Kate smudges in earth, paint and life

Upon reading that Paige had tagged me for a Household Tips Meme, I had to smile. Far be it for me to offer tips on anything household. But then I thought that I do pay attention to my house plants and could offer some pearls of wisdom.

Keeping house plants thriving during winter can be challenging. Furnaces dry out the air and our skin, and are equally as hard on plants.

Here are some ways to keep humidity levels up for indoor plants in winter:

• Put plants together in groupings to retain humidity from the plants’ soil. (Plants also look better, in my view, when grouped together.)
• Keep a plant mister filled with water and near your plants. Give the plants a few spritzes several times each day.
• Put bowls of water near plant groupings but out of the way of big doggie paws.

One thing I warn against is over-watering during winter months. Many plants like having a period of dormancy before they begin producing new growth in spring. Reduce watering until a plant has dried out, except for plants in flower such as the Bengal Clock Vine (pictured above) and the Amaryllis (pictured at right). I have learned the hard way that it is better to err on the side of under-watering. Your plants will thank you.

If you have any good tips on house plants and would like to participate in this meme, please visit Paige’s blog here for instructions.

And my observation for this day:

When simple things become difficult, you see the world differently.

Each month for the past year, Carol at May Dreams Gardens has sponsored Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day. It is a mid-monthly opportunity for all garden bloggers to post photographs of the plants blooming in their garden.

This is my first Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day post. I figured it was better to be one day late than not participate at all.

Since my outdoor garden is hidden under much snow, the only blooms that I have are indoors. I was so hoping that the Bengal Clock Vine would have two blooms open by today. They are almost there (at right).

The Bougainvillea bracts continue to glow in pink (above). The small, white flower is the only one in bloom – the flowers are really quite insignificant for Bougainvillea.

The Black and Blue Salvia (at right), put out another bloom. I have a suspicion that this one will be the last until this cutting is planted in the garden.

I am even more in love with my birthday Orchid (pictured below). Every day I wonder if the blooms will start showing signs of fading.

I thought my dog, Lytton, was a perfect backdrop for the Orchid. He grew bored with picture taking and decided to have a nap. Houseplants generally don’t interest him.

Finally, there is my vase filled with dried roses. I figured they could count as blooms, even if they have long since died. I love keeping dried flowers to remind me of the people who gave them to me.

Something caught my eye this morning while I was making coffee. A bloom – yes, a real bloom on a Blue and Black Salvia slip. I really wanted to bring the Salvia plants indoors, but I simply don’t have room in my cozy, little house.

So I made a cutting of one of these Salvias and stuck it in a glass in the south-facing little kitchen window. Little did I know that it would bloom.

I was struck by my sudden burst of excitement upon seeing a bloom that I wasn’t expecting. As you see, it doesn’t take much to excite me!

And then, since I had the camera out, I took some photographs of my back garden. We had a covering of snow last night – the sticky kind that twinkles in the sunshine.

The garden looks silent and soft. It slumbers as one part of me slumbers at this time of year.

Have you ever watched a flowering tea bloom right before your eyes? It is truly a magical experience. A tight, little ball of carefully- wrapped tea leaves (shown above) unfurls into a lovely flower. This little ball opened into a string of Globe Amaranths – no wonder the tea was labelled ‘Ruby Jewel’ (pictured below).

Although I am a coffee drinker, I could happy drink flowering tea regularly. The first time I saw a Crysanthemum unfold was with my friends, Roseanne and Mary. I was totally taken with it and it was a wonderful surprise when Mary gave me a glass teapot along with several flowering teas for my birthday. Since we three also play the fiddle together, I received a amazing book filled with Irish fiddle tunes from both Roseanne and Mary. Tea and Irish music go well together. I sit here listening to Altan – they have just put out a new album, Local Ground.

Now back to tea – I am fascinated with how flowering teas are made. It is something that I would love to do. Perhaps one day I will find someone to teach me. Click here for some information on how flowering teas are made.

If you’d like to learn more about teas, you might like to read Laura’s post on tea here. Laura also has wonderful paintings on her blog.

There’s simply no reason for denying it any longer. I am hoping this will be a long-lived romance, filled with blossoms throughout the seasons. How could I not fall in love with my Bengal Clock Vine? I think it must have sensed my need to be surrounded by exquisite flowers. New blooms are opening every few days. What a lucky moment it was this summer when I brought this vine home, not realising that it wasn’t much like its Black-eyed Susan-Vine cousin.

Lest the Bengal Clock Vine decide to take a break from blooming, there is my birthday Orchid to take its place. I’m in love with it too, now that I stop to think about it … such a fickle heart I have. How can one not fall for the intricate blossoms of an orchid?

What astonishes most people who come through my front door though, is the Bougainvillea growing on my front windowsill.

I marvel at its hardiness, considering the only thing separating it from -20c temperatures is a single pane of glass. The bracts are holding on amazingly well. My heart skips a beat when the sun is shining and the Bougainvillea is framed by the stained-glass curtains. How easy it is to fall in love with flowers.

I’m not venturing out much these days, except for walking Lytton, the big, brown dog. My son and I get such a kick out of watching him fly through the snow. These are times I cherish – walking with my fifteen-year-old son and enjoying our wide-ranging conversations. He amazes me with his ideas, his choice of words, his spontaniety and his gentle soul. Hopefully, we’ll continue our daily walks upon Benoît’s return to school next week. However are we going to get up when the alarm clock sounds so early in the morning?

Several weeks ago, my garden blogging friend, Anne, at NikkiPolani, sent me an envelope filled with these pressed flowers from her garden. Included, too, were dried persimmons, which have long since been devoured. I was so touched by this lovely gesture. Anne knew that I was finding it hard this fall saying goodbye to my garden.

Today I received a lovely envelope in the mail from Kylee, another garden blogging friend, from Our Little Acre. Inside I discovered little plastic bags carefully packed and labelled with an amazing variety of seeds. What a treat just in time for Christmas. Now I can begin dreaming about where I will plant them all come spring.

There is something so magical about holding in one’s hands seeds and flowers from faraway friends’ gardens.
I continued to dig in the envelope and look what I found – gorgeous-coloured yarn that will make a wonderful scarf. A girl can never have too yarn stashed away! Life is good.

Kylee also included a Christmas card with an image that I quite love. Would that we all were able to join hands around the world.

A happy holiday to everyone and may all your dreams and wishes for a happy and healthy new year all come true!!

Lytton is an amazing dog. Somehow he managed to pull a bag of rawhide chews off the top of the frigo while Benoît and I were out shopping last night. I didn’t realise this until I went to give him his nightly chew. There were none left. He didn’t appear in the least bit repentant either. To look at him last night, you’d think he had been starving for days.

In the seven years I have known him, I have forgiven him much because he listens avidly to me. This morning I read a bunch of poems to him. He curled up beside me – he seems to like it best when I try out different voices. He has the most amazing and kind eyes that you could ever hope to encounter.

Today I read an entire book of poetry by Helen Humphreys to him, entitled, The Perils of Geography (okay it’s a short book). If you’ve never read anything by Helen Humphreys, you are missing out on a wonderful author. Although Canadian, she isn’t one of the authors we hear about here. It’s a shame … she wrote The Lost Garden which is one of my favourite books of all time. If push came to shove, I would have to say that, bar none, it is the best gardening book that I have ever read.

This is a poem that spoke to me on this cold winter afternoon. It is Here:

We woke this morning to more snow – the most snow we’ve had this winter. I know because someone must have decided to detour from the street to the back lane via our house. Both gates were left open and so Lytton decided to take off and have some fun. Off I went to find him – twice – because after closing the back gate, I didn’t think to check the side gate. I should have been smarter and worn my boots, because my running shoes were quickly filled with snow.

Since it is Sunday morning and all was silent, I enjoyed watching Lytton playing in the snow. I wish I’d had my camera with me – later I’ll take L. to the park for a good romp.

I did take some pictures of my poor Bougainvillea (above). It is still colourful, although the bracts are a much lighter colour than they were this summer. I’m just relieved that it is still alive.

Here are some pictures of my new moth orchid – I love it. It is in a purple pot. My sister knows that I like shades of purple and blue.

From what I’ve read, this is an easy-to-grow orchid. I haven’t had an orchid for years, so I’m determined to keep this one alive. I wonder if it can live for the next half-century along with me!

What a wonderful day I’ve had. After a few days of trepidation leading up to my birthday, I decided it was time to change my thinking. Turning 50 happens only once in our lives and I figured I should embrace it as a time of adventure and opportunity. Several of my friends, here and in my blogging world, have really helped make me along that path.

Throughout today, I’ve had visits, phone calls, cards and e-mails from friends and family. My sister sent me a gorgeous orchid and I received a bouquet of beautiful flowers from a not-so-secret admirer. (Pictures to follow tomorrow!) My parents gave me an easel. I have many things to be thankful for in life and best, I feel surrounded by love and support.

Benoît, my son and I went over to my parents for supper. My mum made Beef Wellington and a delicious carrot cake. This is a picture above of me and my carrot cake. My ‘nifty fifty’ candle would have burned for hours!

My son was having fun fooling around with my parent’s digital camera … I just wanted to eat my cake. If you want to hear my exchange with both my mum and Benoît, you can watch the video below. (I had no idea that my son was videotaping me.) Carrot cake is really my favourite cake!!

Picasa Web Albums – garden – Catherine’s b… – MVI_0106.avi

The freezing temperatures have kept me inside knitting up a storm. Every now and then I stop, feed my son, have a long bath and take the dog for a very short walk. I’m obsessed with my knitting. Could that have anything to do with my recent foray to the wool store, where I discovered the most amazing colourful wool? These are my latest scarf offerings. I have just started the scarf on the far left. The colours will be wild.

I haven’t done much shopping for presents because I figure my family and friends won’t mind receiving scarves.

Tonight my friend Kerry is coming over and we are planning to make cards using various papers, ribbons and beeswax. Oh and did I mention I made a cheesecake? I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw fresh raspberries on sale this week.

What could be better than cheesecake with raspberries and topped with whipped cream? We need a few treats every now and then to get through this weather. Extra padding does help keep us warmer. (Our main course will be tourtière with a cherry/calvados sauce as an accompaniment.)

On the table are these cyclamen blooms (pic above). I love the leaves even better than the flowers. I’ve grown to love them while working on the next instalment of my story at The Created Wor(l)d. I am enjoying writing very much.