(no subject)

[urocyon]

I spent the day feeling horribly domesticated again. After fixing lunch and seeing vatine off to work on the late shift, then hanging out some laundry, I headed out to do some shopping. I got the urge to wander around a bit after the anticipated stops, pleasant enough for a sunny afternoon. Now I have a broom (yay!--though this sounds sad as I type it), some birdseed and a smallish scarlet geranium from QD, a (reduced) pot of basil from Sainsbury's which looks like enough to start a basil farm when separated and planted out, a cheap and cheerful pair of sandals, and a (similarly reduced) bag of yummy Columbian ground cherries.

I was particularly pleased to spot those, as a similar species grows wild all over the area I'm from. They taste a lot like a cross between strawberries and gooseberries, and are tasty just out of hand or with ice cream, besides as jam. (Whatever you do, make sure they're ripe with the husks open before you eat them--otherwise they're poisonous.* Eek.) Come to think of it, maybe they were the mysterious "wild gooseberries" with which Batts and Fallam** "were forced to feed [themselves]" when "their" Indians got tired of hunting for the lazy creatures. The bag I picked up is tasty enough that I'd like to go back and get more, while they still have them in stock and marked down.

The wildflower link reminded me--I was glad to find out that the flowers I'd been seeing are, in fact, bluebells (thanks to clanwilliam on that one). They looked like something I might call bluebells, but I'm used to seeing Virginia Bluebells, with very different leaves. Not yet being able to identify at least half the plants I see has been strangely disconcerting.

I also spotted a place I may try to get a sorely-needed hair appointment when it's open.

Overall, it was a reasonably productive and pleasant day.

Edit: Following links from that Scott Co. wildflower site, I ran across a decent article on the chestnut blight I mentioned to vatine the other day, for whatever reason.


* Also not to be confused with Bitter Nightshade, though the leaves are more similar than that photo would suggest. Another eek.
** The "Totera"/"Tora"/"Tetera" are more commonly known as Tutelo, and one of the towns Batts and Fallam stopped at was at present-day Radford.

Comments

[reddragdiva]

Here's to domesticity :-D

[urocyon-c.livejournal.com]

Not complaining, it just still feels odd. *g*

[sshi.livejournal.com]

Not yet being able to identify at least half the plants I see has been strangely disconcerting.

That used to drive me nuts the summer that I spent in the US (also in Virginia, but deepest suburbia). I am not even in the same country as being any sort of naturalist, but to being able to identify these almost-like-home birds used to freak me out on occasion (you call that a blackbird???)

[urocyon-c.livejournal.com]

(you call that a blackbird???)

*chuckle* I do know what you mean. The robins, while nice little birds, just don't look like real robins (http://www.wvdnr.gov/Wildlife/Robin.shtm) to me--they're supposed to be big, fat things hopping around the grass in search of worms. :)

[ivy]

I get that same sort of disorientation when I'm not familiar with the local flora and fauna. I distinctly remember driving RavenBlack bats with my constant "what's that plant?" when first visiting him in the UK, and expect to do the same to him and Holly in Australia next month. I broke down and bought a book on tree identification for the West Coast because I got so sick of not knowing what was what, and none of my San Franciscan friends being familiar enough with the local plant lore to tell me. Somehow I feel more at ease when I know the names of the trees.

[urocyon-c.livejournal.com]

Yep, I think I'm going to have to pick up some books to help identify things. I never thought I'd be so pleased to see goose grass/cleavers (http://plantsdatabase.com/go/53011/) and nettles all over the place. *g*

[redcountess]

I experienced the same disorientation, and the same joy at buying little comforts in the first few months I was here.

[urocyon-c.livejournal.com]

I hadn't thought of it that way, but "joy at buying little comforts" does sum it up well.