I wiped away the weeds & foam. / I fetched my sea-born treasures home... Ralph Waldo Emerson







Thursday, February 6, 2014

Amaryllis, Pussywillow



Amaryllis, Pussywillow---the exotic and the mundane.
Both/ all are very welcome as we dig out yet again and prepare for another storm to come. This is a 'challenging' winter, isn't it!?



Hi everyone! Isn't she adorable! The little girl across the street, and her mom and daddy made this snow lady during Monday's storm. I love how they made the carrot's green topper leaves into the snow girl's hair.


And greeting me as I come indoors, my amaryllis is in bloom.


The magnificent red amaryllis are late bloomers, Christmas red for Valentine's Day.


Lots of pleasure from my on-sale find, the bulb was half price at 8.oo.


 
 


The plant was very tall and ungainly. "Why not cut the stalks off?" I said to myself.



Amaryllis makes a spectacular  cut flower, doesn't it? This is the second set of blooms so far, below.



And what would late winter be with out some branches to force?


 My parents used to send me big boxes of branches, forsythia, witch hazel, cherry and peach. Rhododedrun! Heather and winter roses when it was a mild year. All would, in time, bloom for me indoors and make me think of spring on Cape Cod. (My dad's tangled woodlot garden was magical, filled with flowering trees and bulbs.)
The local market had one of my favorites, pussy willow. So sweet.



 I do love the fluffy grey catkins and shiny brown stems with my small collection of stoneware..

 



Progress is showing on one set of the daffodils. They are slow this year! My house is very cold and there's no lemony sunshine to warm these bulbs and make the grow.



These flowers are so charming and  a joy in the depths of this winter---but they have no scent! So I have a new-to-me find!




 Usually I clean everything with with Clorox, oh how I love the smell of Clorox! Clean-clean-clean! But since I had my respiratory problems and my friend Mel here nags me, I have looked into alternatives. This has been around for years! I have no idea if it kills germs like my Clorox does, but oh my! the scent of lemon verbena fills the house. I love it.
I wonder if they make dishwashing soap? Because, darn it!, my dishwasher is broken again.


Have a good weekend!

love

lizzy

gone to the beach.................