It's That Time of Year

I saw my first sunshine in what seems like weeks today. Over the weekend I finally started getting into the Christmas spirit a bit and now the Christmas cacti are catching my mood. They looked so beautiful this morning.


I love the Christmas cactus, with its exotic blooms and waxy leaves. The top pot, which contains both white and salmon-colored blooms, holds a lot of meaning for me. I estimate that the cactus is at least 30 years old. I received it 4 years ago when my grandma gave it to me for safe keeping while she and my grandpa headed south for the winter. She died quite unexpectedly a month later.

The hot pink blooms reside on a cactus I bought for myself last year to add to my collection. And the violet is just there for good measure. I received that as a sort of gift, too, from Mr. Julie's grandma. The plant was in the most bedraggled shape and none of us gave it a strong prognosis for longevity. It's proved us all wrong and is now the star of the living room, with blooms spanning more than 2 inches in diameter. My secret? Give the plants water every 2 weeks if they're lucky. They've gone as long as a month between drinks.

In other news, I had good surprise mail today.


Back in August I fell in love with some bright pink thick-and-thin wool yarn at the Michigan Fiber Fest. I could only buy two wodges of it at the festival so I contacted the spinner and ordered more. After sporadic email communications, I finally received my other four wodges today. Now I finally know what I'm going to make next.