Small Successes

As H. said yesterday, "How did you catch a cold in the desert?" Being the delicate flower I am, I somehow managed to get aches and pains and a sore throat. This means putting off the invitation assembly process for a day, but that's good, since Sunday isn't a mail delivery day anyways. I'll just send them off Monday and be relieved when they arrive in their various destinations a few days later.

Yesterday, as my body started to power down for this wonderful cold, I had a sweet little surprise awaiting me in the apartment. My gladiolas had started to sprout! Or at least one of them had an adventure and poked its head out of the soil.

Isn't he just the cutest? I was thrilled that at least one of them wasn't dead yet. H. disagrees with me, but I like to think that it had something to do with the lamp I had hovering over this guy as he was sprouting. The desk lamp I brought with me uses a 10W fluorescent light bulb with a "daylight" glow. I had read online that bulbs and seeds respond best to blue wavelengths of light, and that a "daylight" fluorescent bulb helps in the sprouting process. I wasn't sure if the desk lamp would be the correct wattage (seeing as how light bulbs produced specifically for growing plants were at least 15-20W), but I guess it worked!

I was just about to take a nap this afternoon and decided to check on my little sproutling when I noticed that a second little one had appeared! This bulb had sprouted while underneath the lamp I set on it this morning. Coincidence? I think not.

Now all that's left is for the third one to make it's appearance. I would like to think my flower box has more than a 66% survival rate, but we'll see. I'm also surprised by how short of a time it was for them to sprout. It only took six days for the first one, and seven for the second one. The label on the gladiola bag stated I'd have to wait somewhere between eight and fifteen days. Soon, I'll have the greenest thumb in the land!

You can sort of see both of them in this picture. One at the front, and one way, way down at the end over there. The middle one is being stubborn, but what middle child isn't? Eh, eh? ... I guess that's really for all children.

Ah, my pride and joy. The only downside to these guys is that after seeing the second one, I was going to take a nap to help get over this cold quicker, but couldn't sleep because I was so excited about the sproutlings. H. thinks thought this was hilarious.

And that's pretty much been my weekend. Other than getting up the courage to enter this quick DIY contest, it's been a nice, lazy weekend. H. bought me a waffle maker as a surprise a few days ago, and now you can see the fruits of its labor. This thing is so easy to work, it's not a hassle at all making waffles!

Oooooo!

Aaaaaaah!