Saturday, August 04, 2012

Olin update, and the other inhabitant

You know how I said that Olin was being incredibly well behaved and sleeping most of the night?  Ha ha, um, that changed.  A few days after I wrote that, the dreaded "meowing all night" began.  OMG.  It really made me question my decision to move him up here, and really made me think I'd be taking him back down to my mom's house next time I went down there... and leaving him there.

But he's gotten a little better.  I think this is simply a very hard transition for an outdoor kitty to move permanently indoors.  In the grand scheme of things he's actually doing very well, and if he continues to settle down, that would be super.  I am determined to make it work for him to be here, I even went so far as to buy him a cat tree, which he darn well better use because those things are crazy expensive.  He always wants to climb my furniture, so I thought perhaps he'd like his own.  So far he only sits there if I put him on it...  And catnip does not affect him, how boring!  So I'd say at least 90% of the time I'm thrilled to bits that he's here, and he seems happy and content and sweet, and for less than 10% of the time he drives me insane and I'd like to toss him out the window.  That's a good start, right?  Cross your fingers that in another few weeks he's doing even better.  He's my little punkin, I want him to be here.  :-)


I have decided that when I do go back to Wilton if it's going to be for at least a few days I will probably take him with me (not to leave there, but just to visit).  He might enjoy the visit, and he's an easy cat to have in the car anyway.  Probably better than leaving him alone up here.  I am leaving him alone for two nights very soon when I go up to Oregon to visit relatives.  I hope that goes okay...

I haven't introduced you to the other inhabitant of this little space (and I'm reminded that I still need to take pics of the whole place now that it's done).  This is Phil:


Phil is a heart-leaf philodendron that my oldest brother gave me for Christmas 26 years ago.  I don't know what the average heart-leaf philodendron life span is, but that seems pretty old.  I don't have a green thumb at all, gardening is not my thing, I accidentally killed the adorable cactus that one of my best friends gave me (over-watered, oops!) but I seem to do okay with Phil.  Phil used to be very very lush, with huge leaves.  Now Phil is like one of those old men with a bad comb-over (not that there's a good comb-over).  I just try to arrange the remaining foliage in the most aesthetically pleasing manner, but there simply isn't much of it left to go around.

3 comments:

Jan Blawat said...

OK, this is what you do for Phil: put some fresh potting soil with a little well-seasoned horse poop mixed in around the top of the pot. Then take the ends of the plant that are hanging down and push them under the new soil. They will take root and give the plant new life. It looks like a nice, light spot where you've located Phil, life should start improving for him soon.

If Olin only annoys you 10% of the time, that's better than most marriages.

Katherine Plumer said...

Thanks, I'll try that! I have a couple cuttings in water to try to get them to grow some roots too.

Anonymous said...

Pinching the long "comb-over parts" back (off) will work too. You can pinch back about half way of the length of each and then put the fresh ends of the pinched off parts in the soil. "Phils" like to be pinched back. It makes them want to grow more.

Even I can't kill a Phil unless I totally ignore it and don't water it - ever. They do tend to get long and thinnish if you don't put their ends back in the pot or pinch them off.
Mitzi