Green fingers...maybe?

Noun

green fingers - a special ability to make plants grow

metier, speciality, speciality, forte, strong point, strong suit, long suit, strength - an asset of special worth or utility; "cooking is his forte"

Day 1

For as long as I can remember I have been completely useless at gardening, I think it was mainly because I had zero interest in it. There were always plants in the house and our gardens while growing up were spectacular, but how they managed to stay alive and grow was never of any interest to me. Then I moved out the house while studying and bought my first plant. It lasted a month or so before it died. After that, in a moment of madness, my roommates and I decided we needed fish. Mine was the first to die, he lasted a day before my roommates fish ate both of ours, only to die himself two days later. So from then I promised myself I was in no place to look after anything in the plant or fish kingdom.

Six years ago I moved to Cape Town and was given the task of looking after my brothers cacti. How hard can that be? They grow and live in deserts on their own, how could I mess this one up? Well... yes, they died too.

One month later

One day I was chatting to a friend about this phenomenon, and realised that if I couldn't start with looking after a plant, then how did I expect to look after an animal, or myself, and eventually someone else. So we decided I had to start with a plant again, and after at least 5 years since my last plant, I was ready for the challenge.

The plant that was decided on was none other than the infamous orchid, yes, the world's most difficult and temperamental plant ever.

I have amazing news! It is a month later, and not only has the plant stayed alive, it has gone from 5 flowers and a bud to 6 gorgeous flowers and a new little bud on its way. YAY! Maybe I can do this? Watch this space.

Comments

Rule No.33 - Never kick a fresh turd on a hot day

Okay, rules are back and what a classic one! This quote is by Harry S Truman. He was the 33 rd president of America, historians call him “a controversial president”, the band Chicago wrote a song just for him and he has a commemorative holiday in his name on the 8 th May in Missouri. This is brilliant advise, not in the literal sense, well, that too, but if you having a seriously bad day, don’t make things worse by deliberately doing something that will bite you in the bum later. I did this the other day, so I am talking out of experience here. I went into a situation and then on the way out, after realising it was a bad situation, I kicked a fresh turd cause I was so mad. (again, not literally, although, that might have been a better idea in hindsight) My advise in this circumstance is to stay indoors that day until you have calmed yourself down. I’ll leave you with another quote from Truman : A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who ...

Rule No.59 - If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull.

"Bull", meaning nonsense, dates from the 17th century, while the term "bull*&$*" has been used as early as 1915 in American slang , and came into popular usage only during World War II . The word "bull" itself may have derived from the Old French boul meaning "fraud, deceit" (Oxford English Dictionary). The term "horse*&$*" is a near synonym. Worthy of note is the South African English equivalent "bull dust". Few corresponding terms exist in other languages, with the significant exception of German Bockmist , literally "billy-goat *&%*". Funny, Suze Original and I were talking about this the other day. She went for an interview and we were laughing cause we both do the same thing. They ask you a simple question that could be answered in a line or two but we both start elaborating so much trying to make a good impression that what started as "My favorite hobby is... right to.. and that's why I...

Rule No.6 - Don't panic

Panic is a sudden sensation of fear which is so strong as to dominate or prevent reason and logical thinking, replacing it with overwhelming feelings of anxiety and frantic agitation consistent with an animalistic f ight-or-flight reaction. It also rhymes with manic and tannic. Perfect example of when to not panic and then when to start panicking. My very first night in my new flat here in Cape Town, I was woken up by my curtain being opened from the outside. Odd, first of all, because I live on the first floor, and second of all, because there was a man, well boy, suddenly staring at me from my window. A little shocked and confused, but not panicked, I squinted through sleepy eyes and said "hello". He looked at me, a little confused as well and greeted back. Then I asked him what he was up to at my window so early in the morning. "Washing your windows", was his reply. Okay, so it's Monday morning, my first night in this complex, maybe Monday morning is washing...

Chasing Noodles

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