Weather: Clear and sunny. High of 57oF. Low of 34 ( For those not familiar with Fahrenheit, freezing is 32)
Fairly uneventful day really... Morning, cleaning up in the lab. Washing test tubes etc. The process of washing the test tubes is: First unwrap the parafilm that seals the cap, and use alcohol to get any marker pen off. The tubes then go into the autoclave for ten minutes; not to sterilize but to soften the agar and plant material. After they come out the agar and plant material is emptied and they get loaded in to a dishwasher facing down. When washed they are stored facing down to avoid the accumulation of dust. They're then ready to be filled with agar and sterilised in the autoclave. The most eventful part of the morning was spilling a bucket of half liquid agar. Bah ha ha. Yikes, it was quite a mess but well, the floor needed to be mopped anyway.
In the afternoon we (Barrett, Emily, Kristen and myself) started filling the Christmas planter boxes with Douglas fir (Psuedotsuga sp) branches. To the greenery we will add accents such as red stem dogwood or winterberry holly. Fun really, much like floral arranging (which reminds me I have to sign up for a course...).
Douglas fir seems to be the predominant christmas tree here in the northeast. Funny really, Id always just kinda assumed that the ratty Pinus radiata saplings we use in NZ were the norm.
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