How To Prune Philodendrons

Now that seems like a silly post title, "How to Prune Philodendrons", but if you get as many Google referrals as I do, you will notice that the search term "HOW TO" is ubiquitous.  (I love that word.)  People constantly search for "how to" do something.  On my Google analytics dashboard page, that term of "how to" is everywhere, so this will be a test post just to see how many hits I get from this topic of how to prune philodendrons.  (Believe it or not, my post found here on pig feet is my number ONE referral to this blog! Who knew pigs would draw such a crowd?)

So even though this mundane chore of pruning household plants might not interest you, dear reader, someone out there on the world wide web might be searching for just this topic that will make me a long distance teacher.  Here goes.

HOW TO PRUNE A PHILODENDRON
If your plants are getting leggy, with too few leaves along the stem, or if the leaves are spaced out too far apart and it looks like the stem is becoming thick, scissor intervention is necessary.  Now is the time to be ruthless, all for the good of the plant.  See how large the plant is? See the stems?

OK: now for a closer look at the roots and you can really see those legs that appear anemic, woody,  and too close together.  Tsk, tsk.

Next step: get out some new potting soil, some jars with water for sustaining your cuttings, a pair of scissors, and an aggressive attitude.

Take out the soil and plant from the pot, cut through those roots, discard the old roots at the bottom of the plant, and start your cutting.

Ensure that you have a nodule at the end with a bit of a root attached as this will help the root cutting adapt to the new soil.

Discard all the leggy runners.  Keep the shorter stems, again ensuring that a nodule is attached.  You should cut off leaves close to the nodule because you do not want any green leaf touching the water where they will stay until new roots have developed.

From just one plant, here is a picture of the salvaged leaves now in water awaiting new roots to grow.

With those stems that have been trimmed, roots longer than two inches mercilessly cut off from the main stem, they can be buried into the new potting soil.  Add even more soil to the top to ensure stability of the stem.  Here are two of the newly potted plants, looking much healthier and with more room to breathe.

From three plants I re-potted yesterday, we now have five jars of leaf and stem cuttings in water awaiting their roots to develop.  One jar is on the kitchen windowsill and the other four are tucked away in filtered light awaiting the same fate.  Maybe we should go into philodendron farming since there are so many awaiting future planting.  Would you like to adopt a jar?  Free for the taking!

Church Banners: 26th Week in Ordinary Times

Today begins the 26th week in the church liturgical calendar of Ordinary Times prior to the Christmas Season. Decorations were changed from the ones posted here several months ago at The American Lutheran Church to the new pieces shown below.

First, the centerpiece of the wall decorations is a quilt made by Pat McCarroll who entered into this humble McCarroll clan in 1974, bringing along her crafting skills that eventually culminated in her expert quilting arts.  Unfortunately she cannot see well enough now to continue with her crafts, but she generously loaned our church this autumn quilt of a tree with a wee squirrel at the base of the tree trunk. Don't you think the purples in the quilt really make the oranges and yellows pop?

To the upper right of the wall scheme is a picture of a coreopsis I painted ten years ago.  After adding a bit of purple to the background, I then borrowed it from the living room of our house to re-hang at church.

This is the completed collage with foam board covered in coordinating fall fabrics to round out the autumnal colors.

Psalm 124 for today's reading:

If the LORD was not fighting for us when men attacked:  they would have eaten us alive because they were so angry, waters would have rushed over us and a deep river would be over our heads, the angry waters would have gone over our heads and drowned us. We will say good things to the LORD. He did not let them eat us. We are free and still alive, like a bird that got out of a trap. The trap became broken and we are free.The name of the person that sent us help is the LORD. He made heaven and earth.

May you all have a blessed 26th week in Ordinary Times.

Knitting and Household Tips from Long Ago

One of my favorite things to do is look back at old references.  And of course, knitting patterns hold my attention, and housekeeping tips are fun to look back on and chuckle over.  How did our great, great, etc. grandmothers ever do it all without the "conveniences" we now consider necessities?  It was not that long ago that I remember my grandmother telling about the days when she had to make her own sanitary products from discarded bed sheets. Can we even imagine that? I  think not.

But I digress.  Joyce James, who guides tours through Scotland and is an avid knitter, gave references here about old knitting books and says, in part: 

I've just had a cursory look through some of the pages and it's interesting to read about the knitting techniques, vocabulary and patterns and how they have changed. Which is not surprising considering how far back the collection stretches. Who knits a "Sontag" or "Cephaline" anymore? (From the 1844 issue of My Knitting Book.) 

Another book, printed by The Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen, titled Helping the Trawlers and dated 1800, has a long list of patrons and vice-patrons. In addition to patterns for clothing to help seamen withstand the harsh weather on open ships, there is a section for donations to Labrador. 

source

Go here for Digital Resources from the Knitting Reference Library WSA.  It has books from the early 1800's.

And as far as references for household management, you just cannot beat the Mrs. Beaton's Book of Household Management (free on Kindle).

And The Whitehouse Cookbook (1887) Cooking, Toilet and Household Recipes, Menus, Dinner-Giving, Table Etiquette, Care of the Sick, Health Suggestions, Facts ... [free Kindle Edition] is a real look into the White House management from the 1800's.

It was not a simple life.

This is what I just finished knitting after perusing old references on knitting: baby booties with the free pattern found here.

Mrs. Mouse made a great photo opportunity with the booties.

Some things from the past just cannot be replicated.

 Beatrix Potter is one of my favorites.  You can see all of her illustrations at this site.