Well, Thank Goodness That's Over!

And by "that" I mean February 2011. I don't know why February was chosen to be the one with 28 days, (yes, I know I can look it up, and I will) but I sure do appreciate it. I don't think I could stand two or three more days of such a horrible month. I've written before, at length, about how much I hate winter weather, and this February was a doozy in that respect. This year was Chicago's snowiest February ever. And that doesn't cover the sleet, freezing rain, and other nastiness. But I've come to take that sort of thing in stride. After all, as long as I've got my health...

Yeah, right. The day after I made my last post here on February 7, I came down with what I thought would be a minor cold. I was feeling somewhat rundown on Thursday, and was sick enough to take it a little bit easy on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. But I rallied enough on Monday the 14th to have a nice Valentine's Day dinner out with my husband. I still had some symptoms, but felt well enough for the next two days. Then that Thursday, a feeling of fatigue hit me like a freight train, followed by what was to become the worst cold I've had in my adult life. I was sick in bed for the rest of the month. I've had the flu in the past, and even that wasn't as bad. Today, I'm still not 100%, but I feel confident that the worst is over.

Things got a bit neglected here among the leaves. Some plants went a bit too long between waterings. The whitefly infestation hit my four hibiscus plants again, badly enough that I've decided not to play around. They are gone, and I'll do my best to replace them this spring and summer. As far as some of my other plants are concerned, I have a bit of damage control ahead of me.

I did get something done before all this hit. In addition to making the new terrarium, and renovating the old ones, I managed to get one of my favorite plants, my 11 year old Zamioculcas zamiifolia, into a new spot, where I could see it and appreciate it more:

Zamioculcas zamiifolia up on a pedestal. In its previous location, it was the victim of naughty kitty Luke, who was trying to get outside by opening the window the ZZ was near. The result is claw holes on several leaflets.

I moved the Monstera deliciosa, which used to be displayed in that spot, to a new location upstairs. I've been having a little trouble with it, and may write about that in future posts, but I expect it to come out fine with a little TLC. It had better. I grew it from a seed and there are few plants in my collection that are dearer to my heart.

In closing this little tale of woe, I want to say that I missed writing for this blog, I'm happy to be back, and here's to a more prolific March.