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The wrinkles from the quilt backing are lying flatter now and I have hand-basted to the edges.

That will make quilting a lot easier to finish in the center of the quilt and I am at least half-way there.

As I am preparing to leave for a weekend at cub camp, I made the rounds of my plants with the watering can.

There are three white flowers on the front cacti and a big red bud on the center one.

The yellow one started blooming earlier and is now putting on a show.

They must all like the recent heat wave.

There are lots of buds on this cacti ... or is it a form of sedum?

These flowers last a while and so I will get to see them after I come back from camp.

The "Easter cactus" has survived the harsh winter and is fighting its way back.

The pot was taken over by wood sorrel so I think in the coming weeks, this old friend will need to get moved to a new pot.

The cymbidium behind it also needs to be re-potted. I miss my father-in-law, who had a magic touch with these plants.

My staghorn fern is towering over my futon.

I had to add big rocks to the container to keep it from fallin g off the shelf.

I have a smaller one hanging in the garden from the laundry pole. It is very heavy and hard to hang inside so it faced the challenge of winter weather.

It's fronds are a lot smaller ... but as I recall, this indoor one had smaller fronds 18 years ago.
Since the smaller one is not in a container, it has to be either watered by rain or dipped in a bucket of water ... a little tricky because fronds are coming out the bottom of the ball.

Maybe I have to search the internet one of these days for information on its care.

Out along the wall, this prickly fellow is getting ready to bloom. I see a few buds coming up.

This is very low maintenance but dangerous to touch because of those thorns.

I had a lot of them along the wall to deter cats from using that as a pathway.
The south-east neighbor shoved them all off to the ground, as that half of the wall is technically his.

The south-west end neighbor doesn't mind. It is the same wall, as it was there before the former house was taken down and two houses were built in its place.

I found the mark dividing the wall and try to keep plants to the west, as well as the bird feeder ... as he tossed that down too. It was only a glass of orange juice where the birds would come for a sip.

Here is a Brown-eared Bulbul enjoying a sip. I also had a board with nails to skewer fruit for the birds but that was smashed along with the glass.
The wires hold hanging pots and have not been destroyed.  There used to be a wild mulberry tree behind where the bird sits but the neighbor removed it. It is rather amazing considering the space between the wall and his house is only about two feet at the most. Also, there are no windows, only a parking garage with a very small opening. I see a very large hydrangea growing there now.

And, speaking of mulberries, I am glad I will have a trip to camp where there will be a good supply of leaves for me to gather.

The little silkworms have just passed their first instar and are eating bigger chunks of the leaves.

I can begin to add a few leaves that are a bit older and tougher.
There are a little over 50 caterpillars and I have only found 5 "trees". They are all small growing among some hedges in the park so in danger of being whacked out at any time. One is a bunch of small branches growing from the stump of one of the trees the park cut off last fall.

So ... it's off to the woods with the boys. Rain is in the forecast for Saturday. I will sleep in my van with Nikko, as there is no space to dry a wet tent around here.