Lake Affect Snow - Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Foolishly last year I made my appointment for my annual physical at 8:00 a.m. for today. Duh! It was dark and stormy here at the edge of Lake Huron; the lake affect snow was wildly blowing so I left early for the meeting. Surprisingly once I got about a mile away from the edge, the snow and most of the blowing stopped. The first two photos below are from Monday morning. Twenty four hours ago! Clicking on photos enlarges them.

I thought the blowing snow storm was over and on the way back from the doctors' offices I loved the view and took these shots - looking carefully in the background (east towards Lake Huron) I saw clouds but didn't think anything about them. Silly me.

The closer I got to the shoreline, the more ominous the sky appeared.

Still it was absolutely gorgeous, however.

The clouds weren't coming closer to me; 

I was going towards them!
They hugged the lake's shoreline.

What a difference a week makes! 

The first three photos below taken last week.
Compare the road in then -

to now - - - -

My Clivia amply compensate me for the winter loss of the gardens. (I like the break from gardening chores.) This is the first plant blooming this winter (below). One of the other adult plants has two separate blooming stalks just starting. I started with one Clivia about 30 years ago; although very slow growing, they do well for me and now I have four adult plants - three are adult "babies" from seeds from the original one. The seeds take two years attached to the mother plant before they can be removed, potted, and live independently. I have also given away several other adult plants, one had creamy-yellow flowers. They are very long lived. I currently have two middle aged ones about 7 years old that have not flowered yet but should flower soon, and about a dozen four year old "seedlings" which I am going to have to separate and pot. Then I will need adoptive homes for them -  soon. Does anyone want one of these orange beauties?

They have very thick roots which seem to store water; they seem to prefer being 'pot bound' - to have their roots under pressure. (They do not like to be re-potted and won't flower for a few years after being transplanted until they are once again pot bound.) I water them twice a week and they get about four hours of good sunlight.  I never put them outdoors in the summer. Each leaf can live for several years and the risk of being sunburned is too great a threat to risk overexposure to the harsher summer sun. They love the conditions here. The flowers have a delightful light and pleasant odor; the color is perfect for chasing away the winter blahs.

Clivia miniata