The Bud-Filled Stowaway

My husband and I were at Home Depot yesterday and, as always, he headed off into the things-a-handy-guy-needs sections of the store while I strolled though the aisles that included bird seed, bird houses, plants, plant accessories and, because it�s that time of year, Christmas decorations. This is our standard routine whenever we visit any type of home improvement center. He snoops around his aisles, I snoop around mine and after we�re done, we hook up again.

I began in the stuff-for-birds section of the store, wandered over to the Christmas aisle and eventually ended up in the small greenhouse, which is overflowing with colour this time of year. There was an assortment of beautiful festive plants, including stunning cyclamen, gorgeous poinsettias and charming Christmas cacti, all begging to be taken home. But despite their pleas to go home with me (and the huge temptation to cave in), I callously ignored them.

�No� I said. �I will not be swayed by any of you.�

Then hubby came over to join me, he paid for his things-a-handy-guy-needs and we drove home.

And that was that. Or so I thought.

Well, this morning I found this on my kitchen counter:


Can you believe the nerve of this Christmas cactus? It was clearly a stowaway since I have absolutely no recollection of selecting it, paying for it at the cash, bagging it properly to protect it from the cold, placing it on my lap on the drive home, inserting it in a ceramic container and plunking it down on my kitchen counter. None.

Now, how in the world did it manage to follow me home without me noticing?

Watch those Christmas plants, folks. They are devious.