Going "Potty!"

Hi All!

First of all - no, this isn't a bathroom related post. Second, it isn't referring to any illegal substance. It is referring to my weekend task of repotting several of my houseplants!

For several weeks now I have been intending to go purchase some new, bigger pots to transfer some of my plants into. My poor ficus has been residing in a pot which was woefully small. My Shefflera has been routinely showing its disdain for the small pot it has been living in by letting its water overflow onto our carpet. And my Christmas cactus . . . it has even gone to the lengths of dropping large portions of itself in an effort to draw attention to the fact that its roots were needing some "breathing room."

So - off I headed to Home Depot with Hubby in tow. We checked out ALL of the pots and debated their various merits before finally heading home with two new pots in the back seat of my car. The need for a third pot was negated - after much discussion - by the fact that there will be a pot of the correct size available after the Shefflera is repotted.

Once home I got out the potting soil and spread a layer of newspaper out on the kitchen floor so that the mess wouldn't become too extreme. Normally I repot on the back patio but it was raining so . . . it was the kitchen.

First up was the Christmas cactus - or what was left of it after it showed me its displeasure by dropping half of itself onto the carpet. It is now safely (and happily, I hope) ensconced in its new pot and looking quite sharp. Skor got into the "helping" mode by making sure that the bag of potting soil was okay. I had quite a task to keep him out of the bag while trying to get dirt into the new pots. It was a bit humorous to see Skor with his white fur covered in black potting soil. Of course, Hubby wasn't too pleased with the tiny black footprints which wound their way through my music room!

After the cactus I did the shefflera -- it also needed a good trim to keep it from getting too lanky. Then I scrubbed out the old Shefflera pot and the ficus got a new home as well.

With all the plants safely into their new abodes, I settled down to clean up the dirt on the floor - helpfully scattered by my two adorable kitties!

Even though repotting plants is a bit of work, it certainly feels good to get your hands dirty and to work with soil. I can't wait for the weather to get a bit better so I can work in my flowerbed outside. It is a good stress reliever!

Trisha

Voice Update: Doing fairly well. I still have some problems but the exercises are taking care of them pretty rapidly. My neck and back are too tight due to stress from my class. I really need to make an effort to get that "thumper" working so I can deal with those tight muscles before they sabotage my voice!