YES!!! The "I'm so happy" thread. 2009

[Rodger Whitlock]

I'm so happy!

I thought to look at my big potted Jeffersonia dubia yesterday and discovered, alas, that all the seed capsules had opened and shed their precious cargo into the pot. Alas, alack!

Today, I bethought myself to look at the ones in the garden and wouldn't you know, but they still had plenty of intact capsules! That makes me sort of happy.

But what makes me really happy is the result of then crawling over to the patch of J. diphylla and discovering that (a) it had set plentiful seed this year, if the many fat capsules are any indication and (b) that only one of those many capsules had opened - and that one had not yet shed its seed!

Attached, the harvested capsules of J. diphylla. They're still green, so I'll leave them to finish ripening. If you look closely, you can see that a couple of capsules have begun to gape open. and there are a few stray seeds in the dish.

Coming next winter to a seed exchange near you: Jeffersonia diphylla.

I'm s-o-o-o-o-o-o happy.

[Gunilla]

Rodger, I think the design of the Jeffersonia diphylla seed capsule is enough to make you happy 

Jeffersonia diphylla seed capsule

[Paul T]

smile for the camera little seed capsule!

[Maggi Young]

Yes, Rodger, a harvest like that is cause for happiness......... potentially for lots of us, too!! Yippee!

Fascinating to consider the receptacle and dispersal mechanisms for seed, isn't it? All that micro-sculpture and engineering   

[Lesley Cox]

Not wishing to dampen the anticipation of seedlist recipients, but isn't the seed of Jeffersonia species best sown VERY VERY fresh? Mine germinates if it literally is sown on the day of harvest but even a week of drying and I never see a seedling. I've never had it germinate from the seed exchanges either.

[Paul T]

I've received fresh Jeffersonia seed from overseas and sown it successfully, both J. diphylla and J. dubia.  I think the seed was dry at the time, but was only harvested within the last week or two, and sown immediately on receipt.  So they can be dried, at least to some degree.  As yet I haven't flowered diphylla, but have had dubia flower the last 2 years.  Still not doing brilliantly, as my climate isn't ideal, but they're alive and still come up each year. 

[Rodger Whitlock]

Not wishing to dampen the anticipation of seedlist recipients, but isn't the seed of Jeffersonia species best sown VERY VERY fresh? Mine germinates if it literally is sown on the day of harvest but even a week of drying and I never see a seedling. I've never had it germinate from the seed exchanges either.

My plants of both were grown from exchange seed.

Mind you, I *do* pre-soak most seed for a very long time anything from a few days or a week to as long as a month.

[Lesley Cox]

Not sure whether I'm so happy here or having a moan but NZers are being exhorted to stock up on essential foods, pet foods, medicines etc, in order to see out at least 7 days of isolation if they get swine flu. We have about 100 confirmed cases so far but they include the first few in the community at large as distinct from those caught directly from returning travellers.

Being the responsible person I am who always does as the authorities tell me, I have made an extensive list and have already started to stockpile. I've started with liquids. 1 doz assorted wine, a bottle each of Scotch whisky and rum (very good for stomach upsets), a bottle of olive oil for cooking, orange juice, powdered milk, extra tea bags (Earl Grey and English Breakfast) and 200 litres of water, on the principle that if we get further storms and snow, the power may go off and our pump from the storage tank won't work. A good start?

I'll go on to bread and meat in the freezer, and frozen vegs - which I loathe - and pasta, rice etc etc. We have heaps of bottled fruit, pickles, chutneys et al so I doubt if we'll starve.

Roger is also adding batteries, extra torch, radio, quick grab blankets and sleeping bags, his little gas portable cooker, 20 litres of petrol and assorted other man-type things, in case we have an earthquake or major flooding while we're ill with flu and have to flee the house (He was a boy scout) so come hell or high water or swine flu, we'll be prepared. If none of those things happens to us, at least we won't have to visit the supermarket again for a month!

[annew]

Good Luck and hope you don't need it, but it sounds like you are ready for anything!

[t00lie]

[quote author=Lesley Cox 
or major flooding while we're ill with flu and have to flee the house (He was a boy scout) so come hell or high water or swine flu, we'll be prepared.
[/quote]

Gee Ms Cox  ---if Roger is thinking you might get flooding where you live at 220 mtrs above sea level then there's no hope for the rest of us poor souls on the flat --Tell him i'll not bother preparing then.............

Cheers dave.

[ranunculus]

Don't forget the toilet rolls, Mrs Cox ...?

[fermi de Sousa]

Don't forget the toilet rolls, Mrs Cox ...?

is it on wheels?

[gote]

The Swine flu is a very interesting malady. The figures I have remember (mind you they may be obsolete now) are 140 dead in swine flu as to compare 300.000 in the "normal" yearly flu.

It reminds me about the avian flu and all the fantastic remedies that were taken. I wonder how many who noticed that the danger was not in the flu but the suspicion that it would mutate and become more virulent - something that had not happened in the last thousand years were it is endemic.

Also about foot and mouth disease. Do we remember all restrictions imposed on people coming from a country where there was an isolated case. Foot and mouth is endemic in Turkey but nobody ever imposed restrictions and nobody got contaminated.

Do we remember that nine years ago all computers were supposed to break down. The strange things are
#1 All who have started an old PC know that for a PC the year zero is 1980 not year 0
#2 All who have looked at the interrupts that give the year know that even the first PC's would give the millennium as 1 or 2. 
#3 Compouters do not count decimally but binary so the first important year would be 1980+255= Anno Domino 2235 in which year I am afraid that none of us would bother.

Most computer experts suddenly "forgot" the points above and happily sold hard- and software together with their good advice.

Who said that the world wants to be cheated???

It would be a pity if you did not have reason to use your liquid fortifications Lesley

Have a nice and healthy midsummer everybody

Göte   

[gote]

Don't forget the toilet rolls, Mrs Cox ...?

is it on wheels?

Must be the one I saw on a Japanese Inventor's fair
Göte

[Ragged Robin]

Don't forget the toilet rolls, Mrs Cox ...?

is it on wheels?

Must be the one I saw on a Japanese Inventor's fair
Göte

Oh no...does swine flu give you the runs    Off to Scotland tomorrow for a few days - yippee! Only problem is I hear it is 13 degrees brrrrrrr but I suppose it works to my advantage as Scotland has quite a few cases of the Swine Flu virus and the only other thing I found on the web as a preventative measure is to wipe you hands regularly with alcohol    Think I'll stick to drinking champagne at the wedding