Saturday Snapshots - Some Christmas Traditions

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by Melinda at West Metro Mommy Reads. Come join the fun. Visit Melinda's blog, grab the button, read the rules, post your photos and link up at West Metro Mommy Reads.

 I have another amaryllis this year. This one was a gift from my DIL's mother, when she left SD and moved to Arizona. It wanted to bloom early, so I put it in my front window. We are watching it change every day. This is from above on Tuesday!(edited the 2nd of Dec)

 Two days later,Thursday,(the 4th) one bloom is open and the other is ready to bloom.

 Today( Dec 5th) it looks like this.

A close up of  "Scarlet Joy"....my name, not the grower. Isn't it stunning.

Ready for a Christmas read and my favorite NOEL ( do you get it?) mug with tea. It is sitting on a Quilt As You Go place mat I made several years ago.

Are you taking time for yourself this holiday season? Hope you are!

Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

ps: this is the post I forgot to post last Saturday the 5th. Today all four blooms are open, in fact the first one is starting to fade. There is another bloom stem on this bulb, so I should get another couple of blooms before Christmas. They are fun to watch grow and bloom, but they don't stay around very long.

Busy Busy- It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

I think I might be losing it!  Seriously, I wrote a post on Friday night, ready to post on Saturday morning and "poof" that  was that. I never posted it and never linked it up to Saturday Snapshots either.

Last week was a whirlwind of "goings on" as my grandma used to say. I made two cheesecakes, attended Christmas gatherings for 4 organizations that I (or we) belong to, did some laundry and some cleaning, had a date night with DH and some friends. Also attended another local craft show and watched 2 movies ( DH finally signed us up for Netflix) and managed to read a little.

So that being said, you will understand that I am still reading Making Spirits Bright. Fern Michaels contribution, Making Spirits Bright was very fun. It is set in Colorado and tells the story of young entrepreneur Melanie McLaughlin and the fact that she is beginning to hear her biological clock ticking. As she explores the option of adoption, she makes two discoveries. One, the agency she chose is not what she envisioned and and she was sort of forced into spending some time with Bryce, her friend's younger brother. They meet on the ski slope for a friendly afternoon on the slopes and you can guess the rest.
The second story, Runaway Christmas by Elizabeth Bass, is a story about 13 year old Erica, who lives in Texas with her father, step-mother and new baby step-sister. Erica decides she would much rather spend Christmas with her Aunt Heidi in New York City than with her father and his family in Texas. So when the opportunity arrives, she makes a decision to fly by herself to NYC, without calling her aunt. But it ends well, so don't worry.
 I am just about finished with Home for Christmas by Rosalind Noonan. It is my favorite so far. Jo Truman, single mom of 5 yo Ava, and her cousin Molly run a Christmas Shop in the town she grew up in. She is happy  and thankful for all the blessing of having her family close by. Cousins Christmas Shop is doing very well and she is making piece with her past. Enter, high school friend and best friend of her daughter's father, back from Afghanistan.  Sam was injured in an explosion of an IED and won't let her see his face, but there is definitely electricity when they are in the same room. There are 40 more pages to see where this goes. Do you have any guesses?
 I have the last of the collection, Christmas on Cape Cod by Nan Rossiter to read. I'll let you know about that one.

So until next time
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

My newest Amaryllis, blooming its heart out. I am Happy!!!!!

A Beautiful Red Amaryllis - Lorraine's' Delight

Here are the pictures of my mother's amaryllis taken Monday morning and again today, Tuesday.

 Sunday Morning it begins to open

 Such a cheerful happy flower to brighten this wintry morning. Love it!

It won't last long. It grows quickly and fades quickly too. 

I'm still reading Winter Garden. Watching my amaryllis makes me long for my garden. Come On Spring. 

Until next time

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #2

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. If you visit Sheila's blog you can click the Mister Linky and see what others are reading. But fair warning----that could lead to titles added to your to-be-read list. It happens to me all the time.


Today I am reading: Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah.

From the author of the smash-hit bestseller Firefly Lane and True Colors comes a powerful, heartbreaking novel that illuminates the intricate mother-daughter bond and explores the enduring links between the present and the past.

Meredith and Nina Whitson are as different as sisters can be. One stayed at home to raise her children and manage the family apple orchard: the other followed a dream and traveled the world to become a famous photojournalist. But when their beloved father falls ill, Meredith and Nina find themselves together again, standing alongside their cold, disapproving mother, Anya, who even now, offers no comfort to her daughters. As children, the only connection between them was the Russian fairy tale Anya sometimes told the girls at night. On his deathbed, their father extracts a promise from the women in his life: the fairy tale will be told one last time - and all the way to the end. Thus begins an unexpected journey into the truth of Anya's life in war-torn Leningrad, more than five decades ago. Alternating between the past and present, Meredith and Nina will finally hear the singular, harrowing story of their mother's life, and what they learn is a secret so terrible and terrifying that it will shake the very foundation of their family and change who they believe they are.

I am reading this  because I really enjoy reading Kristin Hannah, it was recommended to me by a friend, and it is the January read for the Love of Reading group that I am a member of on Goodreads. I just started it last night, and my eyes did not let me get very far!  But I am sure it will be a good one.  I had not yet read the synopsis from Goodreads, but already I know that the fairy tale Anya told her daughters is not so much a fairy tale, but a real life story. I still think that I will enjoy it. 

Just to keep any of you who care, in the loop, here are the latest photos of the amaryllis that is growing in my living room window.  If you are familiar with amaryllis, they grow very quickly once they come out of dormancy and form a bud stalk. It is fun watching the changes day to day. 

 Saturday after I posted Saturday Snapshot and a day in the sun.

 Sunday early in the day.

This is how it looks this morning. I am pretty sure they will open today. A beautiful red!


Today, also I plan to finish a Christmas project that I did not finish before Christmas. And I will work on a baby blanket for my nephew and his wife's second daughter due this month. Also a "big sister " pillowcase for their older daughter, Maddie. Maddie is four and although she will be ok with all the attention paid the new baby, it might be nice to have a little present for herself.   Don't you agree?


Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Saturday Snapshot Amaryllis #5- #9

Saturday Snapshot is hosted every Saturday by Melinda at West Metro Mommy Reads. 

To participate in Saturday Snapshot: post a photo that you ( or a friend or family member) have thaken then leave a direct link to you post in the Mister Linky at West Metro Mommy Reads. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. Please don't post random photos that you find online. 

Last Saturday I posted pictures of my amaryllis that was starting to bloom. Today here are 5 more photos taken  every other day. A couple are the same day, a different view. 

These were taken at night, against my front room sheers. I didn't realize how wrinkled the sheer curtain was til I saw this photo.  Yikes, I need to get the steamer out!

As the bloom starts to open, it looks a little like it is from outer space. Or maybe a tad bit X-rated!

It is nearly 18" tall now and I think it will be a red flower. I wish I knew the variety name.  Usually they are so descriptive. 

I am writing this on Friday night. If it blooms in the morning, I will post another picture before linking this to Snapshot Saturday. Otherwise I will post a photo on the first day it blooms, even if it is Tuesday. 

Until Next Time

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Saturday Snapshot Amaryllis

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Melinda at West Metro Mommy Reads . To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky (at West Metro Mommy). Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

I haven't posted here for awhile. Seems there were no noteworthy photos that I wanted to share. But since Christmas the amaryllis that was in my mother's hospice room when she passed away in July 2012 has decided to bloom. I was hoping it would bloom Christmas 2012, but guess it needed some time to gather it's strength. I followed all my sister's directions this year in getting it to bloom. Fed it heavily in the summer, set it outside on my deck, brought it in in the fall, cut back the foliage and covered in the dark basement for 4 week. I brought it out at Thanksgiving and set it in a sunny south window that has a light covering so it is not intense light. When we got back from our Christmas trip there was a bloom stalk emerging. I decided to start taking pictures. The pictures here are approximately 2 days apart. 

 Taken December 28th

Taken Dec 30th

 Taken Jan 2nd

Taken this morning Jan 4th. 

 I will continue to post pictures here until it blooms. 

Until next time

Stay Busy and Stay Happy