Happy Friday! Oh the wind is howling, my deck table and chair and pots broke free of their bungees and skittered away, hit the railings hard. Mo was intrigued.
Indoors is sunny and we are looking for mood lifters, while dreading the afternoon walk that looms. Nothing says spring [faux-spring] like tiny daffodils and plump red radishes!
Indoor bulb update, week three ends Sunday. The amaryllis has bloomed in all its glory.
I am so thrilled, especially as I made a bit of a mistake in my re-growing protocol this year. Yet it carries on, so rewarding.
These are my Trader Joe's mini daffs. Gorgeous!
Happy!
My paperwhites on the other hand are very disappointing this year.
Only two bulbs shot right up--gangly and ugly.
They are blooming, but the flowers are SO teeny tiny, smaller than a quarter. These were the expensive nursery Holland bulbs. Amazon cheap bulbs do much better.
Tomorrow I'll clip the flowers and remove these huge stalks, put the non-growing bulbs into the smaller Costco vase. They have not budged tho, probably a fail. I'll be patient though.
And these are my Clorox hydrangeas. I love them, though maybe it is past hydrangea time now as March begins. Too bad they're so fragile and cannot easily be stored.
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My friend L is back from warm sunny Florida, poor thing. We didn't feel up to the farmers market, that long cold hike from the car is a deterrent. So we did the funny little fresh veg stand by the railroad tracks instead. Both of us are craving lots of fresh veggies.
Radishes!
First asparagus.
And what the heck are these. They always have something new to tempt us, but NO to sour melons, lol. That is one really ugly fruit, isn't it. Bitter melon HERE
My cooking project this week is a beef and bacon stew with red wine and [optional] cognac, with dumplings. I got lovely root veggies to add. It could be a slow cooker recipe but I think I want to use my dutch oven and warm the house using my oven instead. I will let you all know if it's a success.
Even a turnip can be pretty!
I am very excited today because I have house cleaners here to do a big spring cleaning. First professional cleaning since before Covid began, the house is a dusty dog hairy mess. It is 3 PM and the crew just arrived. I fear the bedrooms will not get attention this week, but just having the house nice enough for those fantasy visitors who may come is wonderful. The head cleaner says she may know someone to do some much needed spruce up and painting chores too. Workers in my house give me the heebie jeebies but a clean home is so welcoming and peaceful, it will be well worth the agita. And cost.
Hope your weekend is good and storm-free. Did you notice it is light much later now. Oh the joy as light evenings reappear.
love
lizzy
gone to the beach....
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Your beach pictures look a lot calmer than things around here. Rain and snow melt and mountain springs wreaked havoc in our area yesterday/last night. Everyone is flooded, some roads were closed, we had over 10 inches of water in the basement this morning and had to rig up the portable sump pump and hose to help the main sump begin to remove the water. The sump is rated to remove 1,800 gallons per hour and it's been going for nearly 10 hours now. Hubby reported water still coming into the basement though the overall level has dropped several inches. Worst we've seen since we moved here, fire departments are very busy helping folks pump out, etc. Waiting for spring ... Your daffodils look awfully welcoming, even the tiny paperwhites!
ReplyDeleteOh-- to see this late afternoon light extending is such a hopeful sign isn't it? Just raises your spirits! ;)))
ReplyDeleteI love chou-fleurs--and they are so pretty..
I need to get more fresh veggies in house--DH can only eat cooked ones, so carrots, have been high on our list lately [don't you love their color?].
The wind has abated this morning here, but it is pretty chilly--will bundle myself up and try a sidewalk walk--got a good report from MD--making progress--just hoping it will last and keeping myself from overdoing...or trying to...
I hope you and Mo have a lovely (quick-- hahah) little walkie today hugs, Julierose
I love noticing the longer days! They are still short, but nice to look forward to spring.
ReplyDeleteToo bad about your tiny flowers with few stems. Amaryllis are so beautiful! That was a yearly gift to my mom and her assisted living neighbor. They would compare every day and see whose was growing the fastest!
Your blooming flowers all looked very pretty (disappointing about the small paperwhites and non-growing daffs). Did anyone else notice that the red of the amaryllis blossom was the same bright red as the radishes?!
ReplyDeleteI don't know what you'd do with a 'bitter melon' but those things look scary!
Just curious, have you ever had salsify? Root veggie that's supposed to taste like oysters... I've always been curious but can never find any.
Take care and thanks for sharing!
I will look for salsify, some say it tastes like artichoke not [eeew] oysters].
DeleteI looked longingly at the photos of your beautiful flowers in bloom, which brought to mind the wonderful selection we always see at Trader Joe's. Sadly, my daughter's cats will eat any flowers or plants so for now, no flowers for me. They won't be here forever so one day in the future I'll bring home some flowers.
ReplyDeleteIf I could splurge on any one thing, I think it would be to have someone come in and clean our house. My mom made cleaning such a drudge (though our home was always perfectly clean) I decided I didn't like cleaning. I do clean but it would be a joy to have someone else do it. Good for you for making that choice. You'll love beginning spring with your crystal clean everything!
I had not heard of bitter melons, and after reading a bit more about them, they don't sound appealing to me. The February that we lived in El Salvador we were introduced to ice cream beans (known by a different name there). Exotic and totally delicious. (More at https://sowexotic.com/products/ice-cream-bean-inga-spectabilis.)
Maybe you could store your hydrangeas in a sturdy box until next year? It seems a shame to go to all the trouble only to throw them out a few months later.
That's a delightful stack of Shaker boxes! Are they originals or reproductions.
I hope you're staying warm and that the wind calmed down.
Maddening about the Amazon Paperwhites. Sounds like their supplier sent a dud batch.
ReplyDeleteYour home is goingto smell delicious with food and flowers.
I always love your beach vistas, both faraway and the precious close-ups of unseen inhabitants'foot prints.
As your days get shorter, were noticing'cooler early mornings and evenings as well as the changing positions of sunlight patterns on the bedroom wall.
I was unclear: the paperwhites are NOT cheap ones from Amazon, which have always bloomed profusely for me. This years bulbs are from the expensive flower nursery and cost about 4 times as much as Amazon. Really disappointing.
DeleteThe amaryllis is so beautiful! Love the little pot it's in.
ReplyDeleteI just recently saw bitter melon mentioned somewhere else. Never heard of it before. It does not look friendly ;) I'll let someone else try it.
Hope you guys are well