Jingle Jangle

I wish there was a fragrance app I could add to this blog! The sweet perfume of Paper Whites fill the air. It's intoxicating.

Paper Whites

They're just about the easiest (and fastest) indoor bulb to grow ~ but they can be a little dickens. Some sprout incredibly fast. Others, quite slow. The only guarantee is how delighted you'll be once they bloom.

It's sort of the same situation with Amaryllis ~ some fast, some slow ~ and I could jinx the entire holiday season by saying this...

But, I think I timed it right this year! This big, beautiful bud should be fully open by December 25th.

Update on the new digs (I moved 6 weeks ago.)
Things are coming along! I've got a garage full of new doors and no one to install them. If that job falls in my lap, they'll be done by May but I've still got my fingers crossed I can find a handyman desperate for some Christmas coin.

Christmas Holly

I was pretty desperate for some coin, too. Seeing as how I've been spending money like a drunken sailor on all these fixer upper projects.

I like to keep life complicated (well, not really) ~ it wasn't as easy as me just moving. I moved. Then I had to go back to the old place, fix it up, and rent it out.

That chore, while trying to make this place liveable, had me wishing there were a few more hours in every day.

At last.. Planets aligned. Tenants moved in and I feel ~ once again ~ as if I'm walking on the sunny side of the street.

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Buddy: ratty cat ornament.

With a little jingle in my own pocket, I decided to start sprucing the place up for the holidays. Do you hang onto your decorations forever and a day? I do, too... and they get pretty ratty. So, I tossed a bunch and am starting over.

I hauled out the fake snow, with grand plans to create a Charles Dickens village with my collection of wee houses. Came back into the room to find this ratty [Cat} ornament smack dab in the middle of my display.

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On the flower front, Orchids now live in the bathroom. Bright light + high humidity = some crazy-ass flower power.

If you look really close...  Kalanchoes have some new buds:

 

And, I started an herb garden! Because, you see, I didn't have nearly enough greenery to keep me busy. :))

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Full of Life

If you got a late start on planting Amaryllis bulbs, plant in water vs. soil. 

Speeds up growing time. :)

Wow. What a difference it makes to be looking out a new window, at a new view. (Which I will show you. Just as soon as I get in gear and wash the windows! :) I had no idea I was in such a rut until I pulled up stakes and moved back into town. Where everybody walks funny.

I should probably explain that... when you live in a ski town, winter is a deluge of tourists. They show up here to ski and when the day is done, they go shopping in their ski and snowboard boots. (Which don't work very well on flat, or slippery, surfaces.) I'm not sure why tourists won't take the time to put on a sensible pair of shoes, or why they have to grocery shop en masse, instead of assigning this duty to one person.

But, I love it.

I hear them hollering across several aisles of the grocery store. Should we get potato chips? I could totally go for some chips!! Gleeful. On vacation. Without a care in the world. Permission to indulge in all kinds of taboo goodies because, you see, we skied.

Apple Blossom Amaryllis

It's part of why I'm so happy here. Because everyone else is...

Paper Whites come in yellow, too.

I grew up in a small town but that was very, very different. A town where jobs were scarce and people were miserable. Residents eagerly plotting ways to move out of that town, instead of moving in.

Here? Everyone compliments you on your decision to call this place home ~ right after they corner you on why they can't find wine in the grocery stores.

Me, in my sensible shopping shoes, it's easy to tell I'm a local. From now, through April, there will be plentiful interruptions as I'm pushing my shopping cart to, and fro.

But, enough of all that. 
How was your Thanksgiving?

I'm still beating myself up over mine. Major setbacks: I made a from-scratch cream of mushroom soup in order to create the ultimate green bean casserole.

The recipe called for red wine... Eee gads. My green beans turned a ghastly purple color and guests avoided it like that proverbial plague.

My most amazing bread ever came outta the oven, flat as a board.

The turkey, however, was perfect in every way. Because I wasn't in charge of roasting it.

Everyone claimed they had a fabulous time. Chalk that up to the case of champagne.

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And, now, suddenly, it's December?

And, I need a tree.

Perish the thought...  but I'm leaning toward a fake tree this year. Freshies are going for $18 a foot! I don't think a one-foot-tree will look all that festive. :)

Native to New Mexico, Poinsettias happily re-bloom in our high desert climate.

What's your take on the whole Christmas tree dilemma? Do you buy a fresh-cut tree? 

Opt for the faux variety? Curious minds need to know...

A skier's perspective on life.

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