Pink Poinsettias for Connie

Some pink poinsettias for Connie. The first one is kind of a dark pink, more maroon possibly but I thought it was pretty.

Poinsettias on Parade at local Greenhouse

Every year for many years my husband and I go to a local greenhouse that grows thousands of poinsettias, I take lots of pictures, we walk around and admire all the varieties and each year we walk away with the usual bright red one which is always our favorite. This is just something small but it is has become one of the highlights of the holiday season for me. The first picture is of the plant we purchased the other is just one of the greenhouses, there are more.

Our first winter storm has arrived, it was snowing when we walked the dogs this AM, by the time we got back home it had turned to sleet, while walking in the woods all of sudden you could hear that it was sleet and not snow. The weather has changed my plans for the weekend. I am staying in for the day. I am going to get started on my holiday candy making. Caramels and fudge are are on the agenda today. A couple of weeks ago, my oldest friend, (we met when I was 5 and she was 6) came over and we spent the day making caramels, her daughter is home from CA now for an early Christmas and she loves the caramels, so my friend and I made several batches, it was a great day.

First Winter Storm Watch, Carolina Wren and other things.

Well, we are officially under our first winter storm watch starting Saturday AM, I am supposed to get my grandsons this weekend (they live about 90 miles away) now I wonder if that will happen. I also need to get up to see my Dad (about 60 miles away) I am wondering about that as well. Time will tell, sounds like an ugly storm with freezing sleet, rain, and snow.

The Carolina Wren is back at my feeder for the 3rd winter in a row, I never see them in the summer. I don't know if they spend the summer here but do not come to my feeders or if they move on in the summer and whether they go back to Carolina for a visit, why they spend their winters in Iowa is beyond me..........

This little silver leafed begonia is one of my favorites, the leaves are so pretty, I imagine it gets flowers but this one has not flowered for me. I ordered a few new houseplants from Logees but I think I may have waited too late as they will not ship when the temps are too cold, so this may be an order I don't get until spring, darn it, it is my tradition to order a few new houseplants each fall but I think I waited too long this particular fall. I have been ordering from them for years as they carry lots of houseplants that are not available locally. I got caught up in the houseplant craze in the late 60s and early 70s and have never gotten out of it.

Shooting Star Hoya

Hoyas are wonderful plants, when they bloom, which in most cases is not often, Shooting Star is an exception, it has blooms on it most of the year. Most hoyas are very fragrant, Shooting Star is not but is a fun houseplant to have around.

A Late Veteran's Day Post

As I have mentioned in a few posts my Dad has been diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure and has been in and out of the hospital for almost 2 mos now. He is a WWII vet, he enlisted in the Navy at the age of 17, at the time he had never been more than 25 miles away from his home in North Washington, IA, they were put on a bus and taken to Des Moines and from there to California for boot camp and then to the Pacific Theater, he spent 4 years away from Iowa, he was on the first ship that went into Japan after the Japanese surrendered. He earned a purple heart and other medals, he gave all of these to my son last year along with his Navy uniforms. My daughter in law had a shadow box put together, it is a great display. My grandson took it to school along with the uniforms on Veterans Day, the teacher invited some WWII vets to the classroom. These are a couple of the photos, makes me proud of my Dad and of my grandson.

Memed by Shady Gardener

I have been memed by Shady Gardener so I must think of 8 things that someone might be interested in :).

1) I love to learn new things and wish there were more opportunities around here to take classes.

2) I must spend some time outdoors each day, no matter what the weather or I feel all out of sorts and that is not a good thing :).

3) When I retire I want to train one or both of my dogs to be therapy dogs.

4) When I retire I want to volunteer for the adult literacy program.

5) I wish I could retire tomorrow :).

6) I enjoy my own company.

7) I wish I worked in a library.

8) My garden is my refuge.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Reiman Gardens

We got snow today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And it was the pretty kind that sticks to trees, unfortunately it was dark when I arrived home so I was not able to take pictures, but I enjoyed watching it snow from my desk at work.

Real life keeps getting in the way of my blogging, darn it! My Dad is home from the hospital again, he is very weak, I cannot believe how quickly his health has deteriorated. We are having a quiet day tomorrow so tonight I am going to update my blog and visit other blogs that I enjoy reading.

Tonight and over the next few days I am going to share some pictures that I took last summer at Reiman Gardens my favorite place to day trip to. The Butterfly House is wonderful! My birthday is next month, my husband asked what I wanted, I told him a day trip to the Butterfly House and to see the Christmas lights at Reiman.

This was an interesting ornamental pepper plant that was in a pot. One year several years back I was into the ornamental peppers and had several different varieties. They really are fun to grow but in this zone they have to be started in the house in January for the plant to mature to watch the peppers turn from green, to black or purple and finally red. I would love to have a wide variety of the peppers again to start from seed.