April 1st and the A/C is on... Yikes! I hope this isn't a sign of a hot summer. Lucy had an "episode of weirdness" last night that kept me up, not getting much sleep. Around 1:30 or 2:00, she woke me, came up on the bed, panting considerably. But I figured she was just hot.. it was warm enough that I was sleeping without covers, with the fan on high. She would lie down for maybe 15 minutes, then pop up and bug me, keeping me awake. I let her out, where she stayed for a considerable time (which is totally unline her), but when she'd come in, she wouldn't leave me alone. The only sleep I got after that point was when she was outside - but I would wake every 10 or 15 minutes, thinking surely she wants in or surely I heard her jump on the door... I'd go outside periodically to check on her (because the "weirdness" had me worried...) She'd come running up like she hadn't seen me in hours, all happy-waggy, but then would come in and not leave me alone. I finally gave up and got up about 4:30 or so. The weirdness continued - she was like glue to me, not wanting to leave my side even for a second. I was sure I was going to have to take her to the vet when they opened. I couldn't get her to drink any water, even though she seemed parched and hot. She hadn't eaten her dish of food from the night before (which isn't unheard of, but still...) Then around 6:00, I had a glass of chocolate milk - knowing how much Lucy likes it, I gave her some and she lapped it up. A little more and she lapped it up, too. Within an hour, she was acting perfectly normal again. Now, we'll see how tonight goes!!

But here it is, nearly 9:00, and it's still not terribly comfortable in here. I just looked at the weather channel website and it says it supposed to get down to the mid-60's tonight. I think I'll leave the A/C on until middle of the night... I'll stop here and continue in the a.m...

6:00 a.m. and it's 67 - I turned off the air and opened the windows because a cold front is on its way, not that it's supposed to turn cold, but it says the high once it hits will be 62, so that's more like it!

My goal this weekend is to take photos of all the cuttings I got from Liddle last year to show what they look like going into this summer. All are growing with the exception of hellwigiana (which I can't find in the dark to confirm...) That one got down to a one leaf cutting, but the one leaf is still firm and happy looking, so I guess we'll see if it takes off this spring. So my plan is to take photos and document here how they're all doing so that by summer's end, I'll be able to look back and see how they've progressed...

I took some photos ago of popping buds. Left is nicholsonaie and below is verticillata variegata. Both have several peduncles budding up.

It's amazing how completely different buds can look. Nicholsonaie has white flowers with green corollas. I never really paid much attention to verticillatas corolla back, but I know the flower is relatively light, so I wonder why the buds are so dark? I'll have to look at the back of the corollas when they bloom to try to figure this out...

Then left is latifolia - that ancient peduncle that I was so sure was dormant. It caught me completely off guard when it started to bud! I hope it makes it...

And right is inconspicua - it's been budding up for at least 6 weeks or more. Seems to have gone into suspended animation. Probably because of all the gloomy days we had there for awhile. Well, with the last couple of days of real heat, I'm betting they all go into hyperdrive!

Well, off to work I go!