Dairy Daze...and Now Beyond

 I think this is my Christmas cactus.  It has spiky leaves.  I think the Thanksgiving cactus has smoother leaves....well, I know they aren't technically leaves, but you know what I mean. This is the second year this has bloomed.  I love it.  So pretty.   Of course, these have to be "forced" to bloom.  I don't really have a safe dark spot to put it ..well...I would have if I'd clean out a cupboard or a wardrobe...but whatever.  I put it in the bathtub of our dinky bathroom and put a dark cloth over it.  I keep it there for a month or so...all of November at least.  I noticed a couple of weeks ago that it was starting a few tiny buds on it.  I left it in the dark a little bit longer, then took it out last week.  It doesn't have a great deal of buds or blooms, but enough that it will be lovely for a couple of weeks at least. Last year I repotted it after it bloomed and it nearly died.  I'm not sure what to do this time....

  This amaryllis was from a lady who gave her whole huge pot of them to Aunt Kathy's cousin; Mary Lou.  Kathy had them in her front yard...the whole pot of them actually, one fall and gave both Gail and I a few of them.  They are super determined to survive because I do just the bare minimum to care for them.  They bloom, then leaf out.  I keep them in the house until it gets warm enough in later Spring to leave them out on the porch.  I leave them on the North side of the house, under the air conditioner, so they get the condensation dripped all over them.  I bring them in before they freeze and generally just let them die back. I do fertilize them occasionally over the summer and fall. Though I am really not sure if they need it or not.  The leaves just naturally die back.  I vaguely know they need a dormant period, where the leaves die back, but I don't know when exactly that is supposed to be.  This year the leaves had died back duri...

  Today, during the 11 AM service time we had our annual Christmas program.  We were seated near the back so we didn't get a clear view of anything, but the whole concept was was fairly simple; an adult couple narrated the Christmas story straight from different Bible Scriptures while youths from all age groups acted it out. No lines to memorize. As they went along in between here and there were a few Christmas carols that we were all invited to join in. This all made for an endearing Christmas program.  All the kids, of all ages, got to partake if they so chose, and of course all of the adult parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters...etc, were able to enjoy seeing their precious poppets perform. When the production was over and the cast were standing on stage we were all invited to stand and sing another Christmas carol during which they went around and lit our candles.  It was nice, but there were a couple of notable moments.  For one thing, if...

 Here it is the 13th already.  This has been a busy week, with little slow down in sight. I had two sub jobs this week; a full day at the highschool and a full day at the elementary school.  I'd say the elementary school was more difficult, because my charge was in a mood.  Haha...  There were quite a few kids in moods.  Two weeks before Christmas break, and all sorts of testing and EVERYONE was in a mood, even the teachers. Anyway I also had Bible study one morning and then our Ladies group's monthly meeting another morning this week.   Today I go do my caregiver job...I don't really think of it as a job, per se.  It's more like going over and hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa for the day, helping them with random chores.  Such sweet people.  Time is just flying by so fast.  In 5 months Ellen will be graduated from high school.  I can hardly believe that. Let me check my camera roll and see what I've been up to picture...

  Google is being glitchy about which pictures it allows me to post.  I have more pictures on my phone than what it shows when I try to post one here, so the "this and that" I am going to post here is partly based on what pictures I have available to post. Hence my first subject is this kitten.  We, Ellen and I, decided to call her Chica, but it just doesn't fit somehow.  Oh well. Smudge is learning to tolerate her, and will even show interest in playing when Chica is on one of her playing fits; romping around like a cat gone wild.   A funny thing about Smudge; she, like many in the family here, has a weight problem.  At her last vet visit she'd gained a pound and was up to 16, which is very chunky for a cat.  The vet says that cats only need 1/2 cup of kibble per day.  Smudge would eat that much for breakfast and then pester for more. All. Day. Long!  For the past 6 months I've only bought her weight control food, painstakingly measured...

  For Christmas and other gift-giving holidays we tend to spoil the littler children in our lives with as fancy of store bought gifts as we can afford.  Then, depending on age of course, they spend more time playing with the trappings than with the actual toys  The same is true of kittens.  I bought her a couple three new toys with bells and feathers and all.  Does she play with them? No.  She prefers a little length of yarn and any random cardboard box lying around.   Good thing she is so cute.