Pepperberry Crochet

Deadly Opuntia Cactus

Okay, not really, I lied. I could call this "Vastly Intimidating Opuntia Cactus" instead and be far more accurate. This is one of the cactus bowls Mr. Pepperberry and I made as Christmas presents last year, we kept this one. When it started out, it was only 3 little pads of cactus. It was fine up until a couple of months ago, when it started growing like mad! I don't know if the Mr. started fertilizing it along with his bonsai, or if watering it more often helped, but it's taken off!

The downside is that it doesn't really have spines-- it has itchy little hairs that rub off if you get too close. I am very disappointed because I love to propogate plants and had read that opuntia are easy to propogate. If it means that I'm going to be covered in itchy little hairs, I'm not sure that I'm interested.

For those still reading at this point, yes, talking about my plants means that I have not finished the crochet tutorial. I have a good excuse! Sabrina suggested lefty directions, and I think they're a good idea, so the tutorial (should it ever be completed) will also include instructions for lefties. I seem to have figured out my Giant Image problem I was having the other night, and I have tomorrow and Friday off of work, so I think we'll be good to go for Friday.

I haven't heard about the house yet. Darn you, multiple buyer situations!

Outdoors

 

Actually got outside over the weekend. Here are some shots of various plants. I really had a good time experimenting with the new camera! This is something I never would have been able to pull off with the old camera, that's for sure! Currently working on a donut mobile, which is fun, and I have some other interesting ideas.

Adenium In Bloom

Mr. Pepperberry's adenium (desert rose) bloomed, which was a real surprise. It had a couple of almost dead flowers on it when we got it, and I didn't expect to see anything so soon.

I would really like to make some crocheted potted plants, but they've been done, particularly cacti. However, I don't think anyone has done one of these...

Macro Moss

I think I've mentioned bonsai recently. Mr.  Pepperberry got into it a while back, and we've been spending a lot of time working with the plants and hanging out at the local bonsai nursery, something I didn't know existed until he got into it. One of the things he discovered that we needed was moss to top the pots that the bonsai are in. He ended up picking some moss up from illustratorsam's (edit, fixed the link) house. We ended up with far more than he could ever use, and although we gave some of it away, we're cultivating some of it. I enjoy having it around, and it's so pleasant and green looking. I'm looking forward to doing some terrarium plantings and planting a couple of trays for work.