Orchids on a rainy day.

So...I risked life and limb to get a few orchid photos for you. Okay, well seriously, I got really wet. It is pouring and the back yard and greenhouse are flooding. Again. 

I am particularly proud of this collection of blooming orchids. Some I’ve had for a very long time, some are two years old, but all of them are reblooming. Which is how I rate successful orchid growing. Keeping the plants alive is relatively easy, but getting them to rebloom can be tricky. Just in the last year my reputation as the kiss of death for phalaenopsis orchids, after forty years of growing, seems to have switched around and I have had two rebloom and none are dying. I consider that a big win!!!

Starting at the top....miltonia ‘Sunset’ orchid, old cymbidium orchid, pink cymbidium orchid, phalaenopsis orchid, budding oncicium orchid, jasmine cutting I’m growing up greenhouse supports and a couple of flooding photos. 

I am worried about the lime tree roots being under water. 

Holly and Cedar for Christmas

Almost 40 years ago I planted two holly trees. An English plain green and a variegated Holly. The variegated holly got berries for the first time this year. I was so excited. I had really given up. So the arrangements that I make every year, contain variegated holly WITH berries this year instead of just plain.

I always make tiny bouquets using the little pieces you trim off the bottom of the holly. 

I love cleaning.

I have spent a lifetime learning to clean. I only use cleaning products that won’t harm me, my pets or our precious environment. That took a lot of experimentation. And it also takes elbow grease and scrubbing. So the right brushes, cloths and tools are very important. I am a huge fan of Redecker brushes from Germany. Because I’ll be cleaning a lot, I want to figure out which brushes actually work for what. So I am buying some interesting and beautiful brushes and tools. Here are a few that I am putting to the test right now.

{It was my plan to clean for carefully selected people that I really wanted to work for...but between sciatica and a badly broken shoulder, it is unlikely to happen anytime soon, if at all. In the meantime, I will slowly start to clean my house after not being able to for ten weeks. I can only do light cleaning and nothing over shoulder height....but my goodness it feels good to be able to start.}

I am on the mend...I even did a tiny bit of gardening today

It has been a long haul healing from a nasty shoulder fracture. It was a bad one. But...I did everything I was told by my Dr’s and did a lot of online research about things like diet and healing bones. And with my husband spending every waking hour being my hands, and feet and well, everything, I have made a great recovery. I can only lift my arm half way, and it is very painful. My whole shoulder area looks crooked and twisted, but I am not complaining. With the exception of washing my hair, I can shower, dress myself and do anything that doesn’t involve lifting my right arm. I can type again, I can pet the dog who lives behind me and that I love very much, I can pick up my cats, I can go out into public without worrying about anyone bumping my shattered shoulder. I am still careful about that, but not in panic mode. I’m back to walking a lot. I can lift a five pound weight up and down six inches or so working on building muscle in my atrophied arm. A week and a half ago, I could not lift my hand at all it was so weak. So to lift five pounds makes me feel like a power lifter!! In about three weeks, I have been cleared to drive!! That will be just over ten weeks without being able to drive! I had no idea what that would be like. I really don’t like driving usually, but I think I have a whole new outlook on that now.

Today I did a little bit of light gardening. I am on top of the world!!

Why haven’t I done a blog post lately you ask?

Well it’s a funny thing actually. Apparently I’m not 20 anymore. I was babysitting and ran after a three-year-old who was running towards the parking lot and took the fall of my lifetime. I badly broke my shoulder. So there is no gardening. No housecleaning. No showering. No washing my hair. Hence no photographs. So if you can bear with me, for a little while longer, I promise a new post as soon as I’m able.

And just because everyone needs a good laugh every day, here you go. 

I found this in Pinterest.