Hello everyone! I hope this post finds you all well. With all the nice weather we have had we were hoping winter was over. Then the extended forecast started showing the weather had other plans… I was hoping the percentages would lessen day by day and the “S” in the forecast would disappear. Well, that didn’t happen. Even so, it is unlikely there will be much accumulation but the temps will drop considerably Tuesday night…

Then the temps will warm and more rain is on the way…

Over the winter I repotted a few of the cactus but I didn’t get them all finished. I took the cactus outside on April 9 to look them over a repot a few more. I was able to get nine repotted but at around 6 PM I had to quit because I thought it would start sprinkling.. SO, I moved everything back inside. I repotted five more on the 14th but I still have a few to go.

A few of the cactus had a few mealy bugs. As I mentioned in a previous post, I had mealy bug issues with a few of the Aloe in the back bedroom. I hadn’t noticed any problems with them anywhere else until I started repotting the cactus on the 9th. The cactus were in my bedroom on the new plant shelf minding their own business over the winter and I thought all was well. Well, you know how it is. Cactus don’t need much attention, especially over the winter, so one may overlook any issues. A couple of weeks ago I had taken the cactus to the kitchen to water them and look them over and didn’t notice any problems.  Well, the kitchen is where I had taken the Aloe that had mealy bugs so maybe there were a few lurking around and hitched a ride on the cactus.

MANY years ago (when I was a kid), mom bought several aluminum nails to poke through potatoes when she baked them in the oven. I have found they make great tools when repotting the cactus. You can use the nails to poke the soil down around their roots and the head to tamp down the soil around the top. It works great when dealing with spiny friends… Using a cotton swab with alcohol on the cactus is kind of difficult because the cotton gets stuck on the spines. The spines can also make it hard to get the end of the swab down between the ribs. So, I dipped the pointed end of the nail in alcohol and was able to remove the mealy bugs.

I was going to take more photos but my camera has been acting up… Some kind of a weird lens issue…

Well, that’s all for this post. I took a few photos of wildflowers a couple of days ago, so maybe another post for them is in order. The Hosta are all up and running but I haven’t taken their photos yet… I need to close now so I can replace a part on the mower. GEEZ! OH, I did get the garden tilled a few days ago before it rained. 🙂

Until net time, be safe and stay positive. I hope you are all doing well. GET DIRTY and always be thankful!