Advents Corner

This fabulous site, PlanetAid, connects you to all corners of the world. Not only do they make important strides in different countries they also have programs in the United States. They have teamed up with schools in Baltimore-Washington and Kansas City to help them with a recycling program and a clothing drive. There are a few different ways you can help Plant Aid. You could donate your used laptop to be given to students at The Teacher Training colleges in Angola, Mozambique and Malawi.

You can also donate your time by volunteering in the USA or in Africa. There is also a blog maintained by Plant Aid. There you can find post written by managers, videos of the programs they sponsor, such as clothing donation and they have even hosted a Hobby Stock Care Race in New Hampshire.

Hoping to go to Hallo Scream this weekend at Busch Gardens.  It is so much fun but our oldest daughter usually ends up crying.  She is terrified of clowns and guess what they have them every year.

Last year we did the VIP tour and let me tell you it is so worth the money.  We made it through all of the haunted houses and rode a couple of coasters and was finished in a couple of hours.  Usually we do not get to do everything and we stay until it closes.  The lines are just so long waiting to get into the haunted houses.

I have to admit when I started to read this article and I saw there were pictures of each of the plants and the snake that the scientists discovered I was really excited. For whatever reason I was thinking that these were going to be the most beautiful plants I had ever seen. I don’t know why my mind was thinking that way. I guess because they were new and in the moutains of Vietnam, they must be beautiful right?

I am sure that to some people they are but I found myself a little dissapointed by the pictures. The image that was coming into my head when I read that they found a leafless orchid was not the image I saw. I guess the one I was most impressed with was the Saccolabiopsis viridiflora, the flowers look like little cups. I was able to find a picture of the Aspidistra nicolai, which produces the black flower. Now that is a breath taking photo. It looks like it should be dead but it is very much alive.