Covid 19 finally found me on February 6, 2023. I spent forty eight hours in a stupor. Covid tests were negative the first two days. I did one last test on Friday, February 10 before heading to a many-times-postponed physical (scale included) with my GP. The pink lines on the test card formed before I could set the timer for 15 minutes.

So, the stop and go continues. I am back in a mask. Quarantined in my side of the house. No trips to see my mama. I am holding my breath hoping Mr. Flower and Rose do not get it. Somebody has to keep going!

I hope you enjoy this post of mess and chaos. This is what I usually hide. It has recently come to my attention that my friends are feeling ashamed of their messes, which made me sad. This blog post is for all the women who think they should have a clean and tidy house. Enjoy!

This is the table behind my desk which faces a wall and window. Notice the Valentine decorations for the folks at the facility hanging on the chair, undelivered. The notebooks are family cookbooks for relatives that I have not mailed yet.(sorry Sue, Colleen and Kayla) The bag of chocolates was given to me by Rose because she does not like them. Fireball whisky is for my nightstand when I cannot stop coughing. The book under my antiviral prescription is for a Clickart Program. I got up at 2 AM to select vintage St. Patrick art to glue onto shamrocks but cannot find the disk. The pocket for it in the book is empty. (hi ho)

The other side of the table is covered with my antiviral medication, cup of cold coffee and one of my hundreds of masks I made to avoid Covid. The giant Valentine is one I am reworking into a decoration. (next post…wait for it) There are also various supplies for making ‘Fairy Windows’ for and with my friends.(future post) The plants, puzzles and books in disarray are always there.

The left side of my messy desks is surrounded by photos of folks I love and a follower-mama of my other blog. Notice all the colored pens and markers. My college roommate still likes to rib me about my collection. Now, everybody knows Marybeth. Notice my computer is on books. This is so that when I do interviews the computer camera is not pointed up my nose or straight at my ‘old lady neck.’ My camera is always close-by, of course.

The right side of my desk has a photo of my daddy that I talk to as I work. (Hi Daddy!) There are figurines of my heroes RBG and Fauci. Many owls are about. The black cord was found while looking for the Clickart disk. (?) Beside my wall calendar is one of the Madame Alexander dolls that made it through without a haircut or being lost. That bookcase is full of books on Human Anatomy and Physiology and diseases.

The floor is also full of clear boxes for yet another project. The African violets are my late mother-in-law’s. The poinsettia is a gift from Rose three Christmases ago, blooming again. I made the stained glass yellow iris, Banana Frappe’. Notice the mirror surrounded by nuggets? My mother is reflected in it from a photo on the wall across the room. I couldn’t have set that up if I tried. Mama always did keep a close eye on me!

More books, more family and favorite people photos. I see that my space heater is too close to paper again. I guess I should move those.

So now you have seen my mess. I have nothing more to hide. The rest of my house is like this. I hope you feel better about your house, Sandra. We have better things to do than clean. (Pinch that baby Leprechaun for me.)

All you people can come on over and visit me in my chaos, but please wait until I test negative. Masks are required inside. I am going back to bed. Looking at this mess has worn me out.

Slow Flow

Wintering is hard on nature and human nature. There is a fine line between dormancy and death.

I felt the need to march myself outside on this windy, overcast, February day to search for some ‘sun on a stem.’

I was relieved to find my first bright spots on the Edgeworthia: Chinese Paper Bush.

Lovely glowing circles of yellow blooms around fuzzy buds. These remind me of little suns.

I spotted some gold on the path across the front of the house. Bright crocus blooms warm my frosty heart.

There was one brave daffodil standing tall on the hill across the drive.

More ‘sun on a stem’ posing among the dead and dormant weeds.

I am grateful for these beacons of brightness that help me hold on to my sanity until spring.

FLOW

We all need more light in the winter.

Anything that sparkles catches my eye. I am like a crow.

I want to decorate mama’s door at the facility with something different every month.

(Nothing says forgotten like a Christmas wreath the end of January.)

I ordered giant silver snowflakes instead of white to contrast with the white doors and white blinds in the windows.

I wanted each one to be unique and have variations. This meant adding more glitter from my glitter collection.

I painted different sections of the flakes with Mod Podge glue.

Then I sprinkled different glitter on those sections. Keep the flake contained in a box for this step.

I like the ones with three types of glitter best. They reflect and refract light differently to make the flake more interesting.

I have augmented some as they dried with more glitter.

The left over glitter in the box was used on the last flake. I call it the ‘Everything Flake.’

This was a fun thing to do on a dreary cold day. I plan to share the extra flakes with those folks who still have a Christmas wreath on their door.

FLAKY FLOW

My favorite begonias can get rather large. They can also change colors.

This type of angel wing begonia is gorgeous in a pot, in a vase or in the ground.

It is time to take cuttings. This means sharing. I have had this begonia for decades. It is a keeper.

I cut the longest stems and remove most of the leaves. Stems must be cut at an angel just before putting them in water.

Blooms should be removed, but I like to leave them to enjoy for a bit longer. Remove when they start to shed.

A sunny location will make the blooms red and the leaves bronzed.

I prefer green leaves so mine get less sun. New leaves tend to be bronze wherever this begonia is planted.

Shade makes the blooms a light pink and white. This is lovely also.

The blooms hang in clusters.

I think an individual flower is worth inspection.

This is a perfect fall or winter gift. This vase just went to my neighbor, Nancy, this afternoon.

Cuttings will grow in water for years, but the plants need to be put in the ground if you want to see how big they can get.

Pots brought inside for winter will go semi-dormant if not in heated space and kept lightly watered.

Begonias left in the ground go dormant and take longer to get going in the spring. (I am in zone 7.)

I vary my over-wintering methods to a few each way. This ensures that I will have this big begonia forever to pass along.

FLOWER (with scissors)