This, That, and Three Other Things...

While we were gone away this Moth Orchid which has lived as a foliage-only plant in our bathroom for the past few years sent up a flower stalk! I was shocked and amazed. Maybe we need to leave home more often! I don't do anything special except water it every week; once a month I sprinkle a few crystals of orchid food into the watering solution but that's it. I had NO  very little hope of it ever blooming again. This was a wonderful surprise. Do any of you have tips for growing orchids? I really don't know what I'm doing. This was a Christmas gift four years ago, it came in bloom and those original blossoms lasted for a long, long time. 

           

We recently upgraded our cell phones. Thankfully, everything transferred without a hiccup and the best part of the new device (other than the fact that the battery lasts tons longer than my old one) is the "portrait mode" on the camera. Isn't Hannes' little friend cute? I really don't get my 35mm out of its case much anymore, there's little need, these phone cameras only get better and better. 

We've repurposed this ketchup bottle. Can you guess for what purpose?

For honey! I use honey both in my tea and over my yogurt and have found this to be the best-ever dispenser for this purpose- NO DRIPS, NONE! Next time you toss an empty ketchup bottle remember this recycling tip. 

We woke up Sunday morning to a taste of winter. My kind of snow, too; it was long gone by noon.

Star Flowers is now a top, it measures 56" X 81". I haven't decided if I'll leave the points or not. I will quilt it this way and then decide if I want to tackle binding the peaks and valleys or not. I love the look. Quilting will take a back seat for a bit, though, I have a few other quilting commitments right now.

I was lucky enough to get my first COVID dose yesterday. The process was completely painless. 

The hospital group has allocated the old Sears store at the mall where they can process thousands of people through a day, as long as the vaccine supply is available. It is done by appointment and the process was fast, organized and incredibly efficient. I have my second dose scheduled in three weeks. 

Life is Good!

"Hear That"?

Last week, one morning, Gregory and I were the only ones awake together in the pre-dawn darkness of the house when we heard a distinctive, low battery warning, beeping sound.
"Hear that?" he asked.
"Yes, I do" I replied and made a mental note to mention that to Mr. Goodneedle when he got up, knowing we'd need to do a room-to-room smoke-detector check.
About an hour later we heard the beep again, by this time the sun as well as my husband and granddaughter were all up. I started to explain about the smoke detectors and noticed that Gregory was listening intently and had the most perplexed look on his face.
"No, no, no" he interjected, he went straight to the front hall closet and returned with my purse, all the while furiously digging down in it to retrieve my phone.
"Here, Nana" he proudly presented my cell phone to me, with its dying battery inside; "this beeps" he exclaimed. He was right. I should have Gregory here all the time, he definitely sets me straight; the only problem with that is that I would need to keep my own, personal, battery fully charged just to keep up with him!

Life is Good!

What Was That Beep?

I was sewing on Tuesday afternoon when my husband stuck his head in the door to my sewing room and asked "did you hear that?" "What?", I asked. "That beep, what was that beep?" Then I heard it, it was a cross between a beep and a squeak. It went off every so often; but we could NOT locate it. Gregory was here, napping at the time, I pressed my ear up against the door to the bedroom where he was sleeping to make sure that it wasn't coming from inside, it wasn't. We checked smoke detectors, we listened intently from every corner of our house. Another beep would having us off and running/searching all over again. Finally, peacefully, it stopped altogether. Later on, I loaded Gregory into his carseat to take him back home. I picked up my cell phone, from my purse, to let my daughter-in-law know that we were on the way; but I couldn't call her, my phone was dead. I didn't make the connection between the dead phone and the mysterious beep-squeak right away, it was a gradual dawning process... "Ohhhhh, yeah." I plugged in my phone when I returned back home. Now I know what a dying phone battery's warning signal sounds like, let's hope I remember!

( I know my children are shaking their heads at this disclosure;

take heart, dear ones, your future is closer than you think!) 

Life is Good!