So I just talked with dad who says that our tree is a Kwanzan Cherry. I printed out specs on the Kwanzan Cherry and the Thundercloud Plum. And by the “specs” of how it should grow, my dad claims it’s a Kwanzan. He said he pruned the middle because it was too dense – which is a distinctly cherry feature (if I remember correctly). The “specs” on the Thundercloud Plum match how it does grow… but my dad bought it from a nursery that actually knew what they were doing.

I would hate to be a horticulturalist… it’s so difficult when people don’t just let the damn things grow like they want to!

Verdict: We have a Kwanzan Cherry, pruned like a Thundercloud Plum.

Laura J. showed me this – ABSOLUTELY hilarious!!

“Funny or Die (the website this is from) is a collaboration hatched by Sequoia Capital and Gary Sanchez Productions, which is Will Ferrell’s company with partner Adam McKay. By the way, that’s McKay’s 2 year old daughter playing Pearl. I think her mother is to the right of Will hidden at the side of the door coaching her daughter.”

Here’s the story – Pacific Rim Magazine’s cover story is about Dr. David Lam and his Cherry Blossom Vision for Vancouver… well when I told my dad about that a few weeks ago, he was totally excited. He started boasting about how he’s planted cherry trees all over the West Coast – here in Vancouver at our house and their old house in Kitsilano, in Chilliwack at the house he sold, and down in Bellingham. In fact, he says he just convinced a friend to plant some cherry trees at their store in Kerrisdale (I think). Well, I hate to break it to you dad, but the tree in front of our house is NOT a cherry tree. It’s a plum tree, which are commonly mistaken for cherries (visible here).

We discovered this (fortunately) in the magazine when Ginger sent the pictures to her Horticulturist friend. They told us that 3 of the 4 pictures were cherries, but this image we had of a tree in full bloom in English Bay was, in fact, a plum tree. He explained how you could tell by the way the branches grew (habit opened), and the bark. Ginger (Art Director) and the rest of the Art Department started trying to get a picture to replace the plum… but the problem is that cherry trees are only in bloom for about 14 days. Most of the trees blooming now are plums. So during an Executive Meeting, PRM’s Publisher (and my Editorial Teacher) suggested we just make a caption explaining how plums are commonly mistaken as cherries. I told Ginger I’d be more than happy to figure out a caption for her – and she was totally relieved.

It was during my caption-writing that I discovered our tree was a plum! My Research also revealed what kind of Magnolia trees we have! From what I have discovered, the Differences are very subtle.

Cherry Trees have:

• grey bark with horizontal cracks
• light pink and pale pink/white blossoms
• bunches of blossoms like pompoms
• horizontal/open habit (growth of branches outward)

Plum Trees have:

• telltale purple leaves
• darker pink and light pink blossoms
• darker bark (sometime vertical cracks)
• single blooms, not blossom bunches (visible above)
• dense, round canopy habit

In My Research I also learned that we have a Thundercloud Plum.

“‘Thundercloud’ boasts single, pink blooms on a 20-by-20-foot tree. Dark-purple leaves turn red in the fall for one of the few fall shows you’ll see from a plum tree.”

We also have a magnolia stellata (star magnolia) in the front;

A Camillia on the front porch; A Henry in the front yard;

A pear tree in the back yard (which flowers yet rarely produces pears);

And a Magnolia sargentiana robusta (one of the most commonly seen magnolia trees) in the back yard.

My new amazing idea – Knit a FISH BLANKET! Omg… I love being part of the online Knitting Community… even if I’m just a wallflower, or is it fly? I dunno – whichever one just watches and never really comments because she can’t find an “in”. That one. Well, because of this amazing forum, I just discovered TESSELLATING FISH! (click the picture)

I’m going to knit them, and it’s going to be amazing… and I’m going to either make them glorious in colour-matching-harmony… or kill a lot of left-over yarn I have. I haven’t decided. Because I want it to be super-awesome, but at the same time, I have a lot of sad yarn. OR I COULD MAKE THEM RAINBOW FISH! WITH SOME OF THEM HAVING THAT METALLIC-FLECKED YARN!!!

That would be amazing! It’d be a tribute to Marcus Pfister’s book Rainbow Fish. I love the moral of the book, it starts out with Rainbow fish being all aloof and like “I don’t need you” to the other fish… and when the Little Blue Fish asks for a glittery scale, he tells them to leave him alone. He is too proud of his outer beauty and too preoccupied with being better than the other fish. Then he’s lonely and goes to the octopus and asks what he should do. The octopus tells him to share one glittering scale with all the fish and he will learn what it means to be happy. And he learns that sharing with all the other fish helped him gain friends and learn that what’s on the inside, and having people (or fish) around is what is important.

The more he gave away, the more delighted he became. When the water around him filled with glimmering scales, he at last felt at home among the other fish.

It reminds me of Big Al by Andrew Clements, another fish book. It was one of my favourites because this big, ugly fish was shunned by all the little minnows when he tried to make friends. They were scared of him because of how he looked, but then he ended up saving them from the fisherman’s net. And they realized he was a good fish to have around, and a nice one too.

Problems to solve this Easter Weekend:

1. Some kind of organization for shoes under dresser (34cm high)
2. Organization in the panty drawer
3. Storage for yarn under the bed (10cm high) NOT SUCCESSFUL
4. Re-organize closet

Stop #1: IKEA in Richmond

Yesterday I drove to IKEA after going on their website to look at potential organizational units. I saw a number of baskets that could hold my shoes. Basically I keep all my pretty-not-worn-as-often shoes under my dresser in the bedroom. But because there are so many, and I would prefer if they weren’t just piled under there – I need some sort of containing device. I found the perfect basket at Ikea for $16 (small) and a $19 (large). I bought the large one I believe, because I anticipate on buying more shoes!

Then I looked for containers called KOMPLEMENT for my ‘drawers’ drawer. Ikea is a freaking maze! I looked around for those baskets in the Home Organization Marketplace (I was smart and didn’t go through the display rooms)… but I honestly couldn’t find them! The easiest thing to do is, once you’re down in the Marketplace, ask someone who works there, “Where are wicker baskets?” There are so many secret doors and openings! She’s like, “Through that door to your right.” I would never have thought that the Shortcut Door to lighting would lead me to baskets… but it does!

And the KOMPLEMENT drawer dividers (which come in both black and white – I bought black), are to be located in the Self-Serve Furniture area… there are little compartment/divider organizational items with the wardrobes and the chests of drawers.

Stop #2: Home Depot in Vancouver on Terminal

The reason I am Handy Woman: I built shelves inside my closet ALL BY MYSELF! Before, they were these two ugly wire shelves and I’d wheeled a free-standing shelf-thing into the closet. It was not practical; the shelves were too wide and the shelves-on-wheels were bulky and huge. I ripped out the white wire shelves (they were installed very well might I add)… and emptied everything out of the closet. I measured for dimensions, patched the holes, and went to Home Depot.

I had checked online to see what kind of “cheap” shelving options I had. I discovered these attachey track things that you could insert brackets into at your desired height, then place a shelf on top. I decided to create these. The width was to be 18″ because I have trouble accessing my hanging clothes with the shelves being 24″ wide (aka the width of my closet). The clothes are in the back left area and the whole doorway is over-powered by shelving units… at least it WAS.

I bought all the materials (so much for cheap shelves). All the materials came in a variety of colours at the same price so I chose black hardware and honey pine shelves. I installed the metal tracks with great difficulty because part of it was drywall which I anticipated by buying anchors, but part of it was wood… and I just had to drill-drill-drill. I am quite handy with a power drill though! Then I tried to put the brackets in, before I realized you had to hammer them in a little to secure them, and a shelf fell on me! Well I learned my lesson and hammered those bad-boys in! Although, sometimes they were a little finnecky and clattered to the floor making more noise than necessary. Oh and the shelf boards that I bought only came in the length of 36″ so I took it over to the lumber department and had the Home Depot Lumberfriend chop them in half for me.