Quiet Thanksgiving

We had a quiet Thanksgiving at home. Dave asked me to not fix so much food, so I tried not to, but we still ate too much. It was a good day; we at at around 3:00 p.m., and I got to talk with my family in Kentucky and find out what all food they were having.



One thing I really enjoy about special dinners is setting the table with things that I have collected over the years. The tablecloth for this meal is an antique drape that I bought years ago in my favorite antique store in my Kentucky hometown. I also moved an orchid from the sunroom to our library table where we ate for Thanksgiving.

Waiting for an Orchid to Bloom

This is a new orchid that I have sitting on the table in our sunroom where we typically eat dinner. Dave and I are both waiting for it to bloom. It is taking its time--the bud was there when I bought it three weeks ago. I don't know the exact color it will be--should range from pinkish or lavender to white.

Giving Lucille Her Medicine

My cat, Lucille, is hyperthyroid and has to take a pill every other day. She only weights six pounds, but it is quite the battle getting that pill down her. Dave and I have to do it together. He holds her and I open her mouth and throw in the pill and some days she bites me and some days she doesn't.

This photo is taken right before medicine time. You see that Dave and Lucille are quite relaxed.

Moore at the Gardens

I visited the Denver Botanical Gardens a couple of weeks ago, before the weather changed and winter arrived. I went to enjoy the serenity of the gardens and had forgotten that the Henry Moore sculptures were there. Henry Moore was an English sculptor and artist, who is known for the abstract monumental bronze works that are used as public art around the world. (I got that out of wikipedia). The Denver Botanical Gardens has some of these works on display and so it was a treat for me to see them.

I took a lot of pictures that are posted below. I noted in the reading that this set of sculptures were first displayed at the New York Botanical Gardens, and then Atlanta. Denver is their last stop before they travel back home to England by boat.

An Orchid on My Bedside Table

Every since I saw in the Martha Stewart magazine, a picture of her bedside table with an orchid on it, I wanted one, too. I am uninitiated in orchids until recently. David bought me one years ago, and it promptly died--or so I thought. Last Valentine's Day, he gave me another one and that one is doing well. I have given it attention and care, and went to a class at the orchid store where I learned enough to know that the earlier orchid probably wasn't dying when I threw it out.

My friend, Sharon, has a ton of orchids--she got the bug last year. This past week, I was at the orchid store and she came walking in. So, she toured me all around showing me different orchids. I bought a couple more. The experiment continues.

Martha Stewart has greenhouses, where she keeps her orchids and she rotates them in and out of her house--including on her bedside table.

Well, my bedside table has an orchid now and I am quite proud of it. It is blooming and draws the eye immediately when one walks into the room. After it finishes blooming, it will move downstairs to the sunroom with the couple of others that I have.

One thing I have learned: many people think that orchids are hard to grow and maintain. Sharon says they really aren't. I guess I will find out.

Hitchhikers

Midway through the summer, I noticed two plants that were growing in the beginning of a new perennial bed. I didn't know where they came from, as I hadn't planted them. Throughout the end of the summer and the fall, they have continued to flourish. I was suspicious that they came from my friend, Sharon's, garden when I moved some peonies from her place to mine back in the Spring. The mystery plants were beside the peonies. In fact, they look like they might choke out the peonies.

I took a couple of pictures and sent them to Sharon, asking if she knew what they were and indicating my belief that they might have hitchhiked in from her garden. She thought they might be giant poppies, which she has out there where we dug up the peonies. She said the poppies really get big in the fall. So, that's what I think they are. I'll have to move them in the Spring, but I am interested in seeing if they come back and bloom.