Happenings – beverlyrevelry

So I fixed the washing machine last night. My smugness about that was a bit tempered, however, by the discovery that I was the one who broke it in the first place. It all started innocently enough; I decided the other day to wash Lydia’s bedroom rug (just a little floor mat no bigger than a bath towel). To be safe, I checked the care tag and followed the washing instructions. As promised, the rug was quite safe from the washer. Unfortunately, the reverse was not also true.
Last night I took off the filter cap and what seemed like gallons of dirty water poured out. Trapped in the filter itself were several large wads of pink lint. Combined with the lint that rushed out with the water, there was at least a cup of filter blockage working overtime to stop the washer from draining. I felt a bit shamefaced when I told Olof what had been the problem, but at least we didn’t pay a repairman to deliver that verdict.
Apparently even the humdrum world of geranium fanciers isn’t immune to internet drama. My latest favorite haunt, the Swedish Pelargon Society has been plagued for the past day-and-a-half by the uncermonious closing of its forum and the accompanying hysteria, disbelief, outrage, etc. The society’s board has been curiously close-mouthed about the whole affair, which only adds fuel to the fire.
I heard a rumor that it snowed this morning in a town about an hour’s drive north of us. I want to dismiss it as nothing more than a cruel jest, but it is after all mid-September and I’d probably do well to start preparing myself for the onslaught of winter. We still haven’t had a frost, so I’m hoping the snow is still at least a couple of weeks away. I don’t want to take any chances, though, so I’ve moved all the plants inside.
I’ve abandoned peat plugs as my rooting medium of choice, as they’re just not doing the trick for me. This morning I threw away at least twenty cuttings that were molding or rotting or just generally going nowhere in their little clumps of peat. I took another dozen and stuck them in potting soil. I think I’ve rooted only ten or fewer cuttings in the fifty or so I’ve started in peat, so I’m going back to soil. The cuttings take more space that way, but saved space is hardly a benefit if all my plants die, and I don’t think I’ve lost any cuttings that I started in soil.