Two and a half years ago (in the summer of 2020), we moved house. The new place is everything our last house wasn't. It has big, bright, sunny windows (though I could wish for a couple more on the western wall, I appreciate not having windows there in the height of summer!) It also has a spacious back garden that's almost perfect for vegetables (I might rather not have that tree right in the south....but I do appreciate the shade in summer; it will be a lovely place to set up a table and some chairs, I think). It also has the most amazing dining room that we've finally gotten to use for entertaining (in small numbers, because Covid is still happening). 

Last February (February 2021), I wandered into my local English Gardens (which isn't as nice as the one I used to frequent, but the staff are lovely!) and bought a little fiddle leaf fig and a couple of other things. 

A week or two later, I bought a "money tree" from Lowe's. 

Somewhere along the line, I acquired a heart-leaf philodendron. 

And a couple of peperomia.

And some ivy.

A "swiss cheese plant" (Monstera Adansonii)

And a few succulents, two of which are actually still alive (seriously, I kill succulents!)

A ficus tinke.

A friend gave me a couple of cuttings (a zebrinia and beautiful blooming cactus that I've managed not to kill -- I'm actually better with cacti than succulents for some reason). 

Then I started watching plant videos on YouTube. 

And I did something I'd never done before: I ordered plants online (Prince of Orange and McColley's Finale philodendrons).

I ordered a few more things online (Monstera Peru, Monstera Siltipacana, Philodondrons Brazil, Marble Queen, Global Green, and Manjula). 

If found a Cebu Blue Pothos and a Golden Pothos. 

At Christmas time, I bought a Norfolk Pine. 

By the end of 2021, I had 63 plants. 

My journey had begun.....