Display at the MSU Museum….

Cold wind felt like it penetrated my skin as we walked to the library, making us prefer east-west to north-south streets. Saw a dandelion and a periwinkle in bloom. Poor things. Gonna be cold tonight (for here).

I’m not sure why a pineapple. Except maybe that they’re not native to anyplace I’ve set foot (they’re from South America, according to WikiPee—and I did not recall even that).

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!

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.

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….

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?

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.

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‑or‑ite 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!

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….

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.