aphids…

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I brought in one of the pots with datura in it, hoping it would last through the winter… I didn’t spray it with soap like I did for the other plants I brought in…

I have now discovered that it brought aphids into the house and they were feasting on my avocado plant…

I put the avocado in the tub and soaked it with the soapy water and covered it with a bag… after leaving it for a day I removed the bag and put the plant in a room without any plants in it… there were still lots of aphids so I cut off some leaves and nearly drowned it in the soapy water…

then I cut down the datura to the base… after soaping it up I will watch to see how it does…

fingers crossed that this will get rid of them and the avocado will be happy…

reindeer…

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today I decided to reorganize the den and put out a few Christmas decorations…

I don’t think we have ever had any decorations there, so it was a clean slate and I had to decide which pieces to use…

I started by moving the couch forward and putting the massage table behind it… this sounds simple, but it involved climbing under counters, unplugging cords and cables, rolling up the rug, moving furniture into the hall and then returning it all…

this has helped keep the cold air from reaching the spot where I sit, lol… and given me a spot to add a tree…

then I brought up some of the trees, sleighs and reindeer… as I find other reindeer I will add a few more into the space…

once I was done (for now) I decided to take a few photos… spent a bit of time finding the Fireplace channel on the tv… I could almost smell the smoke as I listened to the crackling;-)…

certainly missing my decorating buddies…

flew…

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last night, as I was putting on my water shoes to go out to the hot tub, I spent a few moments thinking of when I wore them in Hawaii

I have two pair… the others are in perfect shape, but don’t fit as well or feel as comfortable on my feet… even though these ones have holes in the toes, they were the ones that flew to Hawaii…

when I put them on here, it is to protect my feet from the cold and snow… it was my son-in-law who suggested I wear them rather than slippers which could get filled with snow, or might not be in the right spot when I get out of the tub… they work perfectly and I wear them right into the tub and back to the house…

on Maui I wore them to keep sand off my feet and to keep from being burned on the boiling hot sand…

from minus 20 to plus 20 and back…

roots…

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I went around the house and counted my orchids…

there are five in the dining room, all of which are more or less in a dormant state… I went to move two of them and discovered that they had put roots into each other’s pot… how cool is that… reminded me of the amazing banyan tree in Lahaina…

there are seven in the living room, three small ones and four large ones…

right now, this is the only one blooming;-)…

the other three full size ones in the living room have buds starting;-)…

ModernPlate…

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pleased with the dinner that was delivered last Friday from Modern Plate Catering… she is doing a Friday Family Dinner… I had used this business a number of times when I was working and found them efficient and willing to adjust for food issues… and the food was always top notch…

the directions were clear on how to heat everything and the packaging made it easy to know what went with what…

the meal was for two people so I knew I would get two suppers out of it…

added a couple of salads and while the oven was warming up I had the spinach one… it was delicious…

next I had one of the pieces of focaccia with some olive oil and balsamic from the pantry… yum, although now I was getting a little full, lol…

finally, I had the braised beef ribs, smashed potatoes, and roasted carrots and mushrooms… it was also yummy and filling…

I didn’t have room for dessert until the morning…

it had caramelized bananas in it, and cream… clearly breakfast food, lol…

looking forward to tomorrow’s delivery;-)…

smack…

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I’ve collected all my egg shells since I read about using them to add nutrients to plant water…

they have to be crushed, but I was worried that if I used my food processor they might dull the blade, so decided to put them in a bag and use a wooden spoon to crush them…

the bag sits on the counter and every time I go by it I use the wooden spoon and smack it a few times…

kind of cathartic;-)…

downy…

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sat in the sun in the living room and watched the birds at the feeders…

finally found one that likes the homemade suet;-)… yay for the downy woodpecker…

nice to see the house finches again…

I’ve only ever seen them in the garden…

cull…

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I don’t know about you, but when I go to clean out a closet or drawer, sometimes it works and other times I seem unable to cull anything…

today I was successful in dealing with my bedroom closet… I’ve realized that I don’t really need 6 pairs of dress pants or 15 tops for work, lol…

this closet is very small so anything I can do to make room will be very helpful;-)…

I packed up twenty pieces and then reorganized the space they opened up…

yay for me;-)…

multiple…

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had great success with another couple of cleaning projects…

cleaned and reorganized the paper product shelf in the basement… who knew I needed 4 boxes of large ziplock bags, lol…

then had a lovely time in the corner cupboard… this was one area that always made my beloved crazy;-)…

he might have been right as I don’t even want to say how many multiple glue guns I discovered…