Retail stores are said to rush the season

They have nothing on my Christmas Cactus.

I suppose rushing the season is just how it is these days. At least that is the message I'm getting from one of my Christmas Cacti.

I have several of them actually, but this plant has been blooming for more than a week already. Even if it is a Thanksgiving Cactus, it is still early.

No matter. I love their delicate pink flowers whenever they open.

I bought this plant after Christmas two years ago at Home Depot because it had a pretty pale pink flower. Note the buds in the photo above. Last year I was surprised to learn the pot I bought really contained two different plants, as evidenced by the flowers that have already opened. They are a much deeper color. It was such a pleasant surprise.

I actually have several Christmas Cactus plants that always bloom at Christmas. The large one, shown at right, is the mother plant. The one in the pot next to it was started from a cutting. This is just one of several that I've grown from cuttings.

I obtained this plant from a garage sale in Bull Shoals many years ago. She said it had been in her family for generations. This reminds me a Christmas Cactus my Aunt Hazel had for many years that had belonged to her mother.

Perhaps these should be renamed legacy plants.

These plants are so easy to grow. They don't require anything special. Because they are succulents, they will live with sparse watering. In fact, they like to be on the dry side. They like indirect light, but are not too fussy about it. They have even withstood little cat paws that bat and flick at them as though the fronds were a toy.

Getting the plants to bloom

I've often heard that to stimulate blooming, these plants must be placed in a closet from for six to eight weeks before Christmas. I have never done that and my plants bloom like clockwork. The natural shortening of days in the winter are enough to encourage blooming. No closets are necessary in my experience.

For anyone new to indoor gardening, I think a Christmas Cactus, or even several, is a must have.

New toy for the girls

Cats have such a happy life, where everything is fun!

Since we just bought new furniture, we thought we would give it a fighting chance, protecting it from the plethora of cat claws we have in our house. So, we recently gave the girls a new scratching post. You would have thought they had never seen one before. Silly me--I thought a scratching post was rather utilitarian. In reality, it is just another cat toy. But then, isn't everything?

Kasey is so aloof
She is also the resident Fraidy Cat

The video at right, reveals the real personalities in three of our four cats. Kasey isn't in it, since she is nowhere to be found at the moment. Wait til she finds out her sister are going to be movie stars and she is left out. I can see the pouty look on her face already. Kasey is generally such a Fraidy Cat. The fourth born, she always follows behind her sisters, never taking that first step. She has apparently seen that no harm has come to them, because she certainly has gone after  that scratching post with a real fervor.

Ryan is the adventurous one. Though Ryan looks very much like Kasey--in fact we call them twins--she is very different. She is the first to try anything. As afraid as Kasey is, Ryan is just the opposite. She is fearless. We named her after Ryan Newman, my favorite NASCAR driver whose nickname is Flyin' Ryan, named for how he drives around a racetrack. That moniker fits his namesake. This cat climbs to the top of everything she sees--the bedroom door, the top of the window, the top of our seven-foot bookcase, etc. 

Then there is Junior, a.k.a. The Bug. She is the smallest, sweetest and most innocent-looking one of the bunch. She was born with a deformed right front paw, so she hobbles on three legs most of the time. She also has a tendency to be a loner, and is seemingly less healthy than her sisters. She is also the most affectionate. She likes to snuggle, with any of her sisters, with me, or with our dog, Shadow, a rescue dog who makes a slight appearance at the end of the video. Shadow and Junior are buddies, although he doesn't really get along with the others consistently. Junior's looks are deceiving. While she looks like a little angel, she can be an attack cat. It is difficult to imagine by looking at her, but she is the bully of the bunch. If she wants a space, for example and one of the others is there, she will chase them away and take it for herself. There are fights, but Junior usually wins them.

Then there is Kenni, the second born. Kenni is far different from the others. If Kenni was a human, she'd be a linebacker. Nuff said. Yet she is a gentle giant. She loves to play. Drag a string along and she will follow you anywhere. 

These cats were born on our front porch. Their mother Timi was a stray that adopted us. She comes in to eat with her kids every morning, as well as whenever she gets the urge. She is an outside cat that spends plenty of time inside. Timi gave birth to the girls on July 11, 2007. It was love at first site. I couldn't part with any of them, so husband John and I have allowed them in to fill our empty nest and our hearts. They bring us joy and laughter. 

This is my first YouTube Video.

Who is that woman on 'Orange is the New Black'?

Red, the character on the far right.
Orange is the New Black (Photo credit: massdistraction)

I admit it; I'm a television junkie.

There is nothing worse than seeing someone on television that I know I've seen before, but I just can't place. It drives me crazy.

This just happened recently as I was watching the new Netflix series, "Orange is the New Black," a true life story about a woman who was incarcerated for a drug offense. 

The minute I saw one of the characters--Red, a tough woman who portrays the prison cook--I knew I had seen her somewhere before. Every time I looked at her, I knew who she was. I also know it was from a long time ago, when both she and I were much younger. 

I remembered her pretty face and a kindness about her, although that was not absolutely the kind of character she played in this series. 

I didn't know anything about the show, but was intrigued by all the ridiculous flap over Julianne Hough wearing a Halloween costume that portrayed one of the show's characters. Hough was accused of being a racist because she wore bronze makeup on her face in her portrayal of the character Crazy Eyes. 

Kate Mulgrew
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am getting hooked on the series, which seems to be an honest portrayal of life in prison. 

Still a newbie, I've been power-watching episodes, watching two or three at a time. Whenever I saw Red, I wondered who she was. It was actually very distracting.

Finally, my husband looked it up on the Internet for me. He came in last night while I was watching it and announced that her name was Kate Mulgrew.

Ryan's Hope (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Immediately, I knew. 

Of course. She played Mary Ryan on the soap opera Ryan's Hope in the mid-1970's. 

I watched every episode. I loved that show. I remembered how fond I was of the character she portrayed. I have no idea how I was able to associate her name with the former character, Mary Ryan. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen or heard of Kate Mulgrew in 40 years. 

I suppose that might just be a testament to how much I liked "Ryan's Hope" and the character Mulgrew portrayed. I've noticed there are some YouTube videos containing episodes of the show. I may have to peruse them, just for old times' sake.

Once again, Thanks Internet! 

Fall 2013, a magical time in the Ozarks

It isn't often that we see bucks in the backyard. I can count on one hand the number of them that we've seen in the 9 years we have lived here in the Ozarks.

I can't help but wonder, as I look at this fine fella, if I had seen him before, perhaps as a little spotted fawn obediently following his mom around the yard.

An imposing figure, this buck

Bucks certainly do grow up to have a different look than the does we've seen. And then there is their attitude. Clearly, they are more aggressive in their behavior. But then, it is rutting season after all.

This was actually the second buck we saw--two in one day--which probably indicates it was a busy day for the local deer population.

I can only wonder what took place in our woods earlier in the day. I just hope it results in some new little friends in the Spring. I dearly love watching the does with their fawns as they romp around the yard, grazing and playing. I like to call them deer puppies because they scamper just like pups. I suppose all baby animals do. I just don't have much experience with animals, other than household pets. Oh, I've seen all the television shows and of course been to the zoo, but I certainly never dreamed I would have a wild kingdom right in my own backyard. To me, this is magical.

As I look at this guy, I know my eyes see him so differently than others might. After all, I live in an area where hunting is an established way of life. Venison is a staple here in the Ozarks. I try not to think about that, but plenty of people eat venison on a regular basis. I can certainly understand hunting for food, but. I dislike hunting as a sport. Sorry, that's just me.

So, here's to Fall in the Ozarks, a truly beautiful time of the year. And this year, has been one of the most beautiful I can remember.

A much younger buck whose antlers are just starting to grow

Missing iGoogle

Image via CrunchBase

I signed onto my computer this morning just as I always do. After Windows sang its Good Morning song to me, in the form of its single-note repertoire, I watched as all my applications loaded. I thought to myself, as is customary, that I really must streamline my start menu. Finally, my day was about to begin. I clicked on my browser icon—Chrome—in the task bar. I saw the familiar Google search box. BAAAAAAHHH! I pressed the home button on my toolbar. There it was again. My old friend was gone!

Then I remembered what day it was—November 1, 2013.

Today is the day I’ve dreaded—the day my iGoogle was to be killed and buried, in one fell swoop. It is never to be seen again. Gone are my three separate pages filled with links I loved. Granted, I didn’t use all of them all of the time, but I liked having them around. Like comfortable shoes, these were some of the bookmarks I’ve had since I first created my iGoogle page in 2005. I’ve lost an old friend.

I fondly recall there was no better day than one when Google would announce it had added new features to upgrade iGoogle. I loved the themes, the many ways to customize my start page. It always made me feel like I had brand new software.

You know that feeling. It is almost euphoria. The very first thing I do when I get new software is change the colors. iGoogle was highly customizable, and I liked that a lot. My desktop often displays one of my favorite photographs. I used to coordinate my iGoogle to match. I like matching color schemes in all things, but especially on my computer where I devote so much of my day. That’s just me!

For the last several years I have had a sunflower photo on my computer, one that I took in my own back yard. There is a little ant on one of the petals. The yellow petals stood out from the background that was a blur of green tones. The only iGoogle theme I could find that matched was one that displayed greenery with water droplets. The combination was beautiful. The most important part of picking a theme was not so much the picture, but the overall color of the page. In my case, it had to be yellow. The yellow and green tones matched my sunflower well.

The only thing that ever bothered me about iGoogle was that I couldn’t change the color of the links. They were always that ugly bright blue color. The ideal would have been to make them dark green, but I could never figure out how.

Months ago, because Google gave us iGoogle aficionados fair warning of the death of our favorite start page, I began to look around for a replacement. I settled on Startific, which came highly recommended. It is a different concept entirely, but is also highly customizable. I created my page to include the same sunflower picture that is on my desktop. It is really quite lovely.

This morning I changed the link on my home button to the Startific page. Such finality!

If I have to be completely honest, it is really a more attractive page than iGoogle was, and is even more customizable. I haven’t really played with all the icons and widgets, although I had already put the ones I use everyday onto the page. I have a Facebook button, a Twitter button and buttons for all of my blogs and web page.

There is one button though, that was the most important to me. It was the one I used on iGoogle the most. It was the first one I put onto my new page. It is the Intellicast weather page. By inserting the correct URL, one click and it opens right to a radar loop in my home state. As far as I’m concerned, Intellicast has the best weather info. I’ve used it for years.

Startific still has a few kinks that need to be ironed out. The worst is the Amazon ad that shows whenever the browser opens. It takes up a large chunk of real estate on the right side of the application, but it can be clicked off. I keep telling myself, change is good. It will keep me young. The older I get though, the harder I have to work to convince myself.

Monarchs in jeopardy; I want to help

Photograph of a female Monarch Butterfly on a hybrid Milkweed (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When I was a little girl I lived in the city--in a south side Chicago neighborhood. During the summers, my brother and I played in the vacant lots where I can remember seeing an abundance of those familiar orange, black, and white of the monarch butterflies as they flitted from one flower to another. Everywhere you turned your eyes, the view was filled with their delicate wisps of color.

There were always dozens of monarchs, fritillaries, swallowtails, and skippers along with bumble bees, dragonflies, bluebirds, to name a few.

But times have changed. Even though I live in the woods now, I rarely see monarchs. In fact I haven’t seen one in two years.

I’m not alone.

The scientific community is concerned with the number of monarchs, the only North American butterfly known to migrate. Monarchs are rapidly dwindling in numbers. According to the NY Times, the number of monarchs over the past 15 years has lost as many as 81 percent between 1999 and 2010. Recovery has been slow. The spring of 2013 reported Mexican forests contained the fewest number of monarchs in 20 years. Some are concerned for the future of the species.

Several factors have contributed to the decline of these amazing insects, on both ends of their migratory path which ranges which takes these cold-blooded insects from northern Minnesota and Canada to Mexico.

In Mexico, the monarch’s winter habitat is being decimated by Illegal logging and climate change. “Earth Sky,” a daily radio series and blog about science and nature, reports that nine hibernating colonies occupied three acres during the 2012-2013 winter. But that isn’t the worst of it.

The life cycle of the monarch is reliant on milkweed, the plant on which the adult female lays her eggs. Milkweed is the only plant a monarch caterpillar can eat.

Milkweeds have long been considered a pest by both farmers and homeowners alike, resulting in record numbers of them being killed with herbicides. Glyphosate, the chemical contained in Roundup made by Monsanto, has effectively sterilized farm fields. Roundup Ready corn, soybeans, and other genetically-engineered crops have been modified to resist glyphosate. The result is that only the crop survives while everything else, including the only plant monarchs rely upon for survival, does not.

According to the NY Times, “there is a direct parallel between the demise of milkweeds--killed by the herbicide glyphosate, which is sprayed by the millions of gallons on fields where genetically modified crops are growing--and the steady drop in monarch numbers.

Some people interested in preserving the future of these amazing insects are trying to reverse this trend.

Monarch Watch, an educational outreach program based at the University of Kansas, engages citizen scientists in large-scale research projects. Since 1992, Monarch Watch involves 2,000 schools, nature centers, and other organizations across the United States and Canada. Monarchs are tagged and counted each fall.

“To assure a future for monarchs, conservation and restoration of milkweeds needs to become a national priority,” the group says on its website. They encourage the creation of Monarch Way stations in backyards all across the country.

Migrating Monarch butterflies (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

They hope to preserve the species and continue the spectacular monarch migration phenomenon.

I have ordered my own milkweed seeds. I really am anxious to do my part to help. I have a few milkweeds on our property, but obviously not nearly enough to attract monarchs. I hope to change that in the coming years.

Cleaning the nest continues before winter sets in

Practicing what I preach

What started out as a quest to live better and healthier, has to include living more efficiently. 

Efficiency has to include cleaning out, no longer needed or wanted items. Some of the "stuff" around here was still usable, so it was recyclable. Our annual garage sale/family reunion, mentioned in a previous post, took care of some of it. 

Yet other items were just too old and worn and need to be tossed.

Coincidentally, we received notice that just days after our garage sale, on regular trash pickup day, our refuse company would take large items. They only do this twice per year, so it is actually something we look forward to. 

The days of wildly pitching everything into the trash, from furniture to white goods like washing machines, to hazardous waste, are gone. And that is as it should be. 

We live on a finite planet, so we all need to be more vigilant about what we use and throw away.

For some time I've been considering getting rid of our well-worn, no longer comfortable couch and love seat. The truth is, I kept them as long as humanly possible. These couldn't even cut it as garage sale items; they were too far gone. It was time to pitch them. It isn't like we buy new things and discard the old ones on a regular basis. We had the pieces for at least 15 years. We certainly got our money's worth out of them. 

Taking out trash

Still, it was a little sad to see these pieces go. There were memories attached. 

We snuggled with cats and dogs that are no longer living. We sat with our kids watching TV or having conversations with them and our friends. We even had an overnight guest or two sleep on those couches. Furniture is like an old friend, and it is always hard to say goodbye. 

The two of us carried them out to John's truck so he could drive them up the hill to the road. 

Afterward, even the dog, sat on the front porch looking longingly at the roadside, wondering why the furniture was up there. 

With two big pieces of furniture gone, our house seemed to grow in size. It was rather nice. We had a chance to clean, shampoo the carpet, and rearrange furniture. I had a rocking chair; John had a recliner. That was really all we needed. We brought a wicker rocker from the front porch to where the love seat used to be. It worked out just fine. 

That wooden rocker, one my parents had given us 35 years ago, had gotten harder over the years. I still love it, so I would never part with it. It is where I nursed my babies. But, I'm not so sure I want it to be the only place to sit in the living room. It wasn't like sinking into a cushy couch. 

So we went shopping Friday, just to look at what was available. The first place we went surprised us. Everything was way out of our price range. Then we went to as store nearby that set us up with a love seat and recliner for the price of what one would have cost us elsewhere. They even offered to deliver it that afternoon. We couldn't be happier.