Expanding

We've been living here in Florida for a bit over 4 years now. My son has grown up here, and other than a brief stint back up in Maine, this is all he knows. Yet, I've always just had it in my head that I wouldn't be living here for long. The first week we moved here I was homesick. So homesick that I would just lay there at night trying to figure out how to get the hell out of the sunshine state.

I guess now, I'm realizing that maybe if I give it more of a chance......I won't have as much time to hate it. The Boy loves it here because there is rarely a day we can't spend outside. This is the place I've suddenly found my green thumb. Lucky for me because it has helped keep me sane amidst my acclimation to the heat.

I have friends and family up in New England still. And, though a certain cousin will hate that I'm writing this...it was down here that I became a baseball fan. Thanks to the Tampa Bay Rays, I've finally understood what all the hype was about.

I guess my point is, I should stop dwelling and ruminating about getting out of here. I'm here, and I should focus on now.

Houseplants and fungus gnats

I'm pretty new to houseplants. Actually, with the exception of two rather large "lucky bamboo" plants I have in my kitchen and a couple of cactus plants, I only plant things outdoors. I recently have been reading and getting more interested in growing indoors.

After some random trips to garden centers, I ended up falling in love with the golden pothos. It is pretty fool proof according to all the books I've read, and it also looks nice hanging in my house. OK, so I ended up buying four. Three for us, and one for a gift for my Mom.

I noticed that we seemed to have some "fruit flies" hanging around. No big deal, considering I live in Florida. Right?

Well, then I realized they were living in my beautiful newly potted golden pothos plants. Not on the plants, but in the soil. So, after much research, I have concluded they are a common pest called fungus gnats. And, I had to inform my Mom that I gave her an infested houseplant.

If anyone knows of another solution to the problem, feel free to tell me. But, for now I'm trying the solution I found on gardenweb. Soak a mosquito dunk in water, and when it is fully dissolved water the plants with it. It should kill all the larvae without causing any environmental issues in my home. I guess sometimes you have to do it a couple cycles, but they do not harm your plant. Oh, and apparently they don't harm humans either!

Hello poor neglected blog.

It has been awhile, hasn't it? Almost two months since I've posted. I think I have been busy focusing on so many other things, I just didn't know what I had left to give to my blog.

But, I'm feeling a renewed energy lately. I'm going to try to post a few times a week and go from there.

So, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year. May you all have a wonderful 2009!