While some of the outdoor plants my hostess and I installed last Sunday are not doing so well, most thrive and the bulbs are beginning to push their shoots above the soil. I attribute the thriving to her enthusiasm and talking to them. I don’t think my attempts to communicate telepathically with them while visiting the balcony for my own nefarious purposes have had any effect.

Meanwhile the indoor basil and oregano are germinating nicely. We have babies! The basil’s in the front left of the picture and the oregano’s, er, not very visible in the back right.