Musings

Conclusions: the paperwhites made the trip (see white background); the paperwhites are continuing to open (see picture from the 30th). Loving how the house smells!

Posted at 6:52 PM | Comments Off on White on white

The first trio of the paperwhites are open. I bought ten bulbs, selected from the same box. I don’t understand why they their progress is so staggered; others are just three inches tall.

Posted at 6:34 PM | Comments Off on Kitchen smells…gooood

When we walked today, I expected to find the odd azalea bloom, but not this bulb’s flower, or the not-pictured redbud. I’m thinking this is some twist of La Niña plus global warming.

Meanwhile, we’ve spent the day periodically raiding the fridge and kitchen in general for leftovers.

Yum.

Extra points to anyone who recognizes the structure behind the bloom….

Posted at 5:08 PM | 1 Comment »

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I continue to be amazed at the insect life I capture in close-up or close-in photos I take—critters I am only sometimes aware of when I capture the image.

If the resolution’s too hammered for you to spot “him,” “he’s” off to the right of the bloom. Why are bees “he” in my reflexive linguistic brain?

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Where he be?

Third day in a row I found it non-December warm. Pleasant, but I walked to the lib thinking we’re going to pay for this great weather. But I hope not.

Posted at 7:58 PM | Comments Off on Spiky and fluffy (plants)

Yes, we’re in the off season for plants, but today turned into plant day. I really enjoyed the sunlight streaming in the window on the white poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) NT sent over—just gorgeous. And then, on the way back from the library, I strolled into our fav&#8209or&#8209ite neighborhood hardware store, which has a decent plant section, and picked up a few paperwhite bulbs, ready to be planted.

So, now I have a (fun!) chore for tomorrow!

Posted at 6:44 PM | Comments Off on Plant day (among other things)

Bench lichen from ABG on Sunday….

Most exciting event today: making bourbon balls with TH. I used the food processor to reduce a total of eight boxes of vanilla wafers (but not nilla) to crumbs, four for us and four for TH. We both just fully processed half, so there’s another rolling stint ahead of us….

Posted at 7:38 PM | 2 Comments »

Over at the ABG, even though we didn’t go in the Conservatory, we found strange non-local plants. And this one, nope, I didn’t even look at the name.

Posted at 6:23 PM | 2 Comments »

It’s tour-of-homes weekend, and on our stroll this afternoon we saw many well-turned-out folks carrying maps clogging the sidewalks. One house with a sign and balloons advertising its listing on the tour had the front door wide open. Along the grass bordering the walk between the front porch and the driveway were tidy pairs of shoes.

Shoe sale there, the Guru said….

Posted at 3:39 PM | Comments Off on Proof: Bees still busy in December

I’m assuming it’s the cold snap we had recently that put the ants in a dither. At least, “a dither” would explain them invading my kitchen.

Do ants like roses? I know they like peonies…. So, maybe there’s no connection between roses and ant food…. And that’s why they like my kitchen? Hey, the kitchen’s clean (enough!).

Posted at 7:33 PM | Comments Off on Ants, away!