Orchids and more

Several Mother's Days ago, my son gave me an orchid plant.  It bloomed for a long time and then nothing happened for a year or so.  I transplanted it into a larger pot, and it immediately bloomed.  After the blooms were finished, maybe 6 weeks after beginning, maybe even longer, I snipped the stalk near one of the "elbows" (or whatever they are called).  Finally, that branch began to grow and started blooming.  There is still one bud at its end.  

Much to my surprise, another stalk appeared and now has some fairly sizeable buds.  I'm amazed!  My other orchid plant looks awful even though I water it just the same (minimally) and it sits right next to this larger one.  Orchids are fickle!

Our kitchen and dining room were painted during the last three days.  Our painter is just wonderful - very neat, precise, quiet, hard working.   She's a pleasure to have in the house.  Prior to Monday, I moved everything off the kitchen counters and everywhere else I could.  We moved the dining table into the living room and a large antique sideboard into the middle of the dining room under the chandelier. 

The kitchen bench was stashed behind the couch and paintings were stored in various places.  This morning I rehung curtains, removed a slight film of dust here and there, and started moving stuff back into the kitchen.  This afternoon, Chris is coming by to help us move the bigger items back, and life should return to normal, albeit much cleaner and brighter.