Christmas Cactus

Last year one of our furniture reps brought us a Christmas Cactus, after the
season was over I took the plant home because I am the only one with a green
thumb. I had never had a Christmas Cactus before, so after it bloomed I was like
what now. I kept it in the window with my orchids until it was time to take it out
to the porch for the summer with the rest of the guys. So to my surprise, this is what
I saw last week....

This funky little plant is full of blooms and they are opening up each day.

The blooms have so much caricature and the color is amazing.

These crazy little buds become a beautiful blooming plant. Next up, as we wind down Fall,

get to Thanksgiving, I will start thinking about decorating for Christmas. This house is too 

small for a tree but I will have fun planning my decorating inside and out.

Colder Days to Come

With colder days in the forecast, I made a big pot of soup yesterday
to last me all week.

I made a batch of Bear Creek's Minestrone Soup, it calls for 8 cups of water and
makes about six servings.

They are calling for days in the low teens, so a big pot of hearty soup will keep me warm.

Happy Veterans Day, stay warm and safe.

Welcome to November

Now that October is gone, I have one last post for last month.
We had an open house at the new store in Charlottesville with
little participation. I had made some mini honey butter rolls with
brie and prosciutto  and had a lot left over. last Sunday on my dog walk
I was thinking about what to do with the left overs. Well I was watching
Food Networks Thanksgiving left over show and was inspired to create
a strata. I have eggs but no milk and I cannot  soak this overnight. Anyway
I got home and diced up the left overs, whisked 6 eggs and added all to a
greased pirex and baked for a great breakfast.

Yum, I never eat like this. Food coma!
As I was cleaning up the dishes, this is what I saw out of the corner of my yard.

 We had a terrible storm on Halloween night and the rain and wind was crazy, I had the
privilege of driving over the mountain in it. This happened sometime that night, you can
see where it split from the tree and hit my back garden and thank god not the house. I welcome
November, cozy nights snuggling with Mandy under blankets in our warm little farm house.