Louie and JR

So a few weeks ago, I mentioned that I've successfully kept two houseplants alive for well over two months. That may not sound like much, but it's kind of a big deal for me, given the hit-or-miss luck I've had gardening (and the fact that I usually give up on the garden about two months into the summer). Of course, house plants don't really require any weeding or pruning or insect removal, so all I've had to do is remember to water them (thankfully they seem pretty hardy because this does slip my mind occasionally) and open the curtains so they actually get sunlight during the day (I'm definitely not the best at remembering this, but thankfully the days are getting longer so they can still get some sunlight even if I don't open the curtains until after I get home from work).

For the record, I'm probably jinxing myself and will find them both wilted and dead when I get home from work today, but whatever. I'm impressed they've lasted even this long, so I totally won't be heartbroken when/if they die.

Introducing Louie and JR:

Louie (top photo) is a Croton Plant, and was gifted to me after the death of my grandfather Louis in October. Apparently if we were to put him into a larger pot he could grow to four feet or taller--I think we're happy with him the size he is.

JR is an amaryllis, gifted to us by someone with the initials J.R. (shocking, right?). About a week after the photo shoot the other two flowers bloomed; since then all four flowers have started to die. But I'm pretty sure that she will flower again as long as we keep her alive (knock on wood).

And just for fun, while I was taking pictures of the plants, I decided to play around with Darrell's new camera flash a little bit. Here is the same picture of JR as above, but with the flash tilted at a different angle.

Shadows!

And for this next shot I put a different filter on the flash (a "warm" filter, as Darrell tells me).

Isn't that fun how much of a difference the flash makes? Of course, I don't really understand any of the logistics behind it; I get the shot I want by playing around with all the different settings and filters whereas Darrell can do all the adjustments before he shoots and get the shot he wants the first time. Which is why photography is his hobby and not mine.