Fading beauty -

The Amaryllis Chronicles are over once again. The photos above were of last year's blooms which I had photographed but never posted - but this year the blooms looked similar and were enjoyed so much during the dreary days of January.

Come late spring the bulbs will once again be planted out in the garden. One year they surprised with gorgeous blooms in summer, other years just tall bright green leaves waved in the hot summer sun, somehow surviving while awaiting yet another potting shed rest in September and October. Potting up again came in November ready for blooming in January.

All this may sound like work!  It rather is but is so worth it.  I used to chuck my bulbs out into the compost thinking they were done after one blooming, but thanks to my dear friend Gina in Utah ~ Art and Alfalfa ~ I learned how to keep them going year after year.

Will they bloom another year? Who knows. Patience and TLC is required and I'm willing to try again.

Yesterday flew off into the history books. . . . . .

 

. . . . . . however, like all the recent January days, it left me with some gentle, 

simple thoughts.

~ An afternoon cup of excellent tea as 4 o'clock rolled around ~

This is one of my favorite black teas, a gift from friends Marilyn and Jim in

 Oregon who stopped by to visit us last year. It as our second meeting as

 we visited with them several years ago when travel was easy and safer.

Marilyn is your 'go to' tea lady - and her lovely blog Delights of the Heart

will inspire you with tea info, poetry, photos, kind thoughts, and so much more.

This blend similar to Earl Grey, is No.55 Lord Bergamot, by Portland, Oregon Teamaker Steven Smith.

"A flavor somewhat superior to traditional Earl Grey. Fragrant Ceylon Dimbula and Uva are artfully combined with select teas from India's Assam valley, then scented with bergamot essential oil from the realm of Reggio Calabria, Italy." 

Teamaker Steven Smith

I find one silky tea bag fills my smaller tea pot with enough for two good sized

 cups of delicious tea. I like the note on the tea bag envelope, 

"Steep 5 minutes, while pondering the Earl's affair with the Duchess of Devonshire."

A Scottish shortbread - Walker's my favorite - always goes well well with tea.

~ The power of a flowering bulb ~

Once amaryllis get going they grow so quickly.

Last evening the four buds on the second bulb to bloom

 looked like this.

This morning, the buds have changed a lot.

What fun it would be to have a time-lapse camera to film all this.

~ My thoughts in regard to new books - I love new books ~

. . . . . . .will have to wait until another time.

I have a lot to share about these particular ones, so please come

 back if you would like to learn more.

They are thought-provoking: covering good-for-us food, 

objects of art, gifts for special people. . . . . .you know who you are.

Meanwhile, enjoy this day. We have bright sunshine, cool 

temperatures and a forecast of much colder days and 

nights ahead with possible snow/ice come Friday.

Firewood is piled near the door. Thoughts include even more cups and

 mugs of tea, coffee and hot chocolate - and perhaps toss in a warming

 snifter of cognac later when the flames are dancing on the hearth.

 Trying out a couple of new soups will mean a quick trip out for 

vegetables tomorrow. 

Then curling up with those new books, knitting, writing, listening to old

 recordings of Yanni, Kitaro, Enya, whilst writing - all of whom bring back

 so many memories. 

My history.

. . . . . and speaking of flying, a Mockingbird arrived to nibble crumbs on the

 front porch rail. Birds seem to know when snow is coming - they

 stay closer to the house and porch, and of course I love that.

The January days ahead -

With apologies to Hieronymus Bosch, this is my own small winter 

'garden of earthly delights.'  Simple, manageable, pleasant to view 

in the dining room now devoid of somewhat bright and dazzling

 Christmas decor, and giving me hope I will soon have amaryllis

 blooming and sharing exquisite flowers on dreary days. . . . .which

 are possibly heading our way according to the forecast.

We could get a long awaited light snowfall tomorrow morning when this

crazy 'heatwave' ends and a cold front blasts through. It was 80F yesterday

and we cranked up the a/c after taking down outdoor Christmas decor, other

than the tree in the gazebo which I like to leave up a while longer. Then 

we tackled the indoor decorations, wrapping in tissue, packing carefully

 into green boxes and stashing in the far reaches of the attic in hopes they

 will make their way out come next December!

Saturday morning musings. . . .

It's the weekend and there's lots to fill my time.

We go for our first COVID-19 shots early tomorrow morning - drive-thru

in a hospital parking lot.  

We'll meet up with Razzy for a short walk - she's older now and doesn't

 enjoy going too far.

I'm taking a knitting break for awhile and have started on a new creative

venture with needle and thread - will share more later.

Grand-dog - sweet Razzy 

We're going 'walkies' tomorrow

Four beautiful blooms at last

My weekend flowers

Delicious veggies, Brussels sprouts, shallots, sweet potatoes - roasted

 yesterday for weekend recipes

Fresh eggs from Linda at the Saturday Farmers' Market 

(Anthropologie tea towel Christmas gift)

. . . . . . . and last but not least, the potting shed has a nightly visitor!

We discovered we've been feeding a little chubby mouse - a camera

 set up has filmed it coming around 10 pm to gobble our birdseed!

Later today we plan to pull out everything stored in there to look for

 an entry hole - as much as we love nature's creatures we don't want

 to encourage what could become a family into our shed! 

Enjoy your weekend - stay healthy, be safe.

Morning Light -

On Tuesday in my post on re-blooming, the amaryllis looked like THIS

Tightly budded and full of promise.

As I said, patience was all that was required, plus a refreshing

weekly drink and a sunny window.

These photos were taken early today.  

Two blooms open and two more to go.

This is all you need to know regarding tossing your lovely amaryllis bulbs 

after their initial bloom, usually timed for the Christmas holiday season.

Save them, plant them outside come Spring and give them time and TLC.

Planting them in the garden in Spring through late Summer isn't 

difficult, then a couple of months in low light - for me it's the potting

 shed - and then re-pot in Autumn. Look what awaits you, more

 beautiful blooms to enjoy on these Winter mornings. 

Don't be surprised if I show you this beauty at least once more when

the other buds open!  There may be nothing in bloom outside in the

 garden but here in the dining room it's colorful.

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.  

September song -

"Best I love September's yellow,

Morns of dew-strung gossamer,

Thoughtful days without a stir,

Rooky clamours, brazen leaves,

Stubble dotted o'er with sheaves -

More than Spring's bright uncontrol

Suit the Autumn of my soul." 

~ Alex. Smith ~

The month of September brings the autumnal equinox on

 Tuesday the 22nd - the official date of the new season.  

Usually though we think of the first day of September as

 being the arrival of Autumn.

The garden is changing rapidly now. After the horrendous rains here on Monday night - we were pounded and flooded with 6 inches - things are looking different. 

To top it all off we are now in a heatwave with the heat index temperature reaching 105F yesterday, higher today with as much as 110F of heavy, moist air making any outdoor work or activity not only miserable but very dangerous!

Sadly, no Horse chestnut trees growing here but I do still have one

 copper-hued conker brought back from England many years ago! 

I like to hold it, roll it in my hand and and reminisce about my 

childhood Autumn days.

We spent a little time outside yesterday, early morning, Bob doing storm

 damage cleanup, me digging out the amaryllis bulbs and deadheading the

 now brown and dry blooms from the hydrangeas.

This is my first try at keeping my winter blooming bulbs through spring and

 summer in hopes I can force them back into bloom around the holiday season. 

 I had planted the 4 large bulbs into the garden in May (see their beautiful 

leaves above), and one pleasantly surprised me with a baby!

They now have to remain in a cool place until their re-potting in November.

As cool places are hard to find at present - the potting shed is like an oven -

I've put them in a box and keeping them in the air conditioned house -

just hoping there are no bugs creeping around of course!

Speaking of creeping creatures, while working on the two large hydrangeas

 bushes in front of the porch, a sudden movement startled me and Charlie

 gecko appeared clinging to a stem.  He seems to live in this area of the 

garden where I have placed a large shallow dish which I keep filled with 

water. . . . initially for the bees but perhaps also a good watering place for

 Charlie (who could be Charlene as I did see a very tiny gecko around also

 this summer!).

Last, but never least, another visitor was on the porch this morning, drinking from the fountain and peering in the dining room window with the usual sparkle in his/her eye. . . . . . and I'm sure awaiting a tip top acorn season ahead!!!

Damn the virus - May moments are still special!

It's a beautiful day after a great weekend.

Note the moon!

I baked on Saturday - a quiche full of 'exotic mushrooms', and my friend Penny

 of Enjoying The Simple Things recipe for her fabulous apple pie.

 My Carolina wrens were busy on the gazebo searching for bugs to gobble up.

The roses continue to clamber over the side fence. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . and the other amaryllis opened, just two buds - and really surprised with creamy 

white blooms - I don't recall ever having this color when grown in the house.

Perhaps it is this one. . . . . . from two years ago.

It's lovely, just as any flower is no matter the color.

I visited yesterday - daughter's garden (with distancing and masks) - and had

 such a good time just sitting around the fire pit with snacks and chilled wine. 

Flowers were exchanged. . . . . . I came home with a beautiful bouquet, she

 was pleased with two new potted roses to plant in her garden.

Grand-doggie Razzy, now eleven but still like a puppy in many ways, enjoyed

 being outside with us. Like her Grandparents, she's in need of some personal

 care - especially a haircut!

Hoping this week will see good changes. . . . . . we will continue to stay

 at home except for popping out for essentials.

Stay safe - be well everyone.

May Day in bloom -

In the merry, merry month of May!

Some glimpses of the garden in the past 

couple of days of sunshine and rain.

 Perhaps the loveliest time in the garden here in the southeast prior to the

 heat and humidity of summertime.

Taking a little afternoon break to enjoy the shades of green.

It's been a very busy week and I'm ready for the weekend!

All four buds have opened on the amaryllis - so beautiful.

 Peonies have opened - not many, but so fragrant.

 Sweet smelling jasmine on the fence.

 Masses of beautiful flowers on the backyard privets this year - a pleasant surprise.

Rhododendrons are a pop of color in the back garden.

Honeysuckle on the back fence.

And so it goes - days still go by very quickly for us despite continuing under stay at home orders for other than essential outings for food and necessities. Bob found a bottle of bleach - we cheered in the store, muffled by our masks! There's no rice though - who buys so much of it? 
This week we did go to a necessary doctor appointment for Bob's painful knee - an injection seems to be helping. Our good neighbor (also a Bob) helped us by mowing the front lawn as Bob was out of commission. I'm so lucky to be surrounded by 'Bobs' who make me feel safe.
We had a kitchen plumbing problem. I cooked and baked daily, including a huge veggie lasagna. I hadn't made one in ages, it was good with plenty of cheese - in fact far too much cheese. . . . . I need to walk more now! 
Thanks for all those great hair tips on going grey - former post - you are the best of friends. We worked on changing winter to summer wardrobes, which meant a lot of laundry time - and I have a big pile of ironing waiting in the wings. The garden is ongoing. We pulled out yards of ivy - a lot of work, but rewarding. The storm of Wednesday night brought high winds and heavy rain, thankfully no severe damage, and the plants seem happy with the good deep water they received. Hydrangeas are budding - remember they are my favorites. . . . . after the awesome amaryllis of course!

So the month of May is here and most of us admit that April was like no other April of the past!  Hoping things improve - wishing you continued good health - hoping your loved ones are coping and staying safe - thanking all the people who are working so hard to help us in

so many ways.