Monday

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There was no sunrise today. I could have posted a photo of a light gray overcast sky. But thought better of it.
I think Weatherbug is having a little schizophrenic episode today. Notice that in one place it predicted today’s high in “the upper 70s”. Then in another the forecast high is “83°”. Maybe they are just covering the spread.
>>UPDATE<< it reached 86° about 3:30. That is kind of amazing considering that we never saw the sun for more than a few minutes at a time.
I slept in today. I didn’t roll it of bed until after eight o’clock, but still omit slept a little over six hours.

Amazon delivered my bottle of “Instant Spitshine” boot polish this morning. I polished my Santa boots with it. I have to say I’m underwhelmed. I was expecting a high gloss Patent leather look. It looks just like regular Kiwi liquid wax.

Nierembergia is the micro flower for today. Its common name is cupflower. It is a genus of plants in the nightshade family. There are more than 90 genera and nearly 3,000 species in this family.
When I hear the name Nightshade, I immediately think of deadly nightshade or belladonna. However, here are plants within that family that are eaten worldwide: eggplant, paprika, chile pepper, potato, tomato, and petunia.
Okay petunia is normally not considered a food plant, but I’ve been known to add them to salads.
Oh yes, another plant in that family – tobacco.

Another note, even though potatoes and tomatoes are in the same family, the potato fruit (not the tuber) which looks very much like a tomato is poisonous.

On our walk back from checking the mailbox, I found another member of the nightshade family. Solanum Rostatum, often called Buffalo Bur.
I like to have my hand in the photo so it is easier to judge the flower’s size. This little plant has plenty of sharp spines to discourage such familiarity.

God bless and g‘day.
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