Blooming Succulents and Cacti

"All Cacti are Succulents, but not all Succulents are Cacti"

I think it's time for a little summer in the gloom of winter. Some of these pictures were taken in my garden last summer, and some I snapped after they were brought indoors and bloomed in the early winter. 

Euphorbia milii  'Crown of Thorns'

Mammilaria fraileana

Coryphantha sp. unknown

Nematanthus 'Goldfish-Plant'

Lithops helmutii 'Living Stone'

Lithops karasmontana 'Living Stone'

This Lithops is planted on the succulent wreath I made last summer. It bloomed near the end of the summer. Gorgeous!

Lithops karasmontana 'Living Stone'

I don't know the name for this pretty guy, if you know, please let me know. Thanks! :)

Echinopsis sp. unknown

Faucaria tigrina 'Tiger Jaw'

It was so exciting watching my succulents bloom last year. It was the first time I had any flowers on them and some I've had for years! I'll definitely be putting the pots outdoors again, they really enjoyed the hot courtyard. 

Do you have succulents or cacti? Have yours ever bloomed for you? If you know any of the names I don't know, I'd love for you to let me know. And if I've named any wrong, please correct me! 

I'm sharing with -

Live Laugh Rowe

Hey Girl Valentine Party

Bliss Ranch and a few of her friends are having a 'Hey Girl - Valentine's Party' this week! 

I'm sure everyone has seen the pictures of Ryan Gosling with his Hey Girl pictures, they are all over the web. If you missed them, you really should check out the Hey Girl Pinterest board!

Here's a couple that caught my eye...

Yeah, I know...

(hey, a grandma can have fun too, ya know!)

The purpose of this link party is to use a picture (or two...) of your husband, dog, friend, etc and do your own Hey Girl poster. It sounded like so much fun, I really had no choice...sorry sweetie. But I know he's a good sport and will laugh when I show him this post (I know he will! Won't he?)

Okay, before I loose my nerve...here are my Hey Girl pictures with my wonderful husband!

(might get a little flack for this one! lol But I couldn't resist!)

He used to do this when we were dating. Stevie Wonder's song is 'our song'. 

I know he won't mind...if he sees the post, that is. hehe

Head on over to join in the fun! The party is opened till February 13th. 

Happy Valentine's Day, Larry! I love you!

How to Plan a Superbowl Party in 24 Hours

I had 24 hours to put together a last minute Super Bowl party. 24 hours...

My husband's TV tower in his games room. 

And I pulled it off! With a little help from my blogging friends...

A Night Owl Blog gave me a lot of tips and tricks

...and Pinterest

Oh my, I love the inspiration I get from the net!

So, I painted a football field on our pool table. Well, actually I painted the dollar store tablecloths covering the plywood on top of the pool table. I don't think Larry would have appreciated me painting the felt. To put it mildly...

Kimberly at A Night Owl blog gave me the idea for this cool tablecloth

And she advised shopping your home for decor in her post on Thrifty Thursday

I made a goal post from skewers and chenille stems

...printed and cut out printables from Catch My Party

...baked cookies and shaped them like footballs. 

I got this idea from Organized Island

...made a football nacho dip

Found this great idea at Mom Endeavors

...made Deviled Eggs

I decorated some of them with the ends of green onions

...made football popcorn holders

I found these printables at The Hostess with the Mostess

...cut a watermelon to look like a football helmut

My inspiration came from National Watermelon Carvings

...framed a subway printable. The frame is an old one found at a yard sale and fixed up with Annie Sloan Chalk paint. 

This subway art was found at Lillian McKay Designs 

Then, everyone was gone by the end of the half time show,

and I was in bed shortly afterwards...

Jet is one old, tired dog

...so I missed the power outage 

...and my team still lost

The assortment of printables I downloaded at Catch My Party

But boy oh boy, did I have fun preparing for the 'party'. My printer is out of ink after all the printing, and I was up half the night cutting out all the printables, but it was so worth it!

Dollar store buckets for holding beverages & ice. 

Dollar store plates and bowls for the appetizers, rolls and chili, 

and a neighbour brought the vegetable tray. 

I just have one question...

Why do they always do this on a Sunday when most people have to work the next day?


by Debbie Borthwick

February Storm and the Accident

♬ ♪ It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ♫  

Okay, I know, it's February. But really, today is so beautiful outside with all the snow we are getting! I love it but at the same time, very glad I don't have to drive in it. 

When we first got up, the snow had only been falling for an hour or so. Our neighbour across the street was out brushing the snow off the walkway...at dawn...in his shorts!! (yes, he gave me permission to post this of him. lol)

The birds are certainly enjoying their home-made suet and the recycled Christmas tree for protection from the elements. Juncos, Finch & Downy Woodpeckers are the ones that seem to enjoy them the most. 

Downy Woodpecker, poor guy has to battle through the layer of snow for his breakfast.

Junco

So while I was happily shooting pictures, writing this post and enjoying the oh so pretty snow falling, I get a phone call from my husband...

♬The weather outside is frightful♫

Larry had just left for his annual ice fishing weekend down on Lake Erie with his buddies. Terrible weather to be driving in and he only drove about 5 minutes away when it happened. The snow plow walked drove away unscathed...

Fortunately, nobody was hurt in this accident. Thank God there was no one in the back seat which is where the main damage was.

I guess I shouldn't be singing these types of songs when I see the dangerous snow falling. 

But, really, when it looks like this, how can you not?

♬ Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow ♪

There was 1/2 a foot of snow on my car when I cleaned it off! 

But, please Mother Nature, let everyone get to their destinations safe! Maybe a sleigh would be a safer mode of transportation today. 

♫It's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you♪

Why couldn't they leave after the storm? It was over shortly after 1:00pm...

...however, it has started up here again. (Yes, it's taken me this long to write, edit, upload photos and publish this post! Lots of distractions today.) 

If you are getting dumped on, please take care. I've seen 3 police cars speed by with their sirens going...a very rare occurrence around these parts. 

Are you getting the snow yet? 

Update: Larry told me when they got to Vanessa (about 15 minutes south-west of here) there wasn't a speck of snow and the lake area (40 minutes away) has none either. He's still trying to figure out what exactly happened...

Hopefully I have the picture issue fixed! Sorry for the problems.