WIP Wednesday 158 : Cats and Dogs

Gaian Tarot

I am feeling just like the woman in this joyful Sun card from the Gaian Tarot: I had the most fabulous weekend away in Kent, meeting the gorgeous Nephew (August 2013 Edition) and attending SIL2's birthday gettogether. The sun shone, everyone was in a good mood, the kids and the dog behaved beautifully, DH and I were put up somewhere self-contained on our own, we didn't have to cook (by we, I mean DH, of course)  ....  it was just superb.

On top of that, all the baby things I'd made were much appreciated and more importantly, ooohed and awed at; SIL2 loved her birthday shawl. And now I am home alone in quiet solitude. Even my checkup at the dentist (only 1 filling needed in 2 weeks' time, in the tooth that had the ache - you can't imagine my relief. Or maybe you can.) and mucking out Destructo Boy's sty to the tune of 4 full big black bags full of rubbish has not affected my mood.

 It has just occurred to me that because I was out walking with DH and Sebastian on the beach or in barley fields ie. The Wild, I didn't even go into any yarn shops. Wow.

Unfortunately I have not managed much knitting or making. I did take my knitting with me - I find it keeps me calm and distracted in the car - intending to get on with the fronts for Destructo Boy's cardigan. I made a start, with the ribbing, and a few rows of pattern - then realized that I had managed to leave behind the pocket linings.

It is obviously not part of the Universe's plan for me to knit this week:

Perhaps everybody else is being more productive over at Tami's Amis .....

You Pays Your Money .....

.... and you takes your choice. Hobson's choice, in this case. I've been keeping an eye out for quite some time now for either a Cissus rhombifolia 'Ellen Danica' (Grape ivy) or a Cissus antarctica (Kangaroo vine).

Having used the fantastic resource that is the RHS plantfinder, I found two people that supplied these vines, one of whom is only 30 miles or so away from me: in May I sent an email asking if there were any in stock, and waited over 2 weeks for the reply which said 'no'.

The other supplier is in Margate, Kent. I stashed this little nugget of information away until yesterday, when we were in Kent to dump drop off the children with my MIL for a week; and DH, because he loves me, took me to this nursery (more about which another time, most likely).

This nursery had both plants in stock, perhaps 4 pots of each: 'rooted' cuttings only, not established plants, mark you, in 1 litre pots:


This was the best of the bunch.

This was with it:


Yep, that says £6.95 ($12 approx). It also says 'rhombifolia' when I'm fairly sure it's 'antarctica'; their 'rhombifolia's were labelled as 'antartica's. Although I really wanted a 'rhombifolia' I didn't buy one as they looked pretty ropey: as rooted cuttings, they didn't look established, rather, that they were at that point when you're hoping against hope (or experience) that they will make it, teetering on the point of no return. And I am the Queen of Failed Cuttings, so I'm pretty ie. extremely familiar with the signs.

My point is, £6.95 is extortion for an uncertain, mis-labelled, unestablished cutting, however hard it appears to get hold of. But I (or rather, DH) paid it, because it seems to be the only opportunity I had to obtain it. The law of supply and demand in up-close, personal, expensive, action.

It better live.