YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW

Believe it or not, but this is just one of the many common names for the Brunfelsia pauciflora. Others include, 'Today, Tomorrow Together', 'Morning-Noon-And-Night' and 'Kiss Me Quick'. 

According to many sources it is symbolic of the passage of time - which perfectly describe this post; an update of what has been, what is, and what will have to happen next, in my life at home. 

According to Costa Farms, "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow gets its unusual common name from the fact that its blooms open purple and change colour every day depending on how long the flower has been open. The pansy-like flowers start out purple, then fade to lavender and on the third day the flower turns white." 

Though poisonous to humans, their blooms have an intoxicating fragrance.

YESTERDAY

Well strictly speaking, these are the significant occurrences from before today, that have not yet been mentioned but need to be mentioned, in order to close some chapters from posts before.

Let me start with my most frustrating one first - the cherries I processed on the 11th of November 2024. 

On 7 December 2024 I checked in on my little containers and found the one in the bedroom had gone completely rancid.

The one in the fridge too, to some extent, but at least I could salvage some pips, so I re-covered them in fresh paper etc. and placed them back into the fridge.

Otherwise, I had three happy gardening discoveries, before today.

The first one was on the 13th of December 2024, when I noticed cotyledon leaves had sprouted from two watermelon seeds, out of perhaps nine that I planted on the 8th of November.

The second was on the 27th of December 2024, when I noticed the first ginger shoot from the whole lot I planted back on the 8th of December.

And the third surprise was on the 9th of January 2025, when to my surprise I saw that loads of cotyledon leaves had sprouted from melon pips I haphazardly planted straight into the ground on the 2nd of January, after processing two melons I got gifted earlier that day.

From the kitchen pantry, I'm glad to report that I found homes for all my extra kefir grains, with one extra batch to spare. Yet in a serendipitous stroke of fortune, that one extra batch also found a home, in the most unexpected place.

Just before New Years Eve, the original donor, in a stroke of bad luck, lost all her kefir grains in one incident, and so I was able to return her some healthy grains, to start from scratch.

Also, I finally pulled out that stollen for the first time on the 23rd of December 2024, and boy, it did not disappoint me one bit - on the contrary, it still somehow manged to exceed my expectations, and they were sky high to start with. 

I was however very disappointed with myself for sharing it indiscriminately, at first.

Tastes vary, and from my experience, there are some good folks who love the taste of fruit in baked goods, and then there are those unfortunate souls who never will. 

Being a lover of the sort myself, as well as marzipan, it did not cross my mind at first that either of these would be considered an 'acquired taste'.

Let's just say that Christmas Eve was both hilarious and torturous at the same time, as a result. Hilarious, to see my nephews and nieces politely try something for my sake, that quite positively turned them green at the gills. Torturous, to think I've wasted it on them. 

I finally cut the fruitcake yesterday too and had it with some hot Rooibos tea while journaling. Yes, it was as lovely as ever, but for the first time in my life, it has a taste rival, in the form of the stollen.

Needless to say, I've been very selective with whom I've shared the stollen since. If however fruitcake, fruit mince pies and any sort of berry or fruit pie is to your taste, you should love this one too.

On the home front, the cat and kittens have moved house, twice since my post about their birth in the studio. 

First she moved them into the scullery cupboard on the 29th of December, and then into my bedroom on the 1st of January. 

I get why she chose the bedroom - here she has both company and protection, since Mamushka will deter other animals, including cats, and naturally, I will do the same.

She got into a cat fight just before the move, and I suspect it was because of her food. So my writing desk in the bedroom has also been transformed into her feeding station since too.

Ah, and I nearly forgot, while randomly checking in on them on the 7th of January, I spotted the first kitten with open eyes. The rest were still opening at that point, but just check out this adorable expression?!?

TODAY

This morning early, after breakfast, I got into the garden to check on my gardening projects and also to do some planting of seeds etc.

I noticed two more shoots from my ginger pot - very exciting prospects!

To start, I took the passion fruit pips that I processed from fresh fruit, and soaked overnight in warm water...

And I planted them into three biodegradable paper cups, seen here next to one of the watermelon saplings.

Then I took the dried out bell pepper and paprika seeds I processed from fresh fruit, way back on the 22nd of November 2024, and finally popped them into seedling trays too.

Next up, I planted the pineapple crown that I processed on the 4th of November 2024, and placed it into its first pot.

With very little, to no hope, I decided to get out the cherry pips in order to document their death and put that mishap behind me once and for all. 

Instead, I was surprised to find that four of the five remaining pips had sprouted!

Overjoyed, but still too careful to celebrate just yet, I placed them all into one larger biodegradable cup, seen here next to the newly transplanted pineapple crown.

TOMORROW

So what's up next? Once read about this cool military concept where I first got introduced to the concept of WIN; in short, it stands for, "What's Important Now?"

In terms of gardening, we have been having some fabulous, and much needed, summer rains for several weeks now. Great for all the plants, including the grass and weeds.

So as soon as the weather permits, the lawn needs to get mowed and the beds cleared of weeds again.

Yet perhaps even more urgent than that, I'll have to stake the tomatoes I planted into the beds on the 11th of November 2024, since they are growing out of control.

The Roma tomato plants are suffocating the red onions and encroaching upon the basil plants I planted alongside them. 

I'm very happy that the basil plants are flowering, since I'm hoping to harvest the seeds and use them for a bit of a basil plantation, to supply my pesto projects to come.

The most pressing issue in the kitchen right now is starting my kombucha tea, since the SCOBY I started from scratch is at the point now where in needs new food.

Yet for that I'll need to get to the shops to buy some natural kombucha tea first, as a starter.

Speaking of shops, the kittens will start weaning soon, so I'll have to look into a cat litter box and cat sand as well as kitten food.

Also have to consider how I'll keep them safe from danger - the most obvious danger being Peppe. He is the older folks' Boston Terrier who is badly trained and naturally inclined towards violence.

Well there's that, and then also their own socialisation to consider.

So far their mother has been an incredible one to them; as a result they are still quite human shy, since she's all they know, and all they need to know.

Yet if they are to be re-homed, it is also my responsibility to ensure that they are not only well socialised towards humans, but other animals too. 

Which means that I now have to invade their sacred cocoon, break up their bliss, to pet and handle them in a way that they will be handled by future owners, teach them that they will be petted and should enjoy it, without traumatising them.

Fun, fun, fun. Now my 'babysitting' is about to start for real.

WORDS: rhodenel©12JAN2025

PHOTOGRAPHY: rhoderuth©DEC2024; rhoderuth©JAN2025;