Ice Ice Baby

     HaHaHa! Get it?  Anyway, not much new to report although it has been snowing more and there are lots of icicles about and the roads are pretty icy.  No babies though, thank god - the baby above is my dad some 86 years ago and it's uncanny how much I looked like that when I was a young 'un, although I'm pretty sure I was  more colourful.
     A good friend, B Lovely, has a blog that you should check out: http://mabeldoyoumind.blogspot.ca - she's a scream.  Her Sally entries are my favourite, especially the pictures.

More Succulents!

Belgian Nursery

     Yesterday, CC and I went to my favourite Nursery to have a look around.  They have an orchid room, cactus area, many succulents and interesting plants and a parrot, love bird and cat to boot!  It is a great way to escape from the cold and imagine warm, tropical places.  Of course, I could not leave empty-handed, especially when there was a sale on all cacti and succulents.

     I bought a Spoon Jade (Crassula potulacea) and a lovely square, green pot to put it in.  It is a very architectural plant and looks great in the front window, where it can get lots of sun.  It is also called a Shrek plant because of the colour and odd shape of the leaves, no doubt.

     I also bought four other beauties: a living stone plant (Lithops), which I put in a small terra cotta pot in the front window, a tall bluish succulent which is now in the kitchen bay window, a small bubbly-looking succulent that is also now in the kitchen bay window, and a bluish succulent that has purple at the edges of the leaves, which is in the front window.

     In addition, I bought a bunch of bonsai saucers and three matching planters and saucers, also for bonsai plantings.  I like the colours of the glazes and will eventually find some cuttings for them.

Bloomin' Cacti!

     We have four Christmas Cacti in bonsai pots in the front, south-facing window, and they are all either in bloom (for the second time!) or are about to bloom.  We are doing something right.  The one above is white with a hint of pink and looks like a bird in flight or an angel when it is in flower - right now it has four blossoms with four more to come (there are three buds at the end of one leaf).  I took the picture on top of a rug as it's in a tricky place to take good pictures of.  The other has two blossoms that are pinky-orange with white through the centre.  The other two have unopened buds on them for now, and one of them will be blooming for the first time, so I'm looking for to seeing what colour it will be.

This and That

Now, who'll bring in the paper?

     Today was our last day with Darcy, the wonder dog.  He is back home in Oakville, and the house is strangely peaceful without him.  He was a lovely-looking dog and although he did tend to get his nose into everything and was quite needy, he will be missed.  Now we can try and get rid of all of the dog hair he has left behind as a memento.  Perhaps we can fashion a new dog out of it?!

     The Walking Dead started up again this past weekend (I'm a HUGE fan!), and although I have downloaded the latest episode, I have not had a chance to watch it - can't wait!  While waiting for it to start up again, I did discover an addictive and fun App that turns everyday photos into zombie portraits. It's available on the AMC website for the series - download it for free and get ready for some gross out entertainment.

Zombie Darcy!

     Finally, a good friend of mine has a web site you should check out called Haikudos.  Every day new Haikus (many of which are comments on current events) are posted.  It's quite fun and makes you want to make up your own:

     The Walking Dead is back!

     Zombies are ruling over the airwaves again.

     There's nothing new there though.

Sunny Saturday

The Golden touch

     Friday brought lots of snow and then Saturday brought the sun and the blue sky to show just how beautiful winter can be sometimes.  The shadowy blues on the snow contrasted gorgeously with the golden hues of the stonework.  I particularly loved the long shadows of the snow-covered shrubs, giving them an otherworldly appearance.

Blizzardy Friday

View from the bus

     Last Friday, we got hit with quite a snowstorm, and even though lots of people stayed home, I had to go into work.  I caught the usual 5:45 a.m. bus into Toronto that normally takes 1.5 hours, but because of the weather and road conditions, I didn't get to work until 8:30!  Luckilly, I got my work done early and caught the 2:00 bus back to G-town which took a bit longer than usual but wasn't too bad.  I walked home along the river, so I could take some snaps.  The Speed River was finally living up to its name and I loved how everything was blanketed in a cottony layer of snow.  It was a good night to stay in and hit the sack early.

River Walk

No thanks, I'll stand!