January Garden Club Meeting

Our neighborhood garden club had the first meeting of the year this week.  A master gardener and the local extension agent gave a very thorough presentation on gardening in our area of North Carolina along with timely tasks like the above.

They brought lots of seed catalogues and garden related books for us to peruse.  

This Green Prints magazine is new to me.  Are you familiar with it?

It looks like it would be appealing to anyone interested in gardening.

Particularly at this time of year when we are doing more dreaming and planning than actual gardening.

Our garden club established and maintains a Monarch Waystation.

Volunteers (like me) take turns tending to it throughout the season.

This is how it was looking last September when I was on duty.

Houseplants were being raffled at the meeting.

My number was called and I chose this Christmas cactus.

It was a generous sized clipping with a few buds on it.  I am thinking they are going to be white.  The clipping was wrapped in paper with a bit of soil attached.  On the way home from the meeting I stopped at the garden center for potting soil and a new pot to put it in.

Came home, potted it and gave it a drink of water to settle the soil.

I noticed it didn't have any roots and decided to check online for instructions for potting a clipping like this.  It seems the preferred method is to put it right into soil and not water it for a week or until the roots develop.  Hmmm... hope I didn't cause a problem by adding water when I did.  Luckily it wasn't a lot of water.  I guess you can tell when the roots are forming by giving the plant a little tug.  If it seems firmly planted, there should be roots growing.  

Time will tell how successful this little project will be.

So far it's looking just fine.

Have you ever propagated a holiday cactus?  If so, what was your experience like.  Enquiring minds would like to know :D.

A Reading Challenge for the New Year

Snow is not in the forecast here, but very cold temperatures are.  It will be going into the teens a few nights this week so I have a pile of drop cloths all ready to cover up my potted plants and star jasmine when the time comes.  Last year I came close to losing the jasmine and my potted gardenia to extreme cold weather.  I am hoping that covering them through the worst of it will allow them to survive the winter.

How are you all faring in this harsh winter weather?

I must say I have been enjoying the snowy photos so many of you have shared.  

While filling the bird feeder this morning, I noticed a few pansies in bloom.  The landscape is predictably barren now so the pops of color attracted my attention.

I snipped a wee bouquet for the windowsill of my home office.

A pretty reminder that spring will be our next season.

I've been in the reading mood since the new year began.

I just finished these three.  The Susan Wittig Albert series is one I have been making my way through for years.  I now have one left and have just ordered it.  Can't wait for it to arrive.

These were read years ago.  I have them displayed in my bookcase for their winter theme (and colors).  I'm thinking I might read that center book again while I'm waiting for my book order to arrive.  The author, Maeve Binchy, is sadly no longer with us.  I believe I have read all of her books.  I don't re-read many books as there are so many that interest me and only so much time.  However, her books about small town life in Ireland are just the sort that I am apt to read more than once.

Once I finish a book I enter it into Good Reads to keep track of what I have read and what I want to read in the future.  I noticed they have a reading challenge for the year and decided to take them up on it.  I have no idea how many books I might read in a year so I came up with what I thought would be reasonable yet still challenging.

I settled on 40 books.  It will be interesting to see if that is even close to realistic.  If I keep up at the pace I've been reading, I think I would far surpass it.  As I know there are other times of year when other things get in the way of reading, I tried to take that into consideration.

Time will tell.

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Stay Warm ~ Stay Safe

Settling In To A New Year

The scene on my calendar looks nothing like the scene outside my window.  Here the sun is shining and the temperature is 50 F.  No chance of snow anytime soon.  I always hope for at least one snowy day per winter.  Last year we had none.  It remains to be seen what will happen in the new year.

For the first time ever I had all of my Christmas decorations taken down and put away on New Year's Eve.  Usually it happens in early January.  For some reason this year I was ready to move on and have a fresh start on the first day of the new year.  

Now the house is clean and in order once again.

I left a few snowy touches in the hutch just in case the snow decides to fly.

I'm not one to make resolutions or select a word for the year.

Instead I tend to reflect over the year past and pull together my best plan for improving the areas that could benefit from some improvement.  After the excesses of the holidays, eating less and healthier always factors into my plan.  Moving more is addressed (over 10,000 steps yesterday and all 3 rings on the iWatch closed).  

Perhaps my biggest area to work on this year will be to step aside from certain situations that I know are beyond my control.  I am reminded of Doris Day singing "Que Sera Sera" (whatever will be, will be.  The future's not ours to see).  It really is so true.  I need to do better at remembering this.

With each of the areas I plan to work on, I hope to work towards them daily knowing that some days will be better than others.  

How about you?  Are you a word for the year or resolution maker?

I don't think it matters how it's done, but perhaps the important thing is to use the new year as an opportunity to take note of what is working well in one's life and what could use a bit of improvement.

May your 2024 be a year of good health and happiness!!

Christmas Blooms and A Cookie Recipe

My amaryllis bulb rewarded me with five beautiful blooms on one stem.  The tiny leaves near the base have another bud forming so I am keeping my fingers crossed for another bloom or maybe five.  So different than the bulb I planted last year which sent up several leaves that grew and grew, but never did send up a bloom.

A pretty poinsettia on the kitchen island.

With all the time spent working in the kitchen at this time of year, it makes the tasks a bit more pleasant.  

In my last post I mentioned a new-to-me cookie recipe I had made.  Lorrie asked if I would share the recipe and I am happy to do so.  

recipe from Gooseberry Patch Holidays at Home cookbook

A note on the recipe:  If you don't care for rum extract, these are also good with maple extract as a substitution.

🎄🎄🎄

I rather doubt that I will be posting again before Christmas, so I'd like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a most joyous holiday season.

A Few Thoughts at Christmastime

After Christmas last year I took advantage of the 50% off sales and picked up a Christmas tree for my living room.  Perhaps I should call it my reading room because that is what mostly takes place here.

When trying to decide how I wanted to decorate it, I settled on using the very old ornaments that belonged to my parents.  Many of them are Shiny Brites and all of them are very delicate.  Worrying about them getting broken almost stopped me.  But, when I thought about how long I have had them I decided it was best to put every last one of them on that tree and enjoy it to the fullest.  Which is exactly what I have been doing.  Each morning and most evenings I make myself comfortable in my reading chair and this is my view.  Such a pretty and peaceful way to start and end the day in this busy time leading up to Christmas.

When I think of how old and fragile these ornaments are, it's rather amazing that there are still so many of them intact.  This Santa is one of my favorites.

Last week I was invited to meet a few of the neighbor ladies for lunch.

After lunch I invited them over for dessert.  I decided a variety of bite size choices would be best and baked pecan tassies, chocolate cherry cheesecakes and a new to me recipe, nutmeg logs.

In the morning I set the table with my Christmas china so that everything would be ready when we returned from lunch.

One of our topics of conversation was that the younger generation, for the most part, has no interest in owning sets of china.  When I got married 42 years ago I thought having a full set of china was such a thrill.  It made me feel so grown up and elegant.  Many years later I dreamed of owning the traditional Lenox holiday china.  When it became possible, I enjoyed setting the table with it for our Christmas celebrations.  In my mom's later years she gifted me four sets of it.  

Her last visit to my home was a Thanksgiving visit many years ago.

I decided to decorate the house for Christmas early that year and set the table with the Lenox china.  I know it brought her great joy and it still stands out as our last happy holiday celebration together.

Although both of my parents have been gone for many years, the memories old ornaments and out of fashion china evoke make me glad I still own them.

Our weekend weather has been damp and dreary.

Extra thankful for Christmas lights on days like this.

Today I'll be tackling the Christmas cards.

Probably another old fashioned tradition.  Yet one I will most likely be carrying on until it's obsolete.

Wishing you JOY for the season.

Post Thanksgiving ~ Pre-Christmas

The Christmas decorating is underway at my happy home.

Before I get too immersed in that, a brief documentation of the Thanksgiving that was. . .

Thanksgiving was different in many ways.

My son offered to be the host in his new (to him) home.

One drawback to that is he doesn't cook.

He did offer to provide Costco's version of a pre-made turkey dinner.

That idea was shot down quick by his cousins.

I said I would be happy to help in any way.  But, I decided to let the younger generation come up with the plan.

This is new to me and I found it rather fun to wait and see what they came up with.

I did bring over a few fall decorations and my sister-in-law brought her table cloth.

I felt right at home seated around our old dining room table.

Once the plan was in place, we all brought a few dishes to share.

I guess I should say the females brought the food ;)

My son happily provided the "shelter" (as he called it) and the beverages.

I'll say one thing we had no shortage of food.

It's been tradition for my sister-in-law to bake the pumpkin pie and I bake the apple.  New this year, her granddaughter baked a chocolate cream pie.  

Yum! Yum!Yum!

Hats off to the younger generation for a most successful Thanksgiving celebration!!

Now, back to the Christmas decorating.

🎄🎄🎄

Houseplant Love

With the gardening season mostly over for the year, I enjoy a different kind of slower paced gardening in the form of tending the houseplants.  

Although I've been documenting this for years, it is always such a fun surprise to see all of the buds on my Thanksgiving cactus when it comes in from it's summer vacation on the patio.

After watching this Lisa Emeterio video I was inspired to elevate the look of my cactus.  Instead of the normal pot it was in I chose this Wedgewood bowl that has been gathering dust in the cupboard.  Some moss on the top to hide the "mechanics" and I think it looks pretty good.  Now to watch as the beautiful blossoms unfurl.

My Norfolk Pine always responds well to a summer spent outdoors.

Every year I think I should decorate it for Christmas.

Perhaps this year I will actually follow through.

Pothos is such an easy plant to grow.

The bright shade of green on this one caught my eye in the garden center last spring.  I think it's called a neon pothos.

I particularly like when the sun hits it in the morning drawing attention to it's beauty next to my favorite chair.

Wanting a new plant for low light conditions I recently purchased this sansevieria.  Yes, the good old "snake plant" or "mother in law's tongue".  I am still a bit surprised that I made this purchase as I used to think they were not something I would ever want in my house.  Ever since I was a kid, for some reason, I associated them with "old lady" plants.  I know they have recently become popular again.  Perhaps that is why I am seeing them in a new light or perhaps it is because now I qualify for the "little old lady".

:D.

In reading about their care I learned that they are one of the better plants for purifying the air inside one's home.  They are supposed to remove formaldehyde and provide oxygen in it's place.  With the new rugs and furniture that sounds like a good plant to have around.

I may have to apologize to this plant for all of the bad thoughts I've had about it.

My anthurium did well on the patio until an early frost caught me off guard.  After bringing it in, most of the leaves have turned brown and I've been clipping them off one by one.  It is looking kind of pathetic at the moment.

It almost found a new home in the compost heap until I noticed this new leaf and upon closer inspection there are a few more getting ready to unfurl.  So now I will spend the fall and winter months tending to it with hopes that in time it will once again be strong and healthy.  I am going to start by finding a slightly larger pot for it as I think it has outgrown this one.

I can never resist growing an amaryllis or two at this time of year.

Last year's bulb turned out to be a dud.

I have high hopes for this one.

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