The week that was -

 

I was up with the sun on Saturday. A mild morning with such a fiery sky it

 took my breath away for a few fleeting minutes. 

Followed by scattered bird songs from around the garden, I sat down

 to listen on the front porch, wrapped in a chunky cabled throw, coffee

 mug in hand, hoping this would be a good day.

I picked up a lovely bunch of mixed fresh cut greenery from a nearby 

garden center - today I will arrange it on the mantel and hopefully 

it will remain pretty through Christmastime.

Now it's already Sunday with a little rain from the night glistening 

on the shrubs and grass, but the sun breaking through and a pleasant

 day reaching 68F predicted. . . . . . .perfect for me!

Yesterday this bluebird was caught showering in one of the backyard

 baths - always a sweet bird to see.

Cooking this weekend included a tasty cauliflower soup - and although

 not shown here, I added a teaspoon of Dijon mustard noted in a French

 recipe, and it did give an extra flavor layer which was really tasty.

I also made that good spinach quiche again - it's delicious right out

of the oven but, for me, the leftover portions reheated gently are actually

 my favorite when the ingredients seem even more tasty.

At long last the city leaf collection truck showed up in our

 neighborhood on Friday - here they are working on our pile. 

Fortunately the leaves were dry and sucked up quickly - of course

 there are still more to come down but hopefully a second clean up

 will happen in January.

The 'Apple Blossom' amaryllis continues to bloom - four flowers

 open fully now, one more bud just beginning to open this morning.

This has been a stunner.  

The old bulbs are showing a bit more green but it will be 

some time before a stem and buds appear - if ever! Fingers are

 crossed for them, also for the Christmas cactus which hasn't 

done much despite my care in the year since I was gifted with it.

 

When it comes to Christmas mail, I love to discover envelopes

 with beautiful stamps waiting in the mailbox at the end of the

 driveway. So far, this year, my favorite is this one on my card

 from my family in France. It's not actually a Christmas stamp but

it's a lovely illustration of the facade of Notre Dame Cathedral.

All snail mail cards are so welcome, especially with the

exorbitant cost of postage for overseas mail.

I had a health scare last week which included having to return for a 

second (diagnostic 3-D) mammogram when my annual screening one

 showed an abnormality. Thankfully it was determined by the radiologist

not to be anything resembling cancer - and I walked away from the 

clinic feeling free and so grateful after several days of nervous thoughts.

Always have your annual check ups even if, like me, you are older. 

I was going to skip my annual due to COVID and having to go

 to a medical facility - thank goodness I didn't.

They can save your life!

Here's to a good week ahead for everyone.

Hope your 'different' plans for Christmas this year will go smoothly.