How’s that for a morning sky. The winds have been blowing full strength now for two days and this seems to be the result. Clouds chasing across the sky with the sun trying to get through now and again, but it deceives. Ever morning early the sun appears as it to say it will be a sunny day, and then it disappears an hour later. We might then get some rain, but it remains overcast for the day. It is also a cold wind that is blowing. At least it is warm in our apartment, although according to which windows are open we might get a gale blowing through.
I have a new member of my plant family. I bought a poinsettia in the store on my Saturday afternoon excursion. I have one every year and try to keep them afterwards, but they never have their red leaves again. I like one at home in the Winter months to brighten the place up. The can be a bit tricky to have. The leaves might begin to fall, but I hope to learn with the years.
It looks quite good with my white amaryllis in the background. I also have an orchid, which is now losing its flowers after 3 months, but surprise. Yesterday I discovered it had made a new flower and the bud is now opening. I must be doing something right for a change.
This will be my next problem to solve on my own. We collect our used metal and glass for the recycling containers in two bags in the garden cupboard. When they are full Mr. Swiss brings them to the containers in the village for disposal. Mr. Swiss is no longer able to do that, so I am now the chosen one to load it into the car and bring them. Admittedly it is not far and I will recruit No. 1 son to come with me to help as I cannot do this job on my own. We always waited until the bags were full, but now I am the person doing it, I will try to do it more often to simplify matters.
And now I must be off. I have a new system. First of all shower, dress and go shopping. I can always do the little bit of housework when I arrive home afterwards and will have more time to cook lunch. This afternoon I have to go to the doc in town for some vampire work. She needs my blood to check my long time diabetes condition.
In the meanwhile have fun or sleep well.
Chronicles of an Anglo Swiss 
Pat, how come your husband can’t help you with the disposal any longer? I’ve missed out on commenting or reading your former posts because – you know – Advent & Christmas is upon us…. but I will try to be here more often. Lovely photos as usual and ‘good luck’ with the glass & tin disposal. Here in France we only have to bring our bottles to the bottle bank and it’s true, one has to hold open the lid of the container, so you literally can’t hold on to the bag AND take out the glass and put it in the bin. You have to be two to do it. Or wait for a dry day to put the bag on the ground but then it’s bending over 20 or so times (you see, we seem to have plenty of bottles…..). Which in your case is not feasable either!
Have a great week!!!
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My husband will be 80 years old next year (8 years older than me) and as with some of us, old age catches up. He has a back problem, which cannot be operated at his age and no longer walks very well because of the pain He has a wheelchair for at home. He was still driving the car up to a couple of weeks ago, but now has problems. I now do everything on my own because he cannot help as he used to.Shopping housework and cooking and general organising. I have MS, but can still manage, although I had a “Schub” a couple of weeks ago. A positive result is perhaps that I am now driving again after a year and am even enjoying it. We do not have heavy traffic here and many speed limits have been reduced to only 30 kph. I bring the plastic bottles to the supermarket, but otherwise we have our containers in the village for glass etc.
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Have a good day!
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You too
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We also purchased a poinsettia this past weekend. They are the final symbol that the holidays have arrived in our home. Now all I have to do is write Christmas cards and wrap the gifts Santa will put in my wife’s Christmas stocking hung by the fire on Christmas Eve … and all will be ready .. except for the cooking but that’s a Christmas Day thing. The poinsettia looks so lovely with the amaryllis. Very festive. I have found they must be able to drain, so I take off the foil wrapping and place them on a saucer so that the waterings will have some place to drain to. But you are right, they don’t develop red leaves again. I have looked on the internet and it is a very complicated recipe to make the red leaves appear again next year, so in the spring I just put the plant on the front steps, there is one particular spot they particularly enjoy and get quite large. My wife’s friend is a real plant person, she has an extra room on the back of her house just for plants etc etc, and we are usually invited over there in the summer for a picnic lunch, so I take it as a gift and she loves it.
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We always have a poinsettia at Christmas, one of the only traditions. We do not have Christmas presents with one exception, my grandson. You can get the coloured leaves, but must put the plant at exact times in light and dark
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Have a great day!
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Same to you, although it is now evening.
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Good Morning! How cool to see a poinseta in your home. They were popularized in California, more specifically, in San Diego, by Paul Ecke. I met his son in 1990 at at some horticultural event in Sacramento.
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I always have a poinsettia at Christmas.
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There was a whole table of poinsettia and amaryllis in the grocery today and I stood there and wound up buying nothing. I couldn’t make up my mind. I probably should have gotten a poinsettia. It’s just that they die on me every time.
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The flower department is full of them at the moment.sometimes I am lucky with them.in the summer they do well outside.
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Mine from last year lost a few leaves but still has some red ones left. It has grown taller and looks a bit odd with a long bare stem but the other day I noticed tiny new leaves lower down so I hope that will start to look as full and pretty as this year’s plants.
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Sounds like you are quite successful with yours. I still have mine from last year, but no red leaves.ü
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