We had a sad loss in our household yesterday – right between the wash and rinse cycles, our dishwasher died at a mere ~40 years of age. Himself has repaired it several times, but this time it was beyond fixing. Gravity being what it is, of course all the water ended up in the basement! We’d really hoped it would last until we got the addition built, including a new kitchen, but no such luck, so we’re shopping for a new one now.
Earlier this month, the contractor was here to figure things out for the project we’ve been waiting to do (if only it would quit raining for a while). As he was looking around, he asked if those were pawpaws on the vine by the corner – eh??? They do look similar, but pawpaws grow on trees, and this is a vine. Akebia was the only name I knew for it, but it’s also called chocolate vine 😉 It’s one my grandmother grew, but I’d never seen the pods before, so I looked it up and found the flowers on Davesgarden.com, and more information at the Missouri Botanical Garden site. It also says that the pulp is edible, but so far, I’ve wimped out!
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- The vine that’s taking over!
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- Akebia pods, approx 9/6
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- Akebia pods 9/22; my hand for scale
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- Akebia pods 9/22
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- So far the cosmos are all the same color!
Joyknits! 
September 22, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Sorry washer….
it sucks to live w/o one. It sucks to shop for one.
Hope you find one you want soon.
September 23, 2008 at 9:14 am
I am so impressed. A dishwasher that lasted 40 years. What a tank! And, your cosmos are beautiful.
September 23, 2008 at 4:05 pm
I have an opinion on what NOT to get for a new dishwasher if you have not already purchased. It is the only appliance in our new home that I do not absolutely love. In fact, I would like to replace it.
Too bad that is not a pawpaw vine. You could have zebra swallowtails, as pawpaw is the host plant.
September 25, 2008 at 8:42 am
Requiescat in pace. (My husband would at this point concoct a Latin term for dishwasher, but my Latin isn’t that good.) I know that feeling of losing a well-used machine: we had to put our 15-year-old car to rest recently.
Your plants look so exotic! Where do you live?