"Good Morning" Horsey kiss!

Just a little break from constant plants... This is "Ladybug" and this is the image I get every morning when I go out to feed her. Our dog, Osita, gets the same image as the two of them just have to exchange kisses every morning!

Ladybug snoozing

Spring is definitely here! The birds wake us up in the morning, the trees are budding out, we no longer have to heat the greenhouses...and Ladybug is caught snoozing in the relative warmth of a recent afternoon. And she's starting to shed all that winter coat so that - pretty soon - she'll look like a skinny mini!

Out and About with Ladybug

The weather was nice on Sunday and so we all took Ladybug out for a drive. Osita is the one tagging along after the cart. Our granddaughter was with us so she got to try her hand at driving as we headed out down Willamette Blvd in North Portland, near the University of Portland. I'm the one with the camera.

Enjoy your plants!

Late Summer Greetings from Ladybug

Time for a little break from all the plants. In case you aren't aware, Ladybug is one of our mascots here at Kara Nursery, and she knows how important she is. It was clear that Ladybug has been feeling a little left out recently  and Lynn-Marie caught some of her "attitude" on camera. There are days that are like that.

Delivering Express Mail

Image via Wikipedia

On Friday we had an order of plants which needed to be delivered to a Midwestern American city by Express Mail. It had to be at the post office by 2:00 to get there by 3 pm the next day. So...we delivered it to the post office by our own special "miniature horse express"! (Compare to the real thing, only in England a few years ago and not so miniature!)

That's Ladybug, Lynn-Marie and - behind the cart - Kiani.

Ladybug Update

A couple of people have asked for an update on Ladybug, our mini horse. As most of you know, she's one of the "helpers" at the nursery, but she had a rough last year. A little over a year ago she foundered, with laminitis that made it difficult for her to walk. However with the help of a good vet and an excellent farrier she is totally recovered and is back to her old self. She continues on a low carbohydrate diet, but now regularly pulls a cart and goes for walks to the local park and to the University of Portland campus.

These photos were taken by Lynn-Marie a couple of days ago.
Back to succulent plants tomorrow.

Ladybug the Infamous Mini Horse

Some of you have met Ladybug. Some of you know her by reputation. Some only by the picture at the top of the blog. Our other horse, Jardinera, hasn't quite gotten the picture that in Oregon - unlike Florida where she came from - you need to grow a winter coat. Ladybug, on the other hand, must have the Winter coat genes in spades. By the time our recent cold arrived, it would appear that she had almost doubled in size. But it's all hair. This is her two days ago from the window in our den. I wish I could take the cold as well as she does!

It may be cold out, but she still gets her morning "kiss" from Osita and a hug from me no matter how cold it gets. So here's to Ladybug. Cheers! (Oh, and the photo is by Lynn-Marie.)

Ladybug and Osita

To end the day with a little humor, this is Osita, our now grown up Belgian Tervuren on the back of Ladybug, our miniature horse out at a neighborhood coffee shop. She's grown up now and doesn't quite fit on Ladybug's back, but they're still the closest of friends.

Ladybug

We've been getting Ladybug out for more drives and today it was a beautiful Fall day. This picture is on the sidewalk in front of our house as we were coming home. We drove her over to the Madrone Cafe, a little less than two miles from us.It's a little coffee house owned by a French woman from Paris.

Afterward, it was back up the ladder to continue putting up gutters (two floors up). I'm tired. Maybe more tomorrow.

A herd of Haworthia truncata

With this image I'll end my series on Haworthias. These are, of course, H. truncatas - specifically Haworthia truncata from GM313 seed.

I think I'll head on over to the Lithops next, or just something which catches my fancy. We'll see.

Took Ladybug for a walk on the University of Portland campus today - if that's what you want to call it. It's hard to walk when you're constantly being asked for a picture or if it's OK to pet her. I guess we're becoming sort of the unofficial mascot for some of the students...

Ladybug - University of Portland Fan

We live just three city blocks from the University of Portland (a private university on a bluff overlooking the Willamette River) and the Fall classes just began this past week. U of P is a big soccer (football to the rest of you) school, national contenders every year, but all Ladybug has to wear to celebrate the new school year is a baseball cap.

Oh well, you can't have everything! And they don't have soccer shirts that fit Ladybug.

If you weren't aware, Ladybug is our miniature horse who lives with us in town, along with our two Tervuren dogs, a calico cat and a sometimes overwhelming mass of cacti and succulents.

Unfortunately, we haven't been able to teach Ladybug to transplant succulent plants, but she's a part of the family, so we keep her anyway!

Speaking of plants, how about this lovely...Haworthia truncata var. maughenii:

This is a close-up of a seedling, but I love these little plants.

Mea culpa

My apologies. No excuses. I've just been too occupied elsewhere to keep up to date. Honest, I'll try to do better, with at least three posts per week.

To start things off, a photo of Ladybug, our miniature horse, in the snow we had at the end of December. We don't usually have this much snow. You have to go back 40 years to find a year with as much.



OK, already, I've had enough. It's snowing again today! I'm ready for spring!