Christmas Cactus Time!

 At last, I managed to get my Christmas Cactus to bloom!

After two years since receiving it, I finally discovered the secret to caring for this lovely plant with amazing blossoms!  Thank you internet!  Last year I just got a few buds that dropped off so I decided maybe I was doing something wrong!  Yep, I was!  So I moved it into a better place it would be happy living in ....cooler temps and indirect light, added a bit of fertilizer for flowering plants occasionally and was rewarded with blooms that are delightful!  

Yes, it is a different color than most of them, which is so lovely and soft among the holiday decorations this year!  The label says:  Zygo Limelight - white!  

Thanks, my friend, Tammy for such a lovely gift two years ago....I am looking forward to this long lived plant keeping you in my life for many long years!

First Snow this season!

 A peek out the back door at the first falling snow day of this season.....

Looks a bit cold out there and it needs a bit of holiday green and red bow to cheer it up!

Holiday Time Activity....

 Yep, tis the season for gingerbread house projects for the kids of all ages!

It is the perfect activity while waiting for that turkey to get done at a family gathering!

Our two great grand girls had lots of fun creating and eating the decorations!  Landscape designs were thoughtful indeed!  And tasty!

Winter Porch Pot Time!

Well, almost time!

This week Barb, Rita and I did our annual greens shopping for our outdoor winter planters, etc.!    Always more fun together than doing this alone but we skipped our usual lunch with it.

Our focus was on the warmest day out there this week!

Three stops, 90 minutes and we were done!  Got some good stuff including some fragrant stuff for by the front door!

I sweet talked Denny into spraying mine with stuff that will keep them hydrated to prolong their freshness appearance to last all winter out there.  Then I decided it was time to build my big pot while it was warm in the garage!   The theme was a repeat of last years, greens and silver!  One pot instead of three but fuller and bigger!

I'll share Barb's and Rita's creations when I get pics!  

The bright color of fall....

 

Our maple tree keeps its leaves until the rest of the trees are almost bare and then it rains a beautiful fall color by dropping almost all its leaves within three days!  Such fun to watch it raining color in sunshine against blue skies right outside our living room windows!  

Then when the green grass under it was piled of color...a windy day came along and blew them away so made of minimum last raking duty this year!  Don't know where they went but all the front yards in our neighborhood suddenly were minus leaves on their green carpet and we all smiled at mother nature's gift of the wind at the right moment!

I so love this birdhouse and keep it facing the living room window to enjoy it's unique design.  Can't say the birds are attracted to it and that's OK as it should maintain its beauty or many years to enjoy!

Almost time to move it under the protection of the inside of the garage for the winter!

Native Plant at Rush Lake.....

 

Lovely to find a native plant blooming lakeside at Rush Lake in northern Minnesota!

My daughter and her husband live lakeside on this fabulous lake.  It is such a treat to spend a few days there enjoying the Northern Minnesota scenery!  Not to mention a great fish supper and time to catch up with each other.  Denny gets a chance to fish a bit, which he enjoys!   We only got up there once this summer.  Their covid vax status in that area is a bit risky.  With Tim's medical status because of a double lung transplant we are all in a quarantine setting when we are there.  But we all enjoy time outdoors and on the lake!

Summer memories

 A scene from visiting other garden beds....taken this summer!

We have been cutting down some perennials and pulling out annuals these last weeks of the growing season in SE MN.  This is a good reminder of why we do this work!   And a promise for next summer!

Hope you find this as refreshing as I do right now!