The ebbing wind...

The wind was a distraction yesterday and last night, as it made an interesting - and loud - array of noises while it pawed at the house and everything around it. A few times, just when I thought it couldn't get any louder, it did. It is pretty cold outside, about 20°F, and there's still some pretty brisk breezes out there right now, which make for a pretty impressive wind-chill factor.

The local market put its orchids on sale yesterday, at 50% off (making them less expensive than the cut bouquet I bought for Galina). I managed to pick up a nice Phalaenopsis with a half-dozen or so buds on the main stalk, with several other branching stalks in evidence. I don't know if "more is better" in this regard, as I recall there's an old gardener's trick of pruning new blossoms on some plants to force them to put all of their procreative energy into a few selected blossoms. We'll see.

One thing I have noticed, is that if you leave an orchid completely alone, open flowers tend to last almost forever. The flower whose photo I posted at the end of January, for example, still looks perky, and has been joined by a second flower. In the past, I've observed that if I disturb such plants - and especially if I touch the flowers - the blooms soon wither and fall off.

I've got to turn to on checking an item due shortly. Then I should start on an item that's bumped the material due tomorrow morning out to next week.

Cheers...