Well this little fella is named Petey, he's one of the first plants that my hubby purchased for me. He didn't have any glued-on straw flower, thankfully, but today while sitting on my happy deck I noticed that there was a little something on him! Keep in mind that little Petey is a tiny nub of a cactus, even after these past three years of me loving him dearly and praying for him to grow and repotting him in the optimist-pot with lots of growing room and a special blend of soil mixed myself. Nope, nothing. He's just a midget. This bloom is probably his last grasp at reproduction before he kicks the bucket. I WILL have a funeral, should that happen! Petey is precious just for being one of the first.
What a pretty little flower though, huh? And if it hadn't been for the kids I might have missed the window of photographic opportunity for it! Who knows how long this tiny little beauty will be with us. It was completely by chance that I saw it in the first place, as you'll see below.
I went to WWKIP day this morning at Panera Bread on Old Hickory Blvd. I rode the motorcycle & took my older son Kieffer. They had free coffee/cokes and snacks for the knitters. For that, Kieffer knitted in public. I noticed a friend's little girl take several pictures of Kieffer "CrazySkillet" knitting, so there will be an opportunity later to get proof, because I didn't remember to take my own camera. :(
When we got home, I did the kids' hair for them. It's been our long-standing family tradition to let them do whatever they want with their hair when they're out of school on Summer break. When they were littler, they wanted mohawks and spikes and things, as they've gotten older they have wanted different colors.
First I had to bleach their hair out. I used a generic bleach kit that they picked out from WalMart. After I got it into their hair I made them go outside onto the porch to wait because PHEW it's ammonia-ey! They each also got one of the application gloves I'd used when putting it in, because it makes your head itchy. It allowed them to fiddle & scratch while they waited.
After we washed the bleach out, we went back outside for pictures. It's kinda orangey, isn't it? But it still opens up the hair strands to allow the crazy dyes to soak in & show up better. So out we came to take pics & let their hair dry a hot minute before the colors go on.
I had both boys bend over to get better pictures of their "blonde" hair, and THAT is when I noticed little Petey's flower! Look at him! Right down there under Keegan's head. Soon as I saw Petey, I rushed to the door & yelled for Jeremy: "PJ, COME QUICK, IT'S PETEY!!!!!" Of course, he doesn't remember that the stupid cactus' name is Petey, he comes flying upstairs in a panic from my tone of voice, thinking some neighborhood child has been injured. I wish I had a picture of the expression (glare) I got when he realized that he'd run upstairs at warp speed for a flower. Ha ha ha ha!
Soon as the excitement of the flower ran down a little, I put the dyes in their hair. Blue for Keegan, Violet for Kieffer. Then back onto the porch. Not because the dyes stink, they really didn't have a scent, but because they immediately and permanently stain every surface they come in contact with and I didn't want to be angry at the boys for any "accidents".
This is the final result! Within a few days they will need to re-apply because they'll be faded pastel. Then it'll be my Mom's problem, since I'm dropping both boys (and their respective dyes) off at her house tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully they'll be there for the majority of the Summer. I'm sure the first few days will be nice... but after that I'll be missing them too much to really enjoy myself. I guess I'll make a lot of time for knitting & see what I can accomplish.
2 comments:
That is A.W.E.S.O.M.E.
I hope your kids know how cool a mom they have.
What dude they didn't go Pink to match Petey's flower??? It would have been PERFECT!
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