{"id":12794,"date":"2026-03-28T12:49:54","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T23:49:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/?p=12794"},"modified":"2026-03-28T12:54:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T23:54:19","slug":"late-bloomer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/28\/late-bloomer\/","title":{"rendered":"Late bloomer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our swan plants are in great health and are currently supporting a number of caterpillars, in spite of not being under a wasp net, and summer being over.<\/p>\n

One thing I could attribute this to is the wasp that I smacked between two shoe soles in a fit of pique last month (I took the shoes off to do this, lest you think it was a feat of unbridled athleticism). I was terrified at the time, thinking swarms of its brethren would come to reek vengeance upon me. However, for some reason the wasps are leaving us all alone at this stage, which is lovely.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The end of a happy carefree childhood<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I was at my ballroom dance class the other night, where we learned two new dances, the quickstep and the rumba. The quickstep is like a fast version of the rhythm foxtrot, whereas the rumba is a slow version of the cha cha, if that helps. My partner was a more experienced ring in, brought in to ensure adequate numbers. He was a pleasure to dance with, and we were soon chatting away as we whirled our way around the dance floor ( or nearly). It turns out he used to be a serious competitive dancer, and in fact moved to Sydney to turn professional. At that time he was practicing twenty hours a week. Looking at his current girth, his professional days are some way behind him, but he\u2019s still surprisingly light on his feet. He asked me why I was learning, and I struggled to find an answer. \u201cToo old for a midlife crisis!\u201d I said, to which he smiled politely.
\nI had a similar experience on Tuesday evening, during my evening acute session. I was working with an experienced junior doctor who is nonetheless new to our hospital. At one point she said to me \u201cI love your rings, Katie!\u201d This in spite of the fact I have my name written on the front of my scrub cap. Since this was the third time in the evening that she\u2019d called me that, I thought a friendly correction was in \u00a0order. \u201c I\u2019m actually Kirsty, but I don\u2019t mind being mistaken for Katie, as she\u2019s both younger and better looking than I am.\u201d \u201cAh OK yes, sorry! But you have lovely jewellery!\u201d<\/p>\n

This reminded me of an event that happened last year, that\u2019s obviously still etched deeply into my brain. I may have mentioned it before. It was at post yoga burger and beersies, during which I asked everyone\u2019s advice on the best place to buy equipment for my upcoming canoeing adventure. Someone piped up, the youngest of the group to be fair, that he had a discount at one shop, which was transferrable to family only. I can give you my email address, he said, and you go in and tell them you\u2019re my mother, and you\u2019ll get 15% off! When he saw my aghast expression, he knew he\u2019d made a boob. I was mortified, and of course tortured him over it for the next ten minutes (\u201cso, wait, explain it to me again\u2026I go in and I tell them that you\u2019re\u00a0<\/em>my\u00a0father\u2026\u201d)\u00a0<\/em>To be honest, I didn\u2019t really mind, and I wish he\u2019d come back. ( Allegedly he\u2019s gone to Auckland for further training, and then going off on parental leave\u2026)<\/p>\n

To cap off my week, I got an invite on Friday to be involved in some research to be conducted on behalf of my investment advisors.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure what I\u2019ve learned from all these episodes, except that perhaps there\u2019s no stopping the march of Father Time. Plus, fishing for compliments is not a winning strategy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our swan plants are in great health and are currently supporting a number of caterpillars, in spite of not being under a wasp net, and summer being over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8Ukf-3km","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4498,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/03\/embracing-nature\/","url_meta":{"origin":12794,"position":0},"title":"Embracing nature","author":"Interloper11","date":"April 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"We are a bit crap at keeping the outside of our house clean. We\u2019ll never feature in Better Homes and Gardens, but it did mean we spent a very enjoyable half hour this afternoon, watching a life and death struggle between an enormous spider and a wasp. I thought it\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/accordingtokirsty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/24674D4A-3E0B-48CC-B500-8F6708C3F067-300x225.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11429,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/09\/monarch-butterfly-update\/","url_meta":{"origin":12794,"position":1},"title":"Monarch butterfly update","author":"Interloper11","date":"February 9, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"We\u2019ve done a particularly poor job of supporting the local Lepidoptera population over the past couple of years. At first it was a relief not to have to supervise the caterpillar hunger games each season, and the swan plants certainly thrived in their absence, but as far as encouraging monarch\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/accordingtokirsty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/IMG_1400-225x300.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4681,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2020\/05\/04\/all-abuzz\/","url_meta":{"origin":12794,"position":2},"title":"All abuzz","author":"Interloper11","date":"May 4, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"My daughters think it\u2019s hilarious I still can\u2019t tell the difference between a bee and a wasp - but as I\u2019ve tried to explain to them, that moment when you feel a tickling on your bare shoulder and you look down to see out of the corner of your eye\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7570,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2022\/02\/20\/and-then-there-were-three\/","url_meta":{"origin":12794,"position":3},"title":"And then there were three","author":"Interloper11","date":"February 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"What on earth?? 13 caterpillars on the swan plant yesterday, some heavy rain overnight which I thought might do a little damage, but today\u00a0there are only\u00a0three\u00a0caterpillars left.\u00a0And not a single chrysalis anywhere. I can\u2019t see where the other caterpillars may have gone, although there\u2019s at least one body at the\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/accordingtokirsty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/ACD08778-A87E-47C5-8248-98C8DA1D0F7A-e1645326150231-225x300.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9909,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/24\/what-is-happening-this-week-in-the-world-of-monarch-butterflies\/","url_meta":{"origin":12794,"position":4},"title":"What is happening this week in the world of monarch butterflies?","author":"Interloper11","date":"March 24, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"In an act that might be described as one of the purest optimism, I\u2019m reintroducing a bunch of new caterpillars to our swan plant of death. Yes, it\u2019s optimistic, but it\u2019s also essential, as in this case, the caterpillars are the excess from my daughter\u2019s swan plants which are sadly\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/accordingtokirsty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_7517-768x1024.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/accordingtokirsty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_7517-768x1024.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/accordingtokirsty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_7517-768x1024.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12974,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/23\/mediocre\/","url_meta":{"origin":12794,"position":5},"title":"Mediocre","author":"Interloper11","date":"May 23, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Our dance class has a social gathering at the end of every term, where students at all different levels get together to cut a rug before heading out for drinks. Normally I find an excuse not to attend, but this week I thought I\u2019d bite the bullet and head along.\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/23\/mediocre\/#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12794\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}