Anecdotes, Antidotes, and Anodes

Thanksgiving Cactus or Christmas Cactus ? There Is A Difference !

There really is a Thanksgiving cactus AND a Christmas cactus. Who knew ? I just always thought my Christmas cactus was an over-achiever and bloomed early. If your Christmas cactus bloomed at Thanksgiving, then it's probably not a Christmas cactus at all. It's a Thanksgiving cactus.Even though these two plants look similar, there are certain characteristics that help to tell them apart. 

And if you keep reading, we'll eventually get around to that. 

Christmas cacti and Thanksgiving cacti belong to the same botanical genus, Schlumbergera, meaning they’re closely related. It’s easy for even the well-trained eye to mistake them for the same plant. Both grow wild in the mountains of southeastern Brazil, so they prefer things on the cool and shady side, unlike the cacti found in desert habitats. This is partly why they are an easy to care for house plant, although they do need more regular watering than a desert cactus would.

The beautiful blooms grow on flattened, spineless, segmented green stems. They can be pink, red, white, or yellow.  They don't have leaves. Although these cacti have similar-looking flowers and stems, each of these features offers clues to help you distinguish a Christmas and a Thanksgiving cactus from one another. Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera truncata) was once commonly called the “crab claw cactus” or “crab cactus" before it started being marketed around Turkey Day. It also goes by zygocactus. You can identify it by the pointy “teeth” on the sides of each stem segment. These teeth are soft, not sharp, and can vary in size, but are almost always visible on the plant to some degree. The Christmas cactus stem segments lack pointed teeth and have more scalloped or rounded edges. 

There is another way to tell the difference. Sticking out from each blossom, the cluster of long, thin anthers will be tipped with pollen. If the color of the pollen is yellow, you more than likely have a Thanksgiving cactus, and if it's pink, you probably have a Christmas cactus. While the Christmas cactus stems hang down like a pendant, the Thanksgiving cactus has stems that grow upright at first and then arch. When figuring out which one of these cacti you have growing in your house, consider the age of your plant for some hints. In recent years, all sorts of new varieties have been produced with characteristics that blur the differences between the two species. These are what you're more likely to find for sale nowadays, instead of the original species-type plants. So if your plant is a young one from a garden center or grocery store, chances are it's a major mishmash between Christmas and Thanksgiving cacti, and maybe a few other related species. Who knows what all is mixed in? This plant is what we might call a "Mutt cactus." 

But if Grandma gave you a cutting off that 50-year-old plant growing on her kitchen window sill, you might actually have a straight-up Thanksgiving or Christmas cactus with nothing else mixed in. A pure-bred cactus for sure. 

Confused yet ?  Well, hang on because there is another look-alike cactus.

It's the Easter cactus. Yup. For those of you in to the Latin names, it's called Hatiora gaertneri (formerly classified as Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri), and it blooms in the spring. Its flaring, trumpet-shaped flowers have pointy pink or red petals.

If the “Y” shaped segment breaks off from one of your cactus branches,  just stick it in a pot of sterile soil or vermiculite. It will root in no time.

My cacti were all tiny when purchased and came in a plastic pot. I immediately replant them in a glass or terra cotta pot so that when they become root bound, I can just break the pot and lift the root ball into a larger 'breakable' pot. There is no way to lift that plant out by the top without breaking it to pieces. 

Below are photos of my Christmas and/or Thanksgiving cacti which could be held in the palm of my hand when I bought them.  You can see the

different colors of the pollen on some. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next lesson:  Is It Cacti or Cactuses ? 

 

Cactus plural: 

 

Cacti is a noun. It is the plural form of cactus, which refers to members of a family of spiny plants. Cacti are famous for having sharp

 

spines. They can survive extreme conditions by storing water in their stems for extended periods of time.

 

Cactuses is an alternative spelling of the same plural noun. According to Bryan Garner (2016), both are accepted variants. Cactuses is more common

 

in speech and ordinary usage, while cacti is favored in print sources and scientific uses.

 

Now, here's the kicker . . . In a sense it is a misnomer to call these plants a cactus. because they do not have the long prickly spines of the desert

 

cacti/cactuses. They do have the required areoles or sunken spots that put them in the cactus clan. 

 

There will be a test ! 

Suthern Words & Usage 39-51 with Dinosaurs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Purrfeck:  without defect or omission
To err is human. Nobody's purrfeck. 

Pigeon: act of tossing something
Betty Sue and aye wuz out back pigeon horseshoes.

Ratjeer:  specific place
I tode mah dawg to sit ratjeer. 

Saar: not sweet
Them peaches need to ripin' cuz thar really saar. 

S'matter: question
Wud s'matter widju? Yew ain't actin' rahyt. . 

Stale: tough metal
During 2020, we need nerves of stale just to be neurotic. 

Sumya'll: an adjective, adverb, pronoun, & contraction all rolled up into one word
Sumya'll have no idey what this post is about. 

Tapratter: antique writing machine
Mah tapratter needs a new ribbon.

Tarred: exhausted
Ah'm so tarred aye could sleep all daye.

Thank: have a particular opinion or belief
Aye thank it's gonna rahyne. 

Thangamajig: name for a gadget you can't remember the name of
Wud yew go git that thangamajig out of mah pickup truck?

Towed: past tense of tell
Aye towed him not to do dat. 

 

So how did that Brachiosaurus get all the way from Riggs Hill in Grand Junction, Colorado to the United Airlines Terminal 1, Concourse B in Chicago's O'Hare Airport?

In its heyday one-hundred-fifty million years ago the forty foot high, seventy-five foot long, giraffe-necked creature roamed around in my neighborhood. 

The Brachiosaurus was unearthed in 1900, and at the time was the largest dinosaur skeleton ever found. A fiberglass replica was cast in the early 1990s. Slight modifications had to be made to the dinosaur's posture so it would fit in the terminal 

Photo Above:  Two skeletons of a Spinosarus and a Stegosauarus have been located on the hill in our backyard. We're hoping they don't jump on a United flight to join their buddy in Chicago. 

 

Multiple Intelligences 2

This post follows the format of this YouTube Video Multiple Intelligences 2. (Clink the Link)

Objectives:(What We Gone Do Is)
Review Multiple Intelligences Video 1
Introduce Musical Rhythmical

1. Create a chart listing the 8 intelligences in rows on the left. List days of the week in columns at the top.  (See illustration in MI 1 post below.) 

2. Naturalist: Take a photo of a particular tree, flowers, shrubbery, etc. Wait a few days, then take a photo from the same vantage point. Observe the changes. This can be a year long activity as the trees changes with each season. 

3. Verbal-Linguistic: Read everyday. A fourth-grader should read about 40 minutes each day. If this seems too much in the beginning, start with 20 minutes and add 5 minutes each day. 

4. Intrapersonal: Write in a journal. An 'ABC Journal" is one of the easiest way to get started. 
    A: apple muffins
    B: bounced on trampoline
    C: Carla-counselor in There's a Boy in the Girls Bathroom
    D: Dunked donut in milk
    E: Etc . . . 

Children don't have to write in complete sentences. Journals don't necessarily need to be corrected for spelling.
But, sentence starters can be used: 
The best part of today was ____________________.
I like this about me. ________________________.

Visual-Spatial Quote:
"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.  ---Pablo Picasso

"Purple"
In first grade, Mr. Lohr said my purple teepee wasn't realistic enough, that purple was no color for a tent, that purple was a color for people who died, that my drawing wasn't good enough to hang with the others. I walked back to my seat counting the swish-swish-swish of my baggy corduroy trousers. With a black crayon, nightfall came to my purple tent in the middle of an afternoon.
In second grade, Mr. Barta said, "Draw anything." He didn't care what. I left my paper blank, and when he came around to my desk,  my heart beat like a tom-tom while he touched my head with his big hand and in a soft voice said, "The snowfall. How clean and white and beautiful. You are an artist. "

MUSICAL-RHYTHMICAL:

If you want children to remember something, teach it through or with music. One of the best ways to build a child's math reasoning is with music. Music helps us make connections. Have you ever heard a song that caused you to flashback to years ago? You remembered where you were? Who you were with? What you were wearing? Music is powerful in how it can stir up memories. It helps to make connections. 

The power of music can heal the body. It has been used for treatment of migraines, substance abuse, trauma, Parkinson's Disease, anxiety , high blood pressure. . . it is used during childbirth, with cancer patients . . . used to help calm down that ADHD student . . . 

Music can affect your mood. It can make you feel happy, enchanted, inspired, wistful, excited, empowered, comforted . . . have you ever turned up the volume to your tunes while cleaning house or working out, or running? 

Armies have marched to war with music. We lull our babies to sleep with lullabies. Stories have been handed down from generation to generation through chants. Cultures communicated with drum. 

When scheduling your day, offer your children choices from different genres of music:

Classical
Jazz
Blues
Patriotic
Rag Time
Piano
Acoustic guitar
Indian flute
Gregorian chants
Latin pop
Broadway hits
Gospel
And on and on. . .

Example:
Classical-Moonlight Sonata (Piano Sonata #14) and Beethoven's Fifth Symphony
Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
Do some research on Beethoven. Did you know many times he dipped his head into cold water before composing? That he began losing his hearing at age 26? That he sawed off the legs of his piano to feel the vibrations and composed music with his ear to the floor? That his handwriting was so bad that musicologists had difficulty authenticating his works?

The 'assignment' doesn't have to be anymore in depth than this to being with. 

Three of my students' favorite pieces were:

'Moonlight Sinatra'
'Beethoven's Fifth Sympathy'
'Canon Indeed by Johann Tacobell'

My students were making connections with words they already knew to new words: Sonata, Symphony, Pachelbel...
The Velcro Technique of Learning and Teaching.

Music is the Universal Language. We all understand it in some way or another. 

 

 

 

Ladybug, Ladybug . . . Fly Away Home !

Every-once-in-a-while the teacher in me just has to grab a bunch of kiddos and play school with them.  While visiting in hot and humid 'Okrahoma,' the opportunity presented itself.  The street the grandkids live on has oodles and kaboodles of kids. . . of all ages . . . of all sizes !

So, it just seemed the obvious thing to do was order 1,500 ladybugs and host a Ladybug Release Party. 

I mean, doesn't everyone order bugs and invite kids to chase them ?

Parker created the invitations and Wyatt kept a watchful eye on the ladybugs while they slept in the refrigerator.

Yes, you heard me. We kept them in the refrigerator until the evening of the release.

This calms them down from their shipping experience where they will 'sleep' and live off their 'body fat' until it's time to release them.  They appear dead but become active when warmed up.

The ladybugs can be stored up to 3 months, but it depends on the time of year, and some losses can be expected the longer they are stored.  They need to be sprinkled with water periodically.

The ladybugs arrived with detailed instructions from Hirt's Gardens.

Because I wanted to make sure they arrived while I was here, we chose the express shipping.
They flew in two days later !

For our little project we had the ladybugs, an insect contraption-thingy, small plastic containers with lids, magnifying glasses. and a spray bottle with a nectar mixture which was included with the ladybugs.

It is suggested to release the ladybugs at early evening and to water all the foliage where they will be released.  Once the foliage has been cooled off, you grab Jim and his parents to sugar-coat all the foliage first.

Safety is of utmost importance when dealing with ladybugs, so some of the kiddos came wearing helmets.

Pops and Aunt Lenie seemed to be involved in other topics of discussion.

 

Guess whose kid isn't too sure she wants to participate ?

After the release, we were finding the ladybugs everywhere.

Pops and Aunt Lenie even combed through the grass looking for them.

It helps to have a flashlight because it gets dark fairly quickly.

The magnifying glasses have a two-fold purpose.
Using them in this manner makes the whole world appear larger.

Instead of captioning every picture that follows, it pretty evident that this was a successful neighborhood block party . . .

 

 

 

 

Some people believe ladybugs bring good luck.

We hope that joining in and reading this post about our ladybug extravaganza will bring good luck to you ! 

 

 There are many Nursery Rhyme versions, here's one:

Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home.

Your house is on fire;

Your children all roam.

Except little Nan

Who sits in her pan

Weaving her laces as fast as she can.

 

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Guess Who's Coming to Dinner ?

Actually, the title should read, "Guess Who's Coming to Breakfast?"

Or better, "Guess Who Came to Breakfast and Scared the BeeJeeBus out of My Birds."

 

 

 

These were all snapped in less than forty-five seconds.

Mr. Wiley Coyote and the Roadrunner . . .

Well, maybe Mr. Wiley Coyote and the Raven is a better description:

When I went out to feed the critters this morning, I wasn't expecting to see this one.

There was much sqawking and carrying on at the rocks behind the house which perked my ears up and got me to thinking something wasn't just quite right with the Ravens.

Evidently, Mr. Wiley Coyote was much too close to the nest.

He also wasn't much concerned that this Raven and about five others were more than just agitated at his presence.

This particular coyote has frequented the neighborhood for about three years. 

He has a distinguished coat that looks more like a calico cat . . . mottled orange, white, gray, and black.  (Makes me wonder if the neighbor's calico cat rendezvoused with a coyote at some time or another. Probably not.)

Mr. Wiley has been known to parade up and down the middle of the street in the evening hours, not disturbed by anyone, anything, or any car.  He seems to think it's his road.

He does antagonize the dogs.  ALL of them because every dog within a 5-mile radius starts barking at the same time when he's in the vicinity.

The freaky thing is, I noticed him looking in my window one time, standing only about 8 feet from the house.

Just not that thrilled  he feels so comfortable . . . so close !

 

 

Rhododendron

While visiting friends in Atlanta, I made my way to their lush backyard and enjoyed many, many beautiful flowers including the rhododendrons . . .

Wylie Coyote

There have been any number of critters visit our place in the past few years.  The most common ones are chipmunks, ground squirrels, rabbits, skunks . . .yes, skunks who have left their mark under our deck and on our dogs.  There have been reports of bobcats. Actually, our neighbors up the hill have videos of several playing on their deck. Then, there's the illusive mountain lion.  We've never seen him, but the neighbors one house away have.  Footrprints have been seen everywhere.  That really gives me the willy-nilly-eeby-jeebie-creeps.

And then, there's the coyotes.  Lots and lots of coyotes.  Their yip-yip-yip early in the morning, late at night, and in the wee hours of the morning send our dogs into a frenzy. It's not unusual to see several during the week, but they are usually quite a distance away.

Last week, the dogs didn't go into a frenzy.  They went Ape-$hi+ crazy !  I knew exactly why they almost tore the door down trying to get outside, but I never did see the coyote.

This happened several times before I finally spotted the little critter. . .

. . . and he spotted me.  
Wylie stood on that rock for quite sometime before he . . .

. . . turned to go. 

He may be wondering if the box from Acme was delivered by FedEx today . . .

Most of you who read here are too young to know what I'm talking about.

Meep ! Meep !  Va-R-o-o-o-o-o-m !

Question:  Do you say "ky-o-tee" or "ky-oat?"

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I can NOT believe she was voted off American Idol. 
She was my favorite !

Here's an interview with Pia after the show.

Just Foolin' (around with) Mother Nature

While in Seattle the other day, I spotted this in my daughter and her husband's backyard...

All this to ask, anyone know what kind of flower this is ?

Good Morning...Grand Junction, Colorado

Grab a cup of coffee...or tea...or maybe stir up a Bloody Mary and join me on my balcony for today's sunrise.  The first photo was taken at 6:06 a.m. and the last one was taken at 6:37 a.m. (Swampwitch Time.)

Sunrise over Mt. Garfield...

 

That's not a spot on your monitor. That's a bird, so stop trying to scratch it off.

"We can only appreciate the miracle of a sunrise if we have waited in the darkness."

"With each sunrise, we start anew."

"What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives ?"   --E.M. Forster

If you have a favorite sunrise quote, please share it with us.