Rare orchid stanhopea blooms at Treborth Botanic Garden

The Stanhopea -- Now that is Flower Power.

The BBC story says:

"A rare orchid has flowered unexpectedly amid unseasonably warm November temperatures, giving botanic garden visitors a chocolate scented treat."

Chocolate?

OK, so now we can already switch the topic to food.

I'm a fan of chocolate. It's an amazing thing...And I may have had more than my fair share of hot cocoa this week.

I have seen this plant with my very own eyes and can tell you it truly does smell of mint chocolate. What a suprise to see a Welsh word in our headline. I have an orchid flowering happily on my kitchen windowsill. I suppose the climate in there varies as to how much cooking I'm doing. It does flower at strange times but I don't lie awake worrying about the end of the world if my plants bloom at non-textbook times, just enjoy the show.

Alas! Just read the tail end of yesterday's. How dare they meddle with Park4's medals?

haze, you deserve to have an orchid flowering happily on your kitchen windowsill.

Brightens the day of each of us in the Village.

Chocolate!  Need I say more?

Andy~ Say more! An essay on the wonders of chocolate would be great. Subliminally prompted by the voice of the village, I went out for milk and croissants this morning and sneaked a bar of super dark rocket fuel chocolate into my shopping basket.

Hazel ~ Not only do I sneak one (usually two or three or four) dark chocolate bars into my basket, but I've been known to share with friends as well.....as long as it's not my last piece.  After all, I reason, they're good for your heart and so, I keep one (or two or three) of those bars, broken up in a little plastic sandwich bag in my purse just in case there's an emergency need for chocolate and to remain healthy. 

Life is one long chocolate emergency for me. How divine it would be to have gorgeous flowers emanating that divine fragrance!

I discovered bittersweet morsels (chips) in the baking aisle this week so I am going to make cookies today using them.....

Thank you Mr. P.for such an evocative topic.

It's amazing this frame of reference thing. Why couldn't it be chocolate that smells like orchid? Or gator, hmmm...perhaps rattlesnake that tastes like chicken? If you do smell rotten eggs run like a bat outta hell (actually fly) and don't strike a match. Gone Grinching. Don't stare at any gift horses.

CHEFD.......................I take those same morsels & melt them & spread them on peanut butter cookies. I am making some now & will get them in the mail before noon. Are you making chocolate chip cookies????????????? I'm coming over......................
 
HAZEL..........................I heard the story about the pregnant Welsh cat that they thought was in a Goodwill bin. People heard the meowing & the police finally carted the bin to a place that could blast the lock off. When they got it open it was a mechanical cat toy! So, did they find the missing pregnant mama cat? Signed, very concerned in Mississippi.........
 
Chocolate.....................mmmmmmmmmmmmm...........................
 
Orchids.......................lovely...........................
 
TT.....................Great Grinching today!
 
ANDY........................a very prudent woman you are.....................

Tommy~ We have a fungus called Stinking Willy - It is penis shaped and whhewwww! it stinks like something that's been dead for a fortnight.
 

Haze- life imitates flora imitates human anatomy. Boys are made of what?

bebe~ by the time I saw that cat story it was already a silly story.  Never heard what happened to the missing cat - she was probably holed up in a safe place having her kittys. Hope she's OK.

TT~ I can't remember the whole ditty, but it went something like Little girls are made of sugar and spice and Little Boys are made of Snaps and snails and Puppy Dogs Tails .... Never did understand that.

.......and for those that do not have time to bake -- Trader Joe's has these wonderful cookies, only one time a year (so of course I had to buy about six boxes); chocolate covered stars.  I did share, and now everyone I've given them to is addicted.

Hazel: I learned it as Snips and Snails--but who knows.  Over here they sing Ring around the rosie, but then go Ashes, Ashes, we all fall down--I learned that as Atchoo, Atchoo. 
 
A weather-related, maybe, story in the NYTimes this morning talked about last year being an absolutely record year for acorns--250 lbs. for one tree.  We had the same problem in Florida.  The oak trees were popping acorns everywhere.  This year apparently you can hardly fine one acorn per tree.
 
I have found living in Floida that cymbidians which are mounain orchids will only flower if you empty a bucket of ice cubes on them in the fall.  It works.
 
Off to Live at the Met!  Have a great weekend everybody.

oh to be near a Trader Joe's ANDY....I am not a baked goods snob. Much as I love homemade there is a place in my heart for everything from Little Debbie Swiss Rolls to Oreos and everything in between! Starbucks sells a wonderful Espresso Brownie and a family favorite is the Chocolate Wafer Whipped Cream Log. And there are times in life where nothing is better than an Ice Cream Sandwich.

HAZEL I love Stinking Willie! Americans are too repressed to ever name something like that.....if someone can correct me please do.

BEBE I am thinking Oatmeal Chocolate Chip but then, why? Regular choc chips are so good, but I love to experiment. hmmmmmmmmm.

Have no idea why I'm not a big chocolate fan, so will be making oatmeal cookies with cranraisend and pecans.
 
My poor orchid my daughter gave me has not bloomed in two years.  Last thing I was told was leave it alone almost to the point of ignoring it.  So I'm trying that method. 

Let's see...I learned "sugar and spice and everything nice" for girls and "snakes and snails and puppy dog tails" for boys.
 
Like you VeraM, I learned "Ashes, ashes", but many years later was finally told why the rhyme originated and the correct phrase is "Atchoo, atchoo." 

Dance a ring of roses
A pocketfull of posies
Atiishoo! atishoo!
We all fall down.
 
Don't remember what the ring of roses was for
The pocketful of posies were aromatics to ward off the stench of death
If you went "Atishoo! atishoo!" you'd almost certainly be dead of the plague in a few days - hence the 'we all fall down.'
The sweet little songs children invent!
 
I cannot mention the word without thinking of my newly scrbubbed and tootpaste kissy son who was just learning to read asking me what plague is. I launched into an explain and he said "No Haze, it has something to do with teeth!"
 
 

I learned "ring a round a rosy" which was the red ring that formed around the pox mark.  Sure did have to do with the plague.  Also I've heard "Ashoo, ashoo" which you can see can become "Ashes, ashes."
 
How did we ever go from orchids and chocolate to this "delightful" subject?

Rusty~ Yes, that it what it  was. Gruesome topic, but amazing what a bunch of kids can make a game out of. It sounds so innocent, doesn't it?
 

VeraM~ If you want acorns, bring some buckets over here. We had a glut this year and so many berries of every kind and nuts- if you can beat the squirrels to them. Next year there will be a shortage, seems to go that way.

VeraM, It seems Virginia got all your acorns.  I was recently on the Bull Run Mountains and as a walked the trail I was crushing acorns under foot.  The trip north would not be as expensive, but it wouldn't be a wonderful as traveling to Wales to get acorns.  Do you really want some because I could send some off to you.  It would be much more fun to take up Hazel's offer, though.

And if we go to stay with HAZEL we can all go to see the orchids.
 

I Googled the right name for Stinking Willie and it's Stinkhorn Fungus - so not a lot of difference there.
 

HAZEL lol!

G'day all! Sorry I missed replying to yesterday's post. But this is so serious I have to reply. I have tried to make it as simple as possible and have reposted it here, in 3 parts to make easier reading
Paolos, I probabaly shouldn't have used the word "valuable" but without going into a treatise of what makes money money, it was one that just popped up. One of the most important qualities of money is of course scarcity, which in the case of the US$, gets less and less every time more is printed. I think everyone agrees that the problem today is too much debt. At a very simple level, there are only these solutions to debt that cannot be repaid

(1) You are forgiven (individual and sovereign level)

(2) You declare bankruptcy (individual, corporate and sovereign level)

(3) You borrow even more to cover your debts (individual, corporate and sovereign levels)

(4) You print more money to pay it off (sovereign level)

The immediate crisis is the Eurozone and whether we like it or not, it WILL affect everyone because the world is so open and connected.  

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/10/23/sunday-review/an-overview-of-the-euro-crisis.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=thab1 ;

Those who think that the US is big enough to survive on its own is only partially right because your banking institutions are at risk due to their exposure in Europe. Money is to the economic system as
blood is to the human body. Of the four solutions above, which do you think is right, acceptable or agreeable in each case you hear today? Greece had been given option (1) with bankers willing to take a "haircut" (ie forgive or write off) 50% of their outstandings. (actually it's more like 30% as alot of "borrowings" were not counted in the "forgiveness" table but now (the cheek of it) Greece wants 90%

It's almost midnight in Wales, so nos da, dear people. x

Here's more absurd facts....the EFSF (European stability fund, you have heard it in the news) has been specially created to tackle this mess; its only mandate is to print bonds.  Bonds are IOUs paying interest to lenders. So, this stability fund has NO MONEY, it is only a bag of IOUs which it tries to sell!! Russia and China, approached to buy these IOUs have said NO! You would be careful too because, these bonds or debt papers are guaranteed by the eurozone nations in the proportion that they contribute to the European Central Bank (ECB). Spelling that out, it means every IOU is 4.8%
guaranteed by Greece, Ireland and Portugal. Throw in Italy, Spain and France, every IOU is about 40% guaranteed by the very nations now crying out for bailouts!!  

Now, they are looking at solution (4) but the ECB is a lame duck and needs to amend their  constitution to allow it to. Germans really hate that and will fight it as much as possible because of their nightmarish inflation experience in Weimar Germany  (check out Adam Fergusson's "When Money Dies", reveiw at Amazon: 

 http://www.amazon.com/When-Money-Dies-Devaluation-Hyperinflation/dp/1586489941/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322878980&sr=8-1)

In our current time, the ultimate printer of money has been Zimbabwe where hyperinflation reached more than (estimated as it runs too fast) 231million % p.a

http://www.financialjesus.com/financial-crisis/inflation-in-zimbabwe-pictures-2/ ;

The US is in a unique position. Its debt is unquestionably on an unsustainable course and all of us, including non-Americans should be concerned. It has also been printing money, lots and lots of it. What is the difference between Zimbabwe and the US? No one wants the Zimbabwean currency but the US$, because of its role as a "reserve currency" (ie all treasurys of the world can count it in their accounting + everyone else uses it) it is in a unique position. Some ~40% of its debt is also held in foreign hands, with the loans denominated in US$.....so,  <rather funny if it's not so serious> ...when the US can't pay China or Japan the interest on the loans, it can actually print more US$ to pay them! Obviously, it can happen only for a while till your borrowers get fed up; there is already a move under way to reduce the usage of the US$. 

As more and more US$ gets printed, its value will go down (historical trend of the US$ here) 

http://www.petermanseye.com/photos/565351

BTW, one way for these lending nations to chuck back the US$ is to buy real assets in your country or in Australia (our commodities, mines, real estate etc..).  The US's action of QE1 and QE2 ("quantitative easing", a euphemism for chucking more US$ into the system) has increased inflation not only in the US but also to the rest of the world. My family and friends in Asia have lamented on how everything has skyrocketed in price. Have you seen it in the US too? I bet my last dollar (US$) you have. If the Eurozone also prints more money, we can expect a further disastrous spike in prices. Couple this with large scale unemployment, weak or even plummeting real estate prices and rioters in the streets demanding a new change in the way things are run...yes, we all should be afraid, quite afraid.   BTW, wanting a strong currency may be misplaced. A weak currency makes your exports and inbound tourism much more desirable and attractive. Why do you think many of the American companies are experiencing an extraordinary growth? I buy my make-up online from America,
saving 85% on my last purchase, and saving upwards of 50% on strings for our musical instruments. Why do you think China and other developing countries DON'T want a strong currency? For years, Singapore fought becoming classified as a developed country! It is a real balancing act to get your currency right, not too devalued yet not too "expensive" that you kill your exports 

Our greatest challenge economically today is debt. Bear in mind that debt doesn't disappear, someone always pays for it. Even in the case of being "forgiven" it is the debtor who has paid on your behalf. This whole bubble burst in 2008 with huge debt then held in private hands. Governments
came in and through their bailout have moved these debt from private to public debt. Unfortunately, the rioters on the streets will tell you that ultimately, the axe doesn't stop at the bankers or the government; ultimately it is you and I that foot the bill

Check out futurist Gerald Celente's interview on the Alex Jones show, he is pretty interesting   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SiyCaoQwB4 ;

If anyone wants to discuss this further, you can email me at patchew1010@yahoo.com 

Rusty ~ That's my next best!  Save some for your cyber-friends.

Back to orchids.  At my wealthy Aunt's funeral I took home an orchid and lavished it with care.  But like her, it was a recluse and wanted none of my pampering.  And like her, it refused to flower for me.  I studied the gardening books as one would study psychology, trying to see into the character of this orchid and what it wanted or needed from me.  But, alas, much like my wealthy Aunt, it was suspicious of those who give without wanting something in return.  So, in a parallel to that relationship, I had to step back, withdraw my love, and leave the orchid to itself.  I tossed it outside to fend for itself.  Much like my Aunt, it never did flower.

Back to orchids.  At my wealthy Aunt's funeral I took home an orchid and lavished it with care.  But like her, it was a recluse and wanted none of my pampering.  And like her, it refused to flower for me.  I studied the gardening books as one would study psychology, trying to see into the character of this orchid and what it wanted or needed from me.  But, alas, much like my wealthy Aunt, it was suspicious of those who give without wanting something in return.  So, in a parallel to that relationship, I had to step back, withdraw my love, and leave the orchid to itself.  I tossed it outside to fend for itself.  Much like my Aunt, it never did flower.

Spring Fragrance - Thank you for that very insightful info.

The Orchid Thief that morphed into "Adaptation" the movie was decent entertainment for me since I drove a Wholesale Florist Truck for a few years in the late 70's. I loved the special order orchids that kept in a special cooler and knew my flowers reasonably well but admittedly I was most intrigued by Birds of Paradise, Protea and Anthurium. They still seem otherworldly to me. I loved that job- Flower Shops full of beautiful girls and mostly gay guys. Great conditions for a part time college student.

My new motto: Have acorns will ship!

TT.....................I was in a bookclub & we read "The Orchid Thief." We had that meeting at my home & one woman brought several orchids along w/ her potluck dish. I remember reading her original article in the New Yorker........................it was mesmerizing................. 

TT and bebe - I liked "Adaptation/ The Orchid Thief" as it was in Florida and seemed like a good mystery. The rare Ghost Orchid has been seen at 45 feet up in a mossy tree in the swamps near Naples, Florida, but only a few sightings in the past 10 years. It is a delicate, trailing orchid with thin, white petals, according to the photos. I have no window with the right sun exposure for orchids, but my daughter's kitchen garden window is just right. They seem to like the indirect moisture from the sink for humidity, and indirect sunlight. Hers bloom repeatedly. Likewise, 2 other friends I can think of who have them.

Chocolate is ok, but I am not addicted or even compelled to have it. I do like those new Oreo mint wafer cookies, though...yum! Now, I have the grandchild here, and we made red velvet cupcakes, so it is time to cool them and store them to frost tomorrow. Off to the pillows soon. Happy Saturday night to all!

The 20th World Orchid Conference was just held in Singapore in November 2011! Elton John was there with his husband and new baby, and, had a new orchid named after him!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaARPx064mQ

I am so pleased that Changi airport Singapore has been named the best airport in the world. There is also an orchid/butterly garden in the terminal. If anyone of you get a chance to pass through Singapore, please let me know!
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204397704577070502443425304.html
(Has great slideshow and video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QV-9ILPFqw
(a flash dance in the airport to promote the million dollar draw)

As a little kid, I came upon an unusual quiet meeting of my three older brothers out back.
"What's goin' on?"
"How much money do you have?" they asked.
"That depends on what you want it for."
"Shut up and go get a dollar," explained the oldest.
I did. They took off on their bikes and came back in half an hour with an orchid in a see through container.
I did not know then and still don't what they event was that our parents were going to but it was a big deal and mom had on a pretty light blue dress.
The flower seemed to take her back some and she went into the kitchen maybe to blubber a little.
We cleared off against the possibility that she would gather herself and get a case of the huggies or something.
We did get a lot of mileage out of it though.

Those pictured above, looked, at first glance, like exotic tropical fish in carnival headwear suspended in very clear water.