Thursday, November 11, 2021

Succulent

not-quite Journaling, 22

Nature is art you can eat.

10/21/2021: I photographed this grape because I thought it had super cool markings. While I was cropping said photo, I noticed that if I turned it 90 degrees clockwise the markings looked like a happy fish (top photo); and 270 degrees clockwise (bottom photo) made the fish look slightly irritated. In the original photo (3rd photo here), the fish can look happy or irritated depending on the viewer’s perspective.

 

succulent—
a tiny garden
near my bed

10/25/2021: Outside, the weather is gloomy and most people are gloomier… so it’s nice to grow a bit of brightness inside.

 

irresistible,
how she refuses to follow
no drum but her own

11/4/2021: My faucaria tigrine (tiger jaw) plant has decided to bloom after what seems like forever. According to what I’ve read about this thorny member of the Aizoaceae family, they bloom from autumn to early winter. Blossoms open around midday and close in the late afternoon. But my tiger jaw’s bloom seems to have missed the memo, because she opens from very late evening to past midnight. I love a blooming rebel.

- for our 2nd Friday Writings, over at the Poets and Storytellers United blog, Rommy invited us “to use a subject we studied in school as inspiration”. Agriculture was one of my favorite subjects, in middle school. Although I didn’t exactly write about what we used to do for class (plant a garden, tend it for most of the schoolyear, delight in the fruits of our labor…), my love for plants and gardening is partly a direct result of those classes. 


43 comments:

  1. I love a flower that blooms in her own sweet time. My kinda garden! And I like the changing perspective with your grape!

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  2. Your tiger jaw flower is AWESOME! I've never heard of this plant before.

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    1. I hadn't heard of it until I got it. Now I have two. On year 3, the mother plant divided. I wonder if the daughter plant will take 7 years to bloom too.

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  3. What a fun little succulent - I love its' little tiger teeth.

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  4. Agriculture in middle school sounds like fun!! Love the yellow flower too!

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    1. It was fun! It was one of the things I missed most when I came to the US for high school. No garden. :-(

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  5. Nothing makes me happier than seeing a new recruit to the " curly rebel" party :D XXX

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  6. All lovely. Above all I'm enchanted that you have a book called 'teeny tiny gardening'.

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    1. I love that book. It shares the most wonderful gardening ideas for small spaces.

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  7. the tiger jaw flower looks awesome.
    i am bad at gardening. i tried to grow chili and basil (hopefully for the kitchen) but without success. No chance to taste the fruits of my own labour. :)

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    1. You killed basil? Your black thumb is very powerful. It's really hard to grow basil. Do you use a lot of garlic? If you do, and appreciate the taste of garlic greens--just like garlic, just a tad milder--is a excellent (and super easy) plant to grow on the windowsill.

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  8. Nice find with the grape. That flower is amazing. Have a very nice day.

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    1. Thank you! I hope you have a lovely week, too.

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  9. I have never seen one of those tiger jaws before. Quite remarkable. You must be a good gardener.

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    1. I like to think that plants can feel how much I love them, so they grow for me.

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  10. Interesting find. Good Friday

    Much💛love

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  11. I love a plant that shows its teeth! It's a cutie. And of course I am a huge fan of that curl poem, but being an obviously curly girl I may be biased. <3

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  12. The succulent near your bed is my favorite … I have grapes in our fridge … must check for markings! Happy weekend, Magaly … to you and Piano Man.

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    1. I'm quite fond of them, too. It's nice to open my eyes and see something pretty and green. I hope you have a glorious week.

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  13. Wonderful!

    irresistible,
    how she refuses to follow
    no drum but her own

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  14. I have such a terrible black thumb that I can't even grow succulents properly. Everything I try to grow dies. I'm better with silk plants.
    I enjoyed the photos of the grape. Slight changes in position can cause big changes in perspective!

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    1. I have a friend who has the loveliest garden she makes of cloth. I can't sew like she does and she can't grown anything, so we live vicariously through each other's gardens.

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  15. It does look like a fish! I like the idea of an irritated fish.
    Beautiful flower. Succulents and cactus have the prettiest flowers.
    A living curl is a lovely way to put it.

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    1. I was all excited giggles when I saw the little fat fish! And you are so right, some succulent's flowers are out of this world pretty!

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  16. I am the living curl... is a delight to me. And reminds me of these old love poem lines from the 80s written for my husband.

    Does his hair curl in loops
    luring you close
    like a crooked finger
    gestures, “Come here?”

    Did you eat that grape?

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    1. That's a beautiful poem, love the vivid imagery.

      And of course I age the grape! 😁

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  17. Thank you for sharing, Magaly. Seeing that yellow on a gloomy day would have to brighten up your world.
    Your thoughts of resistance with a dash of rebellion is refreshing.

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  18. Your hands are gorgeous.
    So are your paintings—especially the shade of the backgrounds.
    I love this line: “I love a blooming rebel.”
    Also this one: “I am a living curl.”

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    1. Thank you, psyche. The paintings are the work of my super talented friend Gina Morley. She has a touch for the surreal.

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  19. It takes meticulousness to see a fish on your grape. And indeed, its mood seems to change with each angle. :)

    It's always lovely to read about your garden. Btw, agriculture was one of my favorite subjects too, at secondary school. But nowadays, my fingers seem to go green only with outdoor plants.

    Anyway, keep growing that bit of brightness inside! It's cold and dark outside.

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    1. Maybe I look at my fruit too closely, lol! And I suspect that we'll both keep the bright going.

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  20. Thank god, there's someone else who doesn't fit quite right in society's garden either!

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  21. oh, thats pretty cool, nice trick photography magaly! i'll bet grape-fish are a lot easier to feed =)

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    1. Grape-fish are super easy to feed to oneself, indeed.

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