Orchids…

On arrival at Turkey Creek we immediately knew that we were going to be all right!

TurkeyCreek

Our hosts were British and there was no language or cultural barrier.

“The best thing,”  I commented to Hubs, “is, they are Brits who have made a living in America for 20 years and don’t have the hostility towards the US we have found our English friends in England have.”

We relaxed in their home while they pottered around packing for their 3 months back home visiting family and friends.

During our orientation of 36 hours they spent two nights a few houses away to give us space and unpack.

The bedroom was ours with emptied closet and drawers;

The bathroom was ours with full sized English tub;

The screened in porches were ours with cool breezes;

The kitchen was ours and I was encouraged to rummage in all the drawers to find out where everything was.  I put my perishables away in the fridge and made everyone coffee;

The dogs were ours too!  We learned their walks, their food  habits and where their toys were kept.  They were on their best behaviors;

“No, they’re not allowed on the furniture!”

“They never sleep on the bed…”

“Scraps?  Not even a lick!”

But dogs will be dogs and after a week they are pushing the envelope at every opportunity, sneaking onto the couches when we’re not looking, sidling up to the bed and resting sweetest faces to plead for accustomed (?!) cuddles, and watching every move at the oven before rushing in front of us to take up watchdog positions near the table then charging expectantly back to the kitchen when we pick up our plates at the end of dinner!

And…they know the word cheese hastening to the fridge if we inadvertently use it.  We have to spell it out or shell it out!

The orchids are ours, those exotic flowers I’m only used to seeing on lapels never in pots;

Before they left, Fee proudly told me about her prized orchids.  She had been given them the year before and during the winter they had gone into hibernation and looked dead.  But in the Spring they came back in full bloom and now she was showing them to me,

“I am so proud of myself,” she gushed, “look at how beautiful they are!”

My heart sank, I wish she hadn’t said that, they are perfectly exquisite without any help from me!

In a killing spree of attention after she left I managed to knock off two blooms, once when I added a stick to help the larger plant stand up and display its flowers instead of dragging them on the table like a peacock’s tail and again when I waved my hand to emphasize a point I was making severing another delicate flower from its stalk.

They are floating prettily in my office,

OrchidBlooms

while the main plant recuperates on the porch.

I was going to bring it inside, out of harm’s way but Hubs suggested it stood more of a chance at flourishing in the humidity of the screened in porch than inside with ceiling fans spinning and occasional air conditioning running.

He is now in charge of the orchids.  They definitely won’t flourish under my care!

Hubs told me they are sold at the local Winn Dixie,

“So no worries there, when you completely kill off the plant we know where to go for a replacement.”

Orchids

 

Notice he said ‘when

not ‘if‘!

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