Lesson Learned - Writer's Workshop

This year, I bought myself a portable greenhouse and was very excited not to have to cart things back and forth from the garage.  Even better, my husband was thrilled not to have his garage overran with my plants.  Everything was going smoothly until record breaking (to my memory) low temps hit our normally warm city for a solid week.  By low temps, we're talking 20's, but that's not normal for us.  I had already bought a little heater for the greenhouse becuase my succulents don't like to be below 45 degrees.  Very diligently, I would go out and turn it on and then adjust it before bed.  I managed to still kill my only two Pitcher Plants, of course it would be some of the most expensive to bite the dust first.  I added another heater for the week of the artic blast and on the first night felt real smart when I went to bed with them both running.  It wasn't until the next morning when the blow dryer wouldn't work that I knew we had a problem.  I put the two heaters on the same outlet and evidently you can do that without blowing a fuse. 


Before Freeze



After Freeze



Major losses in the greenhouse, I was in the depths of dispair, yes, the depths of dispair for days after this.  I'd go out and just stare at them and remind myself that that was a pretty idiotic thing to do.  Finally I came to my senses and cut all the frozen damage off so maybe, just maybe the little darlings will grow back.  We'll see. My husband ran another extension cord for me and they ran fine after that, but the lesson was learned...never, ever put two heaters on the same extension cord.

Stop by Mama Kat's to read more great entries in this weeks workshop. 

Mandy

The Joys of Rearranging Furniture

This evening brought great excitment to the B House...we rearranged the living room!  I know, you're probably thinking, "and that's exciting, how?", but for us, it was very exciting.  A few years ago when we had the floors redone, they ran the cable under the carpet to keep it from showing.  That was great until I wanted the tv on the other wall, and then it was just irritating.  I finally called Dish Network the other day, and while I was prepared to pay a fortune for them to give me another option, it was free!!  They made it out Sunday and now I have two connection options, which again was reason to celebrate.  While Bob and the oldest trimmed back the crape mrytles, the little one and I got busy pushing things around.  I have to say that I LOVE IT!!  Bob's already betting that I rearrange it again it in the very near future.  He could be right, but I'm not about to tell him that. :)  I was a military brat, and as a result of that I like to move things around. He lived in the same house his entire childhood and does not like to move things around.  I used to compensate my lack of rearranging furniture with switching long distance or cable providers, much to hubby's displeasure mind you.  That's a thing of the past, but now I can move the living room around as much as my little heart desires!!! 

I'd share a picture, but you don't know what it looked like before so it wouldn't have the impact it's having on me at the moment. 

Cactus Monday - My Medusa

Happy Cactus Monday!

I'm still excited over my newest addition, Euphorbia flanaganii 'Medusa's Head' so I though I'd share her for CM.  My BNF, Amy, thinks it looks like an octopus, and I guess it kind of does.

I can't wait to find the perfect pot for it.  I saw pictures earlier today where people put it as people's hair in pots shaped like heads, one was in a gnome.  All of them were very interesting, so I'm on the lookout now.

Have a great week!

Mandy

Spring, Spring, Spring

I know, I know...it's no where near spring, but it sure felt like it today!  I've also had the children's book, A Home for A Bunny, on my mind for several days and if you've read it, things are repeated in threes.  It's been a while since we've read it considering the youngest is now 10, but it's still a favorite.  Haven't read it to your children yet?  It's never to late to pick up a copy at the library, sorry, but I don't have the author off the top of my head.

Back to the matter at hand, it was so nice today and it gave me and Amy the perfect excuse to drive over to Shades of Green.  Hello, succulents!!  Their succulent house was loaded and I had a wagon loaded in record time.  I lost quite a bit when it got into the 20's (unheard of) and popped a breaker trying to run two heaters on the same plug.  Stupid yes, will I make that mistake again, NO WAY!!  They had several things that I had lost and several things that I just needed.  Yes, needed.  They're all pictured below, minus an pink egdged Aenioum that I had already tucked into a hanging basket and a lovely Goldfish Plant hanging basket.

Closeups...

This looks like an octopus, but I'm thinking it might be something called Medusa's Head...it's really cool regardless!

My previous 'Bear Paws" didn't make it after the girls toppled it, how could I pass this one up!!

Our little "Ric-Rack' Cactus is trying, but we couldn't pass up this one.  We both brought one home.

This is one of my favorites, her leaves are trimmed in purple...what's not to love! 

Have a great week!
Mandy



Her Mother's Hope and Her Daugher's Dream - Book Reviews

Francine Rivers is one of my all time favorite authors.  Her latest two book saga was every bit and more that I was expecting.  The first book, Her Mother's Hope takes you through the life of Marta beginning as a child of an abusive father.  She leaves at the encouragement of her mother and is determined to see the realization of her dreams.  Throughout the book, the relationships between mother and daughter of the previous generation play a key roll in the relationship of the current mother/daughter.  I was caught up in the story from the first page and the 483 pages flew by way too fast.  Her Daughter's Dream picks up with Marta's daughter and granddaughter.  Again, it's amazing how misconceptions and bondage's that were prevalent in a preview relationship carry over to the next generation.   I wanted to reach into the pages and shake them sometimes throughout the book. 

It's hard for me to imagine a strained relationship with my mother because we've always had a very close relationship.  My mother was not my best friend until I reached adulthood and had children of my own, but even as I think back to growing up, I always knew that she loved me no matter what I had pulled that week.  I can't imagine not having that confirmation, but I know that for many women, that is not the case.  These books made me sit back and take a look at my relationship with my own girls.  As I was tossing the volleyball to my oldest, I asked her, "Do you always know that no matter how well behaved or disrespectful you are that I love you no different?".   I think that in our busy society it's important to make sure that our children know they are loved, assuming they know is no longer enough, at least not in my way of thinking. 

If you have not read Francine Rivers yet, I would encourage you to pick these up.  I was blessed to have read them, and I believe that you will be as well.  Don't let the length scare you, I read these faster than then cozy mysteries that are half the size!

Amaryllis Blooms...Flaunt Your Flowers/Fertilizer Friday

It's been a while since I've been online.  Once the oldest daughter got over the January issues and went to school a whopping week and 2 days, she got hit with the flu and a sinus infection at the same time!  The flu was easy, adore Tamiflu...the sinus infection was a whole other story.  Two rounds of antibiotics, steroids and more missed school, she's finally turned a corner.  Having said all that, there's not been a lot of time for blogging, reading or posting...boohoo!! 

My BNF, aka Best Neighbor Friend Amy, brought me over an Amaryllis bulb shortly after Christmas.  She has one and loves it, and thought I needed one.  That was so much fun!!  It seemed like everything happened so fast, but I was able to follow it kind of close with my camera.

The blooms are now gone and I'm just enjoying the spray of green leaves...looking forward to trying to get her to bloom again next year!

I almost forgot it was Friday, and this is a bloom...remembered just in time to link up with Glenda at Tootsie Time's Fertilizer Friday.



Happy Friday!
Mandy

Dearly Depotted - Book Review

This past weekend, I finished the third Flower Shop Mystery by Kate Collins, Dearly Depotted.  As with the previous two books, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one!

From the back cover - Well, it looks like my cousin Jillian is heading for the altar again, and guess which bridesmaid is doing the flowers?  Yep, me, Abby Knight, law school dropout, owner of Bloomers, and - did I mention? - ex-fiancee to the best man!  That's a bumper crop of trouble, even before I find a party-crashing guest dead at the reception...Pushing up Daisies...Abby has her hands full at Jillian's wedding, doing triple duty as florist, bridesmaid, and grandma-sitter - all while wearing a horrendous floral print that makes her look like a clown.  But the real trouble starts when the grooms ninety-year-old grandma disappears from the reception.  While hunting for her, Abby discovers the body of Jack Snyder, one of the guests, behind the ministers' platform in the gazebo.  And when Abby's assistant's new boyfriend becomes a suspect, she decides she must find out who killed Jack in the pulpit.

My take - This series is quickly becoming one of my favorites.   Abby can't help herself when there's a murderer on the loose, especially when her assistant's boyfriend is the one the cops have pinned for the murder.  Of course, she enlists the hunky bar owner from down the square for help again, and that is always entertaining.  I usually don't try to figure out "who done it", but this time I was excited that I got it right.  I was a little perturbed with myself when I went to grab the fourth one off the bookshelf and realized that it's the fourth, fifth and eighth that I was missing.  During the Super Bowl, I did what any logical book lover would do and logged on to Amazon.  They'll be here tomorrow!! 

Snow Day

Yes, it snowed in San Antonio!  We've been unusually cold all week, it's been below freezing since Tuesday.  So, when it actually snowed Thursday morning, it stuck!  The girls were super excited, Daughter #1 got to see snow when she went to Ohio last January with Bob, but Daughter #2's never seen it.  Amy was worse than them, so I wasn't surprised when I looked out and saw her in the back yard, I wasn't surprised!  They collected all the snow off the trampoline and Amy "shoveled" it off the driveway to make the cutest snowman in Texas!

I kept telling Amy it was a good thing the girls had her...I was only good for taking pictures and putting the face together!  She brought over olives for the eyes, a carrot for the nose and an apple slice made a great "pouty" mouth! 

Friends from down the street came over for a friendly snowball fight.

Goldie and the boys loved the snow too.  They weren't about to let nothing go by without them being involved.

It didn't last long, but my girls loved every minute of it!