Celebrating and a Little Talk about Houseplants

   I am sharing a family moment that wrapped up January. Tyler turned 33 and the tradition since they married and moved close to us has been gathering at Outback. This year we ordered Outback and brought it to their house. I snapped a few pictures after dinner. There are no posed photos ---just the family as we are sitting around.

Tyler opening his card and don't you just love Lindsay's new cabinet behind the couch where the bookcase was. The bookcase was one Jeff made so Katie and Paul Allen have gotten it.  Lindsay is looking for the perfect picture to go above it.

I sometimes love the captured life photos as much as those posed ones.

Tucker is the center of attention these days and will soon have a brother to share it with. For now though, he is center stage. He was showing off his skills with his remote controlled truck that Uncle Paul Allen gave him for Christmas. He has a new name for Uncle Paul Allen as well. Uncle Pap. He adores Katie and Paul Allen.

The truck is not the tiny thing in front but a larger truck past his mom's feet. He can move it in one direction, but turns the remote upside down to move it backwards. Mimi thinks he is gifted!

Lindsay and Tyler also celebrated their 7th anniversary to ring in the still cold February. We went out and babysat so they could go eat out. IT was a lovely day 7 years ago in early February. This February has caused me to have to make another list to work on in the house because it is way too cold for me. I am complaining and will probably have to be reminded in October when it is hot that I was whining in February. 

This list is some projects that I will share in my next stitching post. 

I am dreaming about gardening so I will talk about indoor gardening. As I said in my last post, the entire Internet is one big advertisement and I was influenced to try my hand at some indoor bulbs this December. I started with paper whites. Many on Instagram for the last couple of years were showing off their paper whites and amaryllis. 

My verdict on paper whites is that they are quite lovely and if I were going to do them again I would need to do them in a very short dish rather than the tall one I used. They were so tall I really didn't have anywhere to put them and of course they fell over which explains why I saw the ribbon tied around them all. I don't think I will do paper whites again. They were lovely and I am glad I tried, but I think I would like just a little poinsettia or some grocery store flowers.

I planted an amaryllis in hopes that it would bring in the new year with a bright coral bloom. 

Does that look coral to you????

It turns out they sent me the wrong one. It was beautiful though. Again, it should have been planted in a shorter pot.

I loved it and am days away from it blooming again. My verdict on this is that again I think for indoors I would rather have a houseplant or some grocery store flowers. I will transplant this one outdoors when it is done though. Mother has a whole row of them in her back yard and they are very pretty.

So that influencing done by all those influencers is over and I will move back to my normal programming.

It is camellia season and I have a couple of camellia bowls around the house.

I have been fluffing my houseplants to survive the changes in light with winter. For those of you who think it is all green thumbs around here. Not so. I am diligent and do have lots of luck in places where there is abundant light like my kitchen. 

My geranium that I brought in for the winter from the back deck is getting leggy and moving up in my fern. I will trim her this week and root some of that tall stuff. Soon she will go back out until September when it gets so hot she is unhappy and I bring her in for a bit. You will notice the amaryllis on the floor getting ready to pop out again.

Cold and cloudy again:(

I nearly lost my Christmas cactus this year. She had gotten too big for her pot and I failed to repot her. She fell over for the second time and the second time really messed her up. I lost a good portion of her -probably half, but she is back in business and I think will live to show off again next Christmas. 

Just another mishap. I had a spider lily in my living room that had begun to really limp. I tried a clay pot rather than the plastic one she was in and she went from bad to worse. Coupled with the loss of light from the Christmas tree blocking her light I put her back in the plastic pot and moved her to my bedroom to either survive or go to the place plants go to die. Oh and I gave her some fertilizer for good measure. Well, she decided to come back. Some new growth is happening in the middle and I think she has found her new happy place. 

A new plant was bought for the living room.  This is my little sunny area where the Christmas tree is placed. 

I have plants in 4 rooms upstairs and the big room downstairs. I don't try to grow them in every room because I am not in every room nor do they have enough light to maintain them. I do love houseplants though.

One other little helpful tidbit. I downloaded the app Overdrive on my phone and now I can listen to books from our public library just like Audible and all for free. Thanks Carol! I also stopped by the library and checked out a large print book for Mother. I am so hoping it will be something she can do. Her eyes bother her so reading has almost been given up by her. She once loved to read like me. 

Thinking about spring,

Sandy