Have a Cup of Tea With Your Houseplants..

I have always been transient.  Back in my day, two years in one place was classified as a lifetime.
If I stayed put for any length of time, I gathered houseplants and nurtured them like family.

I used to have beautiful plants.  It wasn't uncommon for me to have upwards of three or four dozen at any given time.

I took care to water them according to each plants' requirements.  I would change the soil once a year, adding nutrients and fertilisers when necessary. My plants were happy and healthy.

Over time it made sense to travel lighter.  I started lightening my load.  I worked in logging camps for almost a dozen years, further encouraging me to quit hoarding stuff.  I got so I could pack my 'life' into about six totes.

Plants don't store well in totes..I would farm out my plants to friends and family with the hope that once I settled I could gather them around me again.

When someone is caring for a living thing, be it plant or animal, it is challenging not to form a bond.  I quit asking for my plants back.  If someone else is going to do the nurturing, pruning and watering then they deserve to keep it, if they want it.

I am talking about plants in this instance, not pets or children!  Although...this principle could be and often should be, applied to both.

About one and a half years ago I met my guy.  I had been on my own for sometime, close to twelve years.  We moved in together about six months after we hooked up. 
We moved to an awesome home on one of the smaller Gulf Islands off of Vancouver Island.
 I had no idea how long we would be in this place, or for that matter, if we would both still be in the SAME place six months into the future. 

We both have rocky pasts littered with dysfunction.

Plants weren't a priority for me at this point.

Happily, we have been able to maneuver through all the landmines that have been tossed in our way, as well as the ones we went out of our way to trip over. 

We are still living on a little Gulf Island. 
We are still in the same place. 
We still like each other, Love each other.

Along the way, as our home took on character, I started accumulating houseplants again. 
At some point  in my journey, the knack of keeping my plants healthy and happy slipped.  I wasn't giving them consistent attention.  I wasn't honoring their individual needs. 
Sometimes one would die and I didn't care. 

I believe that the condition of one's houseplants is a little glimpse into the condition of one's spiritual and emotional health and growth.   I don't have lots of plants now.  I have five plants, one cedar tree and a few clippings growing roots in water. 

I am not presently working outside the home.  My hearing and my back have both taken a beating over the years. As I age, the jobs I once took for granted are no longer available to me, I am not physically capable of performing the tasks necessary.
 
With no job to center my life around I find that my routines are erratic at best.  You need to give living things consistent care. Plants started lookin' droopy..

Every evening I steep a pot of tea.  I sip on it through the evening.  I seldom drink the whole pot, or finish off the last cup I pour.  When I would get up the next morning, while tidying up traces of the previous evening,  I started pouring the leftover tea in my cup into the pot of the plant that was looking the most woebegone.

Tea time with my plants has transitioned into a morning ritual. As my coffee is brewing, I have developed the habit of standing in my living room and taking a good look at my plants.  I decide which one looks the thirstiest.  The plant that speaks loudest to me is the one that gets the tea that's left in my cup.  If there is tea left in the pot from the night before, I check the soil of all the plants and pour the tea into the plant that is the driest. 

My plants are again starting to thrive.  A little time and attention, watering and nurturing, does wonders for the health of anything living. Caring about the little things helps me to broaden my horizons to care about the bigger things.  Life is good.

Take the time to have a cuppa tea with your plants.