Is it spring already?

[Updated] Photos of the newly-bloomed orchid!

Hannah and I have been really sick since last Friday. The cold that had been going around the university finally caught up with both of us. Although these two weeks is the mid-semester break, we still have marking responsibilities. Therefore, it really sucks to be sick, and face that huge pile of unmarked scripts.

It seems that Spring is here! Again! Time just slips by. There is supposed to be a nasty cold storm coming through today, which will make it feel like mid-winter again, but we have warmer days to look forward to. The other day, I noticed there is a small bud on the grapevine - which is definitely a sign of spring coming. The orchids are blooming really nice this year as well. It has been dormant for two years. I fragged them two years ago, and I think it takes time for them to recuperate. I think it's time to get some nice terracotta pots and bring these nice flowers indoors :)

Quite a summer so far

It has been quite a busy summer so far!.... We went to the city last week to get as many things from the DIY store for materials on Fawkes remodelling. Besides that, we found and bought a couple more items - a chair, garden shed, fish tank, cupboard for putting the fish tank on, kitchen cabinet for the van remodelling. All the items were bought used from trademe (equivalent to ebay in NZ). We also went to Martha's Backyard to get some US local food :)... We also managed to score a new grill which is highly discounted!

Putting the garden shed together was an ordeal because the instructions are so confusing. We finally gave up on following the instructions and came up with our own methods. It looks great when everything is done, although there are numerous screws which we do not know where they belong to! The garden shed is going to be used to store tools etc, so that Hannah have more space for her yard in her creative room.

Food from Martha's Backyard

The dwarf orchid is blooming as well!

The new fish tank!... Nano size... 20gal!

The garden shed

Me pretending to be a red-neck on the grill....
look at the size of the steak :)

   

Orchids are blooming

After 2 years of caring for the orchids, they are finally blooming. Since I got the orchids two years ago, I have been carefully adding nutrients to help them grow, separating the buds, bringing them out in the sun, bringing them in the house to "escape" the cold winter etc.... Finally, this spring see the blooming of the two orchid plants. I don't remember their species names, but one of the them have huge, yellowish-green color flowers. The other I can only see the buds, so still waiting :)

Oh, the grapevine has started fruiting as well.

Glimpse of spring

It has been a while since I post  here. My day usually starts with squeezing in an hour in the morning reading and replying emails, do a quick check on facebook :P, and then start working in the lab. After that, a quick lunch and start writing the proposal or papers until rushing to the ferry to get home at about 5pm. At home, the whole writing starts again after dinner and a quick break. Weekdays, weekends.... everyday seems to blend together into one LONG day! It has been busy.

Managed to caught a quick glimpse of spring the other day when I was working at home.

It has been raining all these time... pretty rainbow after the rain

The daffodil is blooming

The pomegranate is budding

Even the long awaited orchid flowers are budding this year!