I am still here ... and to prove it my left knee is swollen up like a
football LOL  ... dontcha just love flare-ups? ;o)  

Today the rheumy tried to extract some fluid but aparently it was all
like egg-white in there and he didn't get much ... so he pumped it
with some steroids and an anaesthetic that made my leg tingle all
evening :os

One bit of good news was that he didn't think i needed preventative
surgery on my left wrist. It's knackered but not knackered enough to
warrant chopping it about and all the attendent hassle - phew!

Summer was not at all bad and was punctuated by some visits from my
Russian friend, which was really lovely - could do with some more of
those! ;o)

Decided to grow more plants in my house too - so picked up on an old
hobby - Carnivorous plants - like Sundews, Pitcher Plants and Venus
Fly-traps etc. Now I don't have much windowledge space - but the house
has a lot more colour and 'life'. I also discovered I have a knack for
re-flowering hybrid Dendrobium orchids so i got loads of cheap ones
from garden centers etc - they make the lounge look nice and exotic

Just looking forward to another visit from Russia around Xmas and
hoping I can avoid getting too cold - i hate winter!! grrrrrrrrr :o)

Cheers
Chris R.

Yep! and with a few carnivorous plants in the greenhouse which is
surprisingly still standing after last Fridays wee storm.

Well, i know it's a bit off-topic (ok... about 100 miles off-topic!)
... but considering the lack of posts here in the last few weeks it
might be a welcome thread! :o)

Basically, i started growing easy plants when i was young - my mum is
a very keen gardener. I went more for Carnivorous Plants because they
seemed a bit more interesting. I gave up for a while but when i bought
my first house i decided to get a few again, and recently my
girlfriend encouraged me to get some more - so now i have a house
full!! :o)

The Carnivorous Plant Society is excellent and you can get hold of
lots of cheap plants from members on any meeting day. There are also a
few specialist nurseries dotted up and down the UK too - the one i
bought from recently was excellent -
http://www.hampshire-carnivorous-plants.co.uk/

I keep a variety of species on my window ledges at home
(tropical/warm-loving sundews, butterworts, monkey-pitchers and
bladderworts) and a few things out in the garden or shed (fully hardy
american pitchers and native temperate sundews and butterworts). I
have some photos on the gallery (down at the bottom) -
http://gallery.chrisraper.me.uk

As for the orchids, they are just garden-center Dendrobium hybrids
bought in flower and then grown on to flower again. They seem happy
enough in my house, sitting on or near north-facing windows and
getting the occasional spray and water - maybe once a week - and a
weak foliar feed once a month. They seem to reflower approximately
every 9 months and a few of them will last in flower for months at a
time. Just to illustrate this, i bought one at the beginning of August
in flower with 2 more spikes in bud and the last 2 spikes are still in
flower now - just starting to drop a few lower flowers!

I also have one Phalaenopsis which seems fairly easy too - but i have
killed lots of Odontoglossum/Odontia/Miltonia plants in my time and so
i avoid them now. These just seem to need a lot more water and
humidity and this can cause problems with roots rotting off unless you
can provide air movement.

Cheers
Chris R.