lease on life after having been mistakenly diagnosed with a fatal disease. As he reviews his life and contemplates his options, murder happens.

Ripped off from Amazon.co.uk:
The Peverell Press, a two-hundred-year-old publishing firm housed in a dramatic mock-Venetian palace on the Thames, is certainly ripe for change. But the proposals of its ruthlessly ambitious new managing director, Gerard Etienne, have made him dangerous enemies - a discarded mistress, a neglected and humiliated author, and rebellious colleagues and staff. When Gerard's body is discovered bizarrely desecrated, there is no shortage of suspects and Dalgliesh and his team are confronted with a puzzle of extraordinary complexity and a murderer who is prepared to strike again.

Phal Yu Pin Acacia x violacea #2

McClellan buy. None of the buds had opened on either one of the crosses, so was a bit nervous about it, but any fragrant phals I snap up. The first one wasn't as attractive, petals/sepals more elongated and don't overlap. This one has very nice form, and a beautiful fragrance. Small compact plant.

From Blooming Orchids!

Repotting - Side Benefit

So, from my little Clip (love it!), I've been listening to hours and hours of French and Spanish lessons while doing all the repotting. Feeling doubly productive. LOL.

Discovered I prefer the Spanish audio only, no video, but prefer watching the French videos, not just audio. Prof. Capretz is freaking fantastic, hilarious and entertaining, and I don't get tired of watching him.

Catts Repotting - Near the End

Excellent. Got 6 more done today, man, slow going, huge plants. Crap, several were already split. I didn't want extras. Not cool at this time for one plant to suddenly become 4. Trying to prune my collection so I can get more orchids, not have the existing plants explode in number, especially ones I don't really care for. Don't go to the society anymore, so nowhere to sell them now. Meh, things could be worse. Anyway, only 4 more left. LOL, at least for the catts. Woohoo, was able to ID most of the faded tags, except for 1, narrowed down to 2 possibilities. Score for keeping good notes!

Don't EVEN want to think about the cym repottings, OMG, the time I had to take on every one. Each one felt like a wrestling match too. All 44 need repotting, and I have a nasty feeling that each one's going to split. Just what I need, instant doubling of the cyms. Well, at least they're very low maintenance in general.

Will avoid that as long as possible, will tackle the phals next. Those are pretty easy.

Pretty hot today, but not as scorching as anticipated. Whew.

Catt Repotting Almost Done

Woohoo! Another 7 done, I'll try to finish them up tomorrow. 10 more to go. Crap, out of charcoal. Really don't want to leave the house tomorrow, promises to be another scorching day. Have to workout on the machine, can't go running.

Couple helicopters circling around today, all kinds of sirens going. When I called the station, they said a fire. A wee bit too close for comfort, and it would be blowing up the canyon our way. Made me really nervous, got all the critters' carriers and collars out, and impt docs ready. Got put out in an hour or so, whew. The news showed that by Thurs heat'll top the charts.

Mario Wii came today too. Hmmm, not as entertaining as I expected. But maybe after I get the hang of it.

More Catt Repotting

Woohoo!!! 14 more catts done today. Very very tired but happy. Pretty hot today.

Got the replacement thermometers from Technika today. Excellent. Great price, reasonable shipping, quick receipt. Works for me.

Kayla on my lap, slapping that tail, big eyes, pissed I'm writing on the computer and not focusing all attention on her. LOL.

Repotting Weekend

Very productive!! Got 17 catts repotted over the weekend, found mealybug/scale infestations on several of them, which slowed down the pace. Scrubbing, dipping, scrubbing and dipping again. Only 140 more to go. Just a couple splits (prefer to keep them to specimen size if possible).

Bracing ourselves for a very hot week.

Flowers - African Violets

These are just the cutest little flowers, really low maintenance, compact, easy to grow, and oh, so so pretty! Used to subscribe to the magazine, lost interest in the hobby after I got into roses, but still kept a few. Decided to pick up a few again, but couldn't find much selection. No doubles, or extra ruffles. But these are still so pretty.

Repotting Supplies

Ended up having to run over to PV to pick up bark, and as I was walking in, an older Asian guy was walking out of the store with a cartful of bark. Uh-oh. When I got to the aisle, someone else picked up another bag, but luckily, I got the last bag. Hilarious. Run on orchid bark, wiped out in 10 mins flat!

Listened to Richard Preston on NPR on the way, his piece on the Lesch people really touched me, it was so sad. I really hope that they find some kind of 'cure' or whatever to help them stop doing that part of the disease.

Ginza's Latest Tip for Pixie

Pixie's picked up a bunch of bad habits from Ginza over the years, including opening the kitchen cabinets. Well, she's learned a new one last week, and has now been consistently using it since, so it's here to stay. It's the tapping Mommy's arm for attention, or when I'm standing, standing on her hind legs and grabbing a hold of my leg.

Book - Dust

Crappy, crappy, crappy book. 'Nuff said. Only comfort is that i picked it up for just $3 at the library, so I made a contribution to a good cause and not the author.

Book Club - Enter A Murderer

Book ok, apparently the second in the series, which explains the erratic character development. Didn't discuss the book much, digressions into weird topics, guess cause group very small today? Still a lot of fun.

Brassia Edvah Loo

Cleaned, soaked in Physan yesterday, then repotted today. Split into 2 plants. Suffering from brown rot, or something similar, couple of the bulbs. Convalescing in the home (brought them in fr outside), hopefully they'll recover fully soon.

LMAO - Hide and Seek w/ Pixie

These kitties crack me up! Hubby playing laser with Ginza and Pixie, then Pixie changes the game to hide-and-seek with the large shelving box I left out. She ran under one flap (tail sticking out) while Hubby runs around asking "Where's Pixie?" then she snuck to the other flap while he went the other way, so she fooled him. Then she ran off to the other box and next thing you know there's kitty eyes looking at him from the box holes. LMAO. Goes on for a while, then finally she comes out and says "Meow!" So game's over. Then Hubby 'captures' her for a hug and a treatie. OMG. Adorable.

It gets even more hilarious when sometimes she's chasing him or me.

Lazy Sunday

Reading Enter a Murderer, playing Wii, and tending the orchids. Poor kitties feel neglected, Ginza meowed at me and looked so sad he wasn't getting his 18 hours of petting, LOL. Uh-uh, just bought Mario Kart Wii today, even more time away from kitties. Not happy campers.

Hmmm, the 2 tiny keikis from dend A died. An autopsy showed the roots completely hollow, with very intact and healthy looking velamen. Haven't experienced this before. Now worried about the other 2 repotted from dend B. Have left all the others on the plants until I can figure out what happened.