Niño (& Niña) - Hosta 'El Niño' 4 August 2022

Today I realized that not only am I twice lucky as I have a lovely Hosta ‘El Niño’ and an equally lovely cat called Niño, but I also have Niño’s sister Niña.

These days they are inseparable from me and when I sit at my oficina to scan my plants, both cats accompany me, and whoever gets in first, sits on a spare stool.

Every day one of the most important actions that I undertake is to take Niño for a walk around the block. I take the same route Rosemary did and I follow her advice never to shout at Niño and just patiently wait for him when he decides to go into a garden. 

Hosta 'El Niño' 4 August 2022

People ask me if he is my cat. We chat so now Niño is well known in the neighbourhood as the cat that walks without a leash and is not afraid of dogs.

In pursuit of the connection between my Hosta 'El Niño' and Niño I want to add that a baby sitter in Spanish (almost always a female) is a niñera. That makes me a niñero.

My scanning of plants is now going beyond my initial purpose 21 years ago to be accurate. Now I am becoming artsy. I am enjoying this. Soon the fall roses will bloom and I will be most active in my oficina. And of course, I will be in good company.

Niño