Taking Down Christmas Decorations

They have been up since the day after Thanksgiving. The greens we bought at American Plant were distributed among the large vase on the plant console table, the wall vase, and the balcony window boxes. Sprinkled in them were pine cones, berries, and sticks that I picked up in the street. And of course, a string of lights was added to make it more festive. We usually don’t put a lot of Christmas decorations up because we travel to central Virginia for the holiday. But for most people this year, plans changed. Once Christmas is over I am also over looking at the decorations. The greens were all dried out and we are always ready to move on. So yesterday I got out the box that all of the stuff is stored in and started the process of undoing what was done. The Christopher Radko ornaments that were hung on the large dining room mirror were the first to be placed back in their original box. It took a lot longer than I thought it would. Luckily we didn’t have a tree to deal with but we haven’t had one for ages. So another year has passed and it was very different than any year before it. The house looks more like itself and I kinda like it that way. 

Thanksgiving Flowers

We usually have Thanksgiving dinner at our house. It’s the same this year, except it will be in a new location. We moved to northern Virginia about seven months ago. After thirteen years of living on Capitol Hill, we had enough of the excitement and decided it was time to live a bit more comfortably after I retired from the Library of Congress. It took a few years to figure out where, and we finally took the plunge. In preparing for the usual dinner items, we went grocery shopping last Saturday. While there, we looked at the flower selection. We wanted something a little different for the holiday. We have a double glass vase on the wall that we always put flowers in. But now we also have a large vase that was moved from on top of the TV/bookcase that would do nicely for another floral arrangement. It sits in the middle of the plant console table in the dining room, under the very large mirror that reflects the light in to the room. So we found some strange looking orangy/red “flowers.” I don’t know what they are, but they looked seasonal and very different. I needed to hold them in place with a wire and filled the vase with some greenery. You can’t go wrong with plants and flowers. They always look so inviting. I only hope they last the week! 

The Housewarming Orchid

We were looking to get a small flower for the plant console table in the dining room. There is a lot of green and everything seems to be growing very well. I’ve added self watering globes to all of the pots. And even though I’m filling them regularly I at least feel confident the plants are getting the water that they need. So it was a surprise to receive a lovely orchid housewarming gift from my brother and sister in law when we met for brunch this week. We all came over afterwards to our new condo and found the perfect spot for the orchid. I put the tall candlestick back on top of the TV wall unit and replaced it with the flowering orchid. We haven’t had a lot of luck with orchids since we moved to DC, but we did have one that rebloomed when we lived in the Midwest. Maybe the Virginia sunshine, the placement, and the company the orchid is keeping with all the other plants will give it the boost it will need to keep blooming. Anyway, if nothing else it will be interesting to watch. Have you ever heard of watering a plant with ice cubes?