I would laugh at what can happen in two minutes, except I was the one who had to clean it up. Let’s start at the beginning.

I have been trying to be productive in the evenings, as I emerge from the “winter doldrums”. Tonight’s agenda was some internet research, starting the weekend chore list, and reseeding peat pots that failed to germinate their tomatoes or peppers. The third task was done first, quickly. Good. The second task was done second, and the first task left for last….easy street. One of the items to be checked on were the growth requirements for Gunnera tinctoria, another of my projects. It’s a plant monster, which under optimal conditions will get about 8 feet tall with leaves that can measure 5 feet across. Oh, and it is covered with huge spines. At the moment, the future T-Rex is a hatchling, living in a pot on our bathroom. A lot of places double as the greenhouse we don’t yet have, and the bathroom’s south facing window currently houses 2 pawpaws, 2 rubber plants, a bucket of lemon grass, a pot of Stevia, some peppers that are flirting with death, a castor bean, 2 succulents, and the Gunnera. The sum of my learning was to confirm a vague memory that Gunnera is a bog plant. As in, get that pot into some nice water that won’t drain. That was easy, I found a large tupperware bowl, put the pot in, added more water, put it all back in its place, and sat down to do more research. In exactly 2 minutes, I heard a terrific crash. I didn’t even need to ask what had happened, I just knew it involved that Gunnera.

I turned on the light. I have been meaning to do a good cleaning on our bathroom for about 2 weeks now, but the sight that met my eyes was not what I wanted to see. The Gunnera pot didn’t just fall, it exploded. I could have brought in the hoe, because there was that much dirt on the floor. Except, it wasn’t really dirt because after all, I just made a little bog in the pot. Dirt on the mirror, dirt in the sinks, dirt across the counter, down the cabinets, in, on and around the bathtub, and oh most definitely dirt on the floor. I’d usually laugh this off, but I am already tired tonight and this just wasn’t what I wanted to deal with. But there it was. So I went out, and found a smaller pot, since now the nice one my mother gave me is in a dozen pieces. Forty minutes later, most of the damage was repaired. I think the only happy one in the bathroom was the Gunnera. I hope this isn’t a harbinger of things to come with that plant….but likely, it is. I ask myself why I am attracted to these botanical aberrations….I guess I just like things to be interesting.

On another note, I have received some recent comments wishing that I might write a little more. So I’ve decided to add my sailing journals to this website. They are the link on the right called the Bilge Rat Journals. I hope you find them interesting, should you decide to read them.