We Did Get Some Rain Today as Promised

It turned out to be a perfect day for staying inside and catching up on computer work.  It was 56 degrees when Rog got up at 7am and the highest we saw on our thermometer all day was 59.  There was a nice gentle rain all afternoon which was the best thing for our new plants.  Tonight we are supposed to be near freezing and tomorrow about the same temps as today - only with sunshine.

Part of my afternoon was spent on Google looking up the name of the cactus from the list the nursery gave us and downloading a photo of it.  Of course none really looked like ours, as the photos are of mature plants and I still had trouble figuring out which plant matched which name.  I think I've got it now though.  I ordered some plant identifier stakes like you see in botanical gardens so I can label them.  Otherwise I would never know the name of most of them.  Some are obvious, of course - prickly pear, saguaro, and agave.  The problem is there are several varieties of prickly pear and agave.  The saguaro isn't a problem figuring out. 

A neighbor told me about an app for the phone called PlantSnap.  It is supposed to be able to identify plants when you take a photo of them and upload it.  It is $3.99 and the jury is out on whether it’s worth it.  We just put in 16 cacti (14 varieties) here on our lot.  I have a list of the names, but can’t match them up, so thought this would work to help me identify what I have.  Well, the app didn’t work very well yesterday - hence the time spent on Google today.  This morning, on my walk, I used it and it identified three species of cactus right away.  They were mature - my plants are babies.  Maybe that’s the issue.  

I also spent time downloading updates for all the electronic devices as well as cleaning out and answering emails.  It was a pretty productive day for me.

After Roger made a batch of brownies, he spent a lot of time bundled up in the shop with a space heater, listening to his current story and working on a puzzle.  

Maggie went from the back of one couch to the back of the other watching out the windows for critters. 

Tomorrow will be quite exciting - groceries and laundry!