Bailey, Brody, Cotton and Laziness

It's so long since I blogged, you probably thought I'd disappeared off the planet!  I've either been ultra-busy, lazy, or just had nothing to say for myself.  Well, probably a little bit of those with quite a lot of laziness thrown in.

We went for a short holiday to the Costa Brava in northern Spain earlier in the month and managed to not take any interesting photos.  I can show you a little update on my cotton plants though which have been growing like weeds since I put them in the greenhouse.  I have bolls - yes, that is spelled right!

I have three green cotton plants and they're all about this size :-

which probably doesn't mean much, but that's actually quite a large pot.  I've had loads of flowers on these and new ones are opening every day.  I don't expect all the bolls to burst open and provide cotton, but some of the larger ones should have a chance.  It's still around 30 deg C in the greenhouse each day, so I think there just may be enough time for these to mature.

On another note, look who came to stay :-

Brody wearing his kilt in Switzerland last month

Wee Brody came to see his Grandpops and Nanny Chris!

He's been swimming in the pool,

eats all his meals outside,

visited Bailey,

and loves al fresco bathing in his posh new bathtub!!

Jak's really impressed with his new sleeping quarters too!

And, how could I end this post without a few photos of Bailey (who says I'm totally besotted?)

This is one of my favourites, taken with the sun behind him in the early evening.

Ooh, what's that?

Are you quite SURE there are no more carrots?

Hope and Bailey inspecting a strange object in their field.

And finally, I can never get away without Cerise (Bailey's Mum) poking her nose in :-

Cheeeeeeeeeese!

Cotton

Getting back to a more fibery subject (although alpacas are fibery too, right?), earlier this year I sowed some natural green cotton seeds of which only three survived the slugs (the white cotton all got eaten).  The seeds had been sent from the U.S. by a Ravelry friend (thanks Vicki!) as I so wanted to grow some green cotton.

This summer, for the first time since 2003 when we arrived here, has been a bit of a non-event.  It's now, finally, hot summer weather, but July and August were untypically cool for this part of France.  The plants were outside in pots most of the summer, and really didn't grow awfully well.  Mid-August I moved them into the greenhouse and they've grown like wildfire ever since.

A few days ago the first flower arrived (and there are lots more to come).  It's larger than the white cotton flowers and quite different, I think.  What a pity they only last a day.  I put the plant outside hoping to attract passing bees and insects and took it back inside in the evening.  All three plants are in large pots with a water reservoir underneath, which helps when the temperature inside the greenhouse is getting up to 47 degrees C.

Fingers and toes crossed that there'll be enough time for some cotton bolls to mature.