January

We have a lot of plants in our apartment. It started with an aloe plant that almost didn't survive dorm life back in the day. Next came the jade plants from my aunt. Then we adopted several ivies, left over centerpieces from functions at school. A few more jade plants and a spider plant came from Fred's aunt, a couple of rosemary bushes came as cuttings from a friend who swore they wouldn't grow, Fred got me a Christmas cactus, and now we're totally overrun. Actually, the biggest problem is that we replant anything we (or the cats) prune. A couple of ivies became six, my aunt's two jade plants are now seven, and so on. Really, I'm not complaining, the plants are a good thing. We're just out of window ledges. I'm hoping someday to convince Fred that we need a bigger apartment for the plants, and mostly hoping I get a sewing room out of that deal.

Anyway, It's January in Boston. We haven't seen the sun in days, probably won't for months more, and it's dark by 4:30 or so. And what do my plants think of this?



They think it's swell! Each one of those seven little jade plants is getting ready to flower. I didn't even know they could flower!



I've never had an amaryllis before, and this was a Christmas gift from one of my students. Neat, huh? I can't want to see what it looks like when it opens.



And my poor Christmas cactus. The monster cat loves to munch on this guy. Nevertheless, this is the third set of flowers he's come up with this winter. Such a trooper.

So I hope your January is off to a bright start. Check back soon, I've got a lot of stuff in the works. Peace till then...