Saturday, June 27, 2015

The Slow Day...

Mr E had a day off work this week.
It was a slow day. The kind you crave for, the kind you can't plan for, but the kind that surprises you with pleasure when it arrives.

The skies were overcast, the air warm, the street quiet.
So we made our coffee and went outside.

Mr E has been studying bonsai for a while now and his fig tree is coming along wonderfully, so he recently bought some plants to take cuttings from in order to bonsai them when roots are established.
After a week of preparing soil and a propagation mix he began with an azalea...

 
Six good cuttings prepared, and six to eight weeks of waiting while they establish roots...

The original azalea bush was given the bonsai treatment too - tap root removed and others trimmed, all flowers and buds cut away, replanted for now until he gets some more bonsai pots...

Next week he'll take cuttings from the Ixora and go through this process again...

Meanwhile I gave Bob-the-dog a bath...

...before settling on the steps near Private Charlie to read the new issue of Slow magazine.


Whilst Mr E worked on his bonsai I read aloud snippets of interesting articles to him, and after being inspired by a very touching one about the emotional healing from soups made and shared with love, we decided a nice pot of minestrone soup later in the week would be a good idea (I made it last night - yum, and very soothing) ...


Not wanting to see the discarded azalea blooms thrown away, I took them upstairs and lay them in a pretty bowl on a bed of moist paper towels. Azalea flowers don't like to get wet, so I was hoping this experiment might keep them bright for a day or so....

...and three days later they are still smiling at me from our dining table.


Slow days.
Unexpected.
Gratefully accepted.

Have a blessed weekend, and may it hold your very own slow day.



13 comments:

Melody said...

A beautiful and very interesting post.you are such a wonderful writer, painting a picture with words so beautifully

Leeanne said...

I agree these are the best of best days! Lovely to see you enjoying each others company doing your own thing!

Käthe said...

Das ist ja interessant !
Ich hoffe alle Pflanzen wachsen an.
Ich wünscht , ich könnte die Hunde streicheln, bitte gib ihnen ein paar Streicheleinheiten von mir.
Liebe Grüße und ein schönes Wochenende
Käthe

Christine B said...

Sounds like a wonderful day! Have a lovely weekend too! :) x

Brenda said...

It is always nice to have a quiet peaceful day! The flowers are beautiful. Thanks for sharing and have a great day!

RoseMary Baty-Willcox said...

Hello
I am hoping Mr. E can tell us how
by cutting the Tap root, it does not kill the bush?
I have always been told to be very careful when transplanting to
never cut the tap root?
Thanks

Anonymous said...

What a lovely day. That's what I call a day of living - the world goes away and you just live. I like those rare days. =) That second dog picture does not look like a really happy dog, though. His routine was upset. =)

Sharon - creativity and family said...

the bonsai trees sound fascinating. My Dad was always interested in bonsai but never had the time to do any. Those lazy at home days can be so relaxing, your dog definitely looks chilled! I hope you have a special Sunday. Sharon x

TerriSue said...

Ah, slow days. So nice when they come. Jim has quite a lot of vacation time built up. Some of it he can save and cash out when he retires but some of it he has to take this year our he will lose it. Recently he has been coming home on occasion and saying in an offhanded way, (I've taken tomorrow off.) We will usually try and have a slow day also. We are thinking now of actually taking a real vacation this year in September. It has been 12 years since we had one. We will be celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary. Jim has suggested going to the eastern United States to see the leaves turn. Neither one of us have done that. He is thinking of taking two weeks off, and we would go by train. Sounds wonderful to me.
Mr. E. seems to be doing quite well with his Bonsai. I tried to do that when I was a pre-teen. I didn't have the patience for it at that age. I think I might now. Your azaleas are very pretty.

Allie said...

Slow days - love it. You'll have to show progress pics of Mr. E's bonsai. I had a slow day today, I was in a coma for most of it, lol - cold, rainy, blustery, achy day! So nice to huddle under the comforters.

Anonymous said...

oh Jenny it sounds like the perfect day xx

Cath said...

What a lovely relaxing day. I have never been able to propabate azalia cuttings. Have tried camelia's with poor results also. The flowers are gorgeous though. Funny you should mention Minestrone......I have been looking for a recipe to make this week!

Jenny of Elefantz said...

Rosemary, the tap root is needed when growing a plant to normal size, but removing it is integral to bonsai-ing a plant to keep it small.