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| Maihueniopsis darwinii |
Ahoy! It has been three months since my last post and I can't say nothing blogworthy has happened. Especially my personal life is going like a roller-coaster (in a highly positive way!), but that's not what this blog post is about. Today's post is about a couple plants (randomly chosen) of my collection and some other stuff.
Echinopsis subdenudata
I haven't seen any flowers yet, but check out these buds on two of my Echinopsis subdenudata:
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| Echinopsis subdenutata |
I've bought this E. subdenudata back in 2009 on the flower market in Amsterdam. Since 2011, it's flowering each year. Mostly it has one or two buds on it, but this year I count five!
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| Echinopsis subdenutata |
This tiny E. subdenudata was a gift from someone of the Cactiguide.com forum and was sown in September 2010. Normally, this species has huge flowers, so I'm wondering what will become of this little fellow!
Brazilian Orchid
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| Orchid (Brazil) |
The small Orchid in the back was a gift from a dear friend in Brazil. It was flowering the day I've received it and then didn't flower for over two years. Very soon these buds will turn into beautiful, little yellow flowers.
Some random chosen plants
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| Trichocereus terscheckii |
I've sown this T. terscheckii back in 2011 and although it doesn't look that big in this photo, it's kind of huge comparing to the other seedlings that I've sown back in that year. I've given away a couple of them, but if I compare those to this monster... It is supposed to grow a lot quicker than a Saguaro, but the first few years feel like ages.
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| Maihueniopsis darwinii |
This is the biggest bastard of my collection! I'm not talking about the size of the plant. It's the razor-sharp spines which makes this guy a real son-of-a-bitch. They'll pierce right through your fingernail if you don take caution. This Argentinian mountain cactus is actually outside on my balcony for a couple of years now. It seems to survive pretty well. Even a wet and cold winter couldn't kill this plant and It has been covered in snow too a couple of times.
EDC
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| Keychain with emergency whistle, NiteCore Tube & Leatherman Brewzer Prybar and an Opinel No. 10. |
The two new additions to my EDC are the Leatherman Brewzer and the Opinel No. 10. I already wanted a mini pry bar for a long time! I immediately hear you thinking: "What the @#$% do you need a mini pry bar for?!". Well, it's to save all the other stuff that you're using to pry with. Think about a knife-tip, key, bankcard, fingernail or whatever you would use to open, loosen, detach, reach, etc. This thing is so small that I don't even notice it in my pocket, but it's there when I need it and... It has a bottle opener on it! (it also has a hex bit holder, box opening notch, flat screwdriver and an oxygen tank wrench on it).
The famous Opinel knife. I've seen this knife everywhere they sell knives and always thought it couldn't be that great, because of the low price. I also thought that this knife wouldn't lock. Well, I was wrong. It does lock and it's an amazing knife for the price you're paying! This French product came on the market in 1890 and has never left since. It was originally designed for farmers, so that they could have a decent knife for a decent price. The locking-ring (Opinel Virobloc) was invented in the 50s and although it's not as strong as the back-lock on my Buck, it provides all the safety an experienced knife owner needs. The blade on this No. 10 (10 also stands for 10 cm blade length) is made out of high carbon XC90 steel. It will rust, but if you take good care, it will show a nice, black patina over the years. Another nice thing about carbon steel is that it's easy to sharpen. For me this is the ideal knife to carry around in my EDC pouch. I won't use it daily, but it comes in handy while working with my plants, smoking a rope-tobacco or outside in the woods on a camping trip. I'm só positive about this blade that I've bought the smaller No. 8 (which is actually Opinel's most famous model) for my dad. He likes it a lot too and carries it around in his pocket.
The End
That's it for today. I hope to give you an update on my plants soon with some nice shots of flowering species.
What else can I write? My family and me went on a trip to Austria and it was amazing there! We went to a historical place called Bad Ischl, a quiet little place in the mountains. I won't bother you with a full travel journal, but I can tell you this: nothing beats traveling around with your wife and kid! Some people swear that your life ends the moment you start a family, but I strongly disagree. Everything I do and witness is one million times more intense. The smile on my son's face when he's happy is something I can't describe with words. Life's great!
Some short notes about Bad Ischl: fresh and blue water, beautiful mountains, Jägertee, nice and polite people, lots of hunting trophies, WWI was signed there and on the highest mountain in the neighborhood I've ate the best Goulash of my entire life! Auf Wiedersehen!
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| My son and me in Austria |
