Bloom Day - Not!

There is absolutely nothing in bloom in the entire yard - nothing!

As close as I can come today is a surprise bloom on a crab cactus - aka Christmas cactus - that lives on the kitchen window sill. I forgot to feed it in September but it had one lone bloom about a month ago. Suddenly this weekend it decided to give me a Valentine's present.



It was a warmish afternoon so I got about an hour in the garden - unfortunately doing fall work deadheading the perennials. The garden is already looking better and I am having to tie my hands to keep from going out and raking off all the winter leaves and debris. I need them in place for a few more weeks - especially since spring seems not to have heard the groundhog's pronouncement.

A few signs of spring are beginning to show up, tho. There are tiny tips of daffodils all over the yard - probably all Tete a' Tete - the mini-daffodil that I love and have planted in nearly every bed. The forsythia and quince have buds and there is a touch of color in the camellia buds. They should have bloomed weeks ago, but have been very stubborn, along with their hellebore neighbors.

Best of all, tho, I see life in the hybrid magnolia tree that I have sheltered for the past two years. It is a variety that is supposed to be wonderful in this area and blooms with a deep rose flower. It has doubled in height in the past two years - to about four feet - and has added limbs each year. But I see today that a "tip" that I thought was a leaf-to-be is suddenly fuzzy. Fuzzy usually means flower! If that's the case, there are two more smaller ones on the tree, so cross your fingers.... maybe I will have flower(s) this spring.

So, here's the deal. I've been wanting the join the Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day project since last year, but kept forgetting. Bloom day is the 15th of each month. More than 100 garden bloggers participate by posting photos of what's blooming for them on that day.

Today, Belinda at Wild Acre joined and reminded me again. So, rather than wait until March when I will surely have something to share, I decided to cheat a bit. I am sharing my inside bloom and promising to do better for the rest of the season. If you are not familiar with Bloom Day, hope over to May Dreams Garden and see what's going on.

Happy Valentine's Day!

We celebrated early with a long weekend in D.C.

A day at the National Museum of Natural History, a second in the National Gallery of Art, and half a day at Mt. Vernon equals a great, but busy weekend.

Good food, an excellent wine and chocolates on my pillow this morning.

Gorgeous orchids at Natural History. Orchids to die for!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Working at the Top of the Green

"Plie' right and left. Two slow, four fast. Let's do it again. Give me two more sets. We're almost to the top of the green. Are you still breathing?"

"Whoooo!"

It's the prettiest morning in weeks - sun shining outside and in the 40's. Inside nineteen of us dancing and sweating in unison - fogging up the windows with the heat we're generating. I often wonder who we really are? Several are clearly retired - including two of the men who come regularly. Linda is a police officer who comes on her days off and Cindy works as a dispatcher for the county. Today there are no young mothers with toddlers in the day care room, altho there often are. Sid is rumored to be a former dancer. From the way she carries herself and dances (and the fact that she takes two classes every day) I suspect the rumors are true.

"Ok, chaussee' right, ball change to the front. Now back to the left and do it again. We're almost done at the top of the curve! This is the long set, let's keep it going." [If I keep it going for much longer I'll be working at the flat line!] "Skip it up to me four, now take it back. One more time and hold it right there."

"Grab your mats, weights and water bottles. Are you squeezing your glutes?"

"Whooo!"

[Squeezing my glutes? They died twenty minutes ago! Maybe tomorrow...]

Yes, definitely tomorrow.

10-10-10

Lost 15 pounds total and 5.8 inches and am still on track with the eating and exercise plan.

The eating plan is becoming part of my life, too. Last Monday night we were invited out to a fancy Italian restaurant and Saturday Mitchell wanted pizza for lunch. Both days I researched lower calorie choices for those restaurants (and for Italian food in general) and was able to eat something good but not use all my calories for the day. [And, I felt super virtuous at keeping to my plan, while Mitchell ate whatever showed up on his plate. There is nothing like a little competition with the spouse to keep one on track!]

The inches are still a bit more troubling. A total of 2.5 inches off the waist and 2 inches off the hips, so I should be thrilled.... and into smaller pants! But I am not. That pesky abdomen is not shrinking as fast as the rest of me. I know it's partly due to the post-menopausal change in our bodies that the pear gets bigger - think Anjou, not Bartlett! - but it makes the pants even more difficult to fit. I really could go down a size in the waist - you know, the big gap in the back of the waist - and I look like droopy drawers from the back, but I still need the space in the front. Aargh!

Oh, and the rest of that weight is off my back. I will be down a tee-shirt size this spring and already need a shopping trip for new bras.

So, it's all good news this week.

Mrs. Speaker

British politics is so much more fun than in the U.S. This lovely lady is Debbie Boehner, wife of the Speaker of the House on this side of the pond.


And, this lovely lady is Sally Bercow, wife of the Speaker of the House of Commons in London.


Merry Old England, indeed!