January 2022

 Sometimes we see the sun here and when we do it's really appreciated. Bitter cold, some snow - it's Michigan in January. Brother and wife are going to Florida very soon (not sure if I will ever forgive them, perhaps I will work on that).

For Christmas we decided that we would not exchange gifts. They fooled me.  My sister-in-law gifted me an amaryllis named "Dancing Queen" - which would have been very funny if she'd known what she'd done. She didn't.  I asked. I love the flowers on this one. 

Years ago I let an amaryllis go to seed, very strange black papery things about the size of my thumbnail. They didn't appear to have any biological material in them. Regardless I planted them and got several dozen baby amaryllis seedlings. Potted them, they grew, and when, after a couple of years, they got to be sizable,  I forced them to flower by giving them a dormant rest period after which they did actually flower. Hard to complete the cycle on the window sills and in the garden up north so, imo, definitely a plant for warmer climes. However, the experience was fun

Some ships are still traveling;  I don't envy them their voyage among the icebergs, high waves, and frigid winds. There are currently two fake peninsulas, really several clumps of icebergs, off my beach.

On nicer days we still go outside for walks around the yard; when it's cold and windy and too far below freezing, they are anxious to go out alone but cone back in soon after.