Cee’s asking us to share things people grow for her Fun Foto Challenge. Toenails might have been fun, in a chasing someone with a worm kind of way, but neither chasing with worms nor toenail pictures have ever really been my thing.
I did rescue a long one from a potted plant on a windowsill yesterday. A worm not a toenail. At the same time I was horrified to note that three surprisingly agile and hungry moth caterpillars had stripped the buds off some Christmas cactus cuttings I was supposed to be tending. [If my sister happens upon this – they’re OK, apart from a few munch holes and having no buds, honestly!] It was quite impressive how the caterpillars had harvested all the buds like Epicureans, as if they were delicacies being grown specially for them. I’m assuming the buds will grow back as the cuttings themselves are looking green and healthy.
I’m going with these apples, pictured (I was going to say ‘taken’ but that might have given the wrong idea, especially with them looking so luscious after the rain) at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh. They were growing in the kitchen garden outside The Botanic Cottage. If, by chance, you’re looking for a wonderful, free venue for a non-commercial community project with a focus on learning and engagement in Edinburgh, check out the link.
Apples could never be an anticlimax, could they? Just asking for a friend.
Susan Rushton 
No, apples are never anticlimatic. Oh, how I love this apple time of year.
I need to eat more apples. I see apples, think “they look nice”, then buy nectarines instead.
Ah, well! We like what we like.
I have finally convinced my wife that the kids — one in the last year of high school and the other in the second year of university — to take a trip to Scotland. We discussed the “where” of it and although I would adventure to brave the stern weather of the Hebrides (the Shetland TV series scenery is breathtaking), we agreed on Edinburgh … because Harry Potter.
You’ll love Edinburgh, especially as Harry Potter fans. Think about adding The Elephant House to your to-visit list.
Argh. First sentence should be “I have finally convinced my wife that the kids don’t need us as much”.
The water droplets make the apples so tangible and real one is tempted to bite into them. Great post!
I imagine it’s the effect of the natural wax coating.
Oh, those apples look delicious. 😀
They make me think of the word ‘toothsome’, which is not normally one I’d use.
Apples! One of my favorite things ever! There is no way not to love an apple: baked, raw, chopped, whole, pie’d, taffy’d, in paintings, in books, on Christmas trees…the apple is a magnificent and versatile accomplishment of Nature. Your photo is gorgeous. Of course I went to the Botanic Cottage. What a beautiful place! Your list of things to grow for fun made me think I’d somehow got the wrong blog. Took me by surprise, it did.
I looked up taffy’d online, but imagine you were not meaning a flavour of vape, even though “it is an undeniable smash hit with just about everyone out there” or an equestrian event – the horse equivalent of dipping for apples?
I am hazarding a guess, based only on instinct, that the ‘real’ taffy’d is a form of fruit crumble.
Oh, dear. I was taking my usual liberties with words, making a verb form out of a noun. Taffy apples are an autumn phenomenon; a stick is inserted in the apple, which is then dunked into a thick melted caramel, sometimes then rolled in other wonderful things. So, with the first bite, you get crunchy, juicy apple, and chewy toffee-like caramel, which glues your teeth together and forces you to be quiet and savor the treat. It is an abomination that someone has made that into a vaping flavor. Not sure about the equestrian thing, but horses bobbing for apples would certainly be a beloved sport somewhere. So sorry about the confusion!
I have always been mildly suspicious of apples that are coated, but you’ve made me think perhaps I am missing a trick. I never ate barbecue sauce until a few years ago but now a pulled pork sandwich doesn’t seem right unless it is liberally applied.
Indeed. There are certain elements of stickiness and sloppiness that are very necessary to a full life. I hold that no sandwich is worth anything if something in it doesn’t dribble down my fingers.
That’s a pretty amazing picture. So cool the way the raindrops beaded up.
It would have been handy if they had beaded up on me the same way. It was pretty damp 🙂
Very amazing snap this is indeed and a good reminder to eat an apple today 🙂
Well said!
I LOVE your writing. You show a great depth of understanding of nature and of our world in general, not just in biological terms, but in philosophical understanding. Wonderful story-telling! Thank you for the enjoyable visit!
Thanks Anne – I appreciate your kind words.
Sorry about the caterpillars, Susan. But that is a gorgeous photo of the apples!
Thanks, Cynthia. The plantlets don’t seem to have suffered too badly. I caught them just in time and a further checks have not revealed any more… so far at least.