Random Ramblings

Random Ramblings: Personal observations on a wide variety of subjects. Photographs of creatures and things that are taken on seeing the unusual as well as everyday things.

And here comes 2013!

 

Happy New Year

Winter toadstool

This has been an exceptionally wet year. Month after month we have had damp, rain, drizzle, mist and not much sunshine. This has led to some unusual happenings. We had miniature daffodils blooming in November after finishing their initial bloom in April. This is also the first year I can ever remember seeing toadstools approaching the end of the year. This is a picture of one in my garden – I have tried to identify it but any that it resembles are listed as much smaller than this. It measures 7.5 inches (19cm) in diameter – a proper Alice in Wonderland special ..

November Toadstool 1

November Toadstool 2

November Toadstool 3

 

November Toadstool 4

Winter toadstool

Led and fibre optics

Early in December I got the old Christmas tree out, put it up and dressed it and as usual it looked lovely. A week later and temptation caught me, locked me up and threw away the key. In other words, I saw a Christmas tree that was twinkling with fibre optics and scattered with Led lanterns and I was drawn to it like a drug. I reasoned that our old tree, although very pretty could really do with replacing .. and so that is what I did ..

Christmas tree - Led and Fibre optics Christmas tree 2012

The Cat this December ..

Sometimes animals sport a certain look that creates a bond more with the viewer of the scene than with the animal themselves. This happens both with pets and wild animals. It is a certain look that has the ability to hook our hearts. This is a picture of our cat this December, a look we sometimes see but this is the first time we have managed to capture it in a photograph!

Pus cat at Christmastime 2012

Christmas Cactus

I have a wonderful Christmas cactus! It blooms faithfully four or five times every year and its flowers are vibrant, almost fuchsia coloured, long and imperial. This Christmas I have had so many blooms. Each leaf is busily thrusting out buds, sometimes several at a time. I have found a new secret that enables my plant to create more flowers than ever before.

Christmas Cactus 1

Christmas Cactus 2

Christmas Cactus

Sharing my secrets with you:

For a Christmas or Easter cactus plant to flower it needs to have a small period of drought. So plant it with one-quarter sand and allow the potted plant’s soil to dry completely. When the leaves start to look a little puckered or rubbery (this only takes a week or two) then soak the plant with plenty of water and plant food (the best plant food for extra flowers is Tomato Fertilizer – add only a couple of drops of liquid feed to approximately one pint of water). Leave the plant in a windowsill or very light area, away from extreme draughts and it will flower persistently every couple of months.

Starting your own FORUM or MESSAGE BOARD

Forums or Message Boards are a wonderful way to promote either a Website, Blog, Events, Local Information, Recipes, Places to Visit, Health Information/Queries, Hobbies, General Chatter, Knowledge about Local Entertainments, Keeping in Touch with Friends, in fact the list is really endless. Why is it a good idea? Well firstly it is free, users do not need to log in, messages may be left using a ‘nick-name,’ pictures may be added, it is easy to both leave information and find information, it can be private – ideal for school children leaving messages for their friends and much, much more. So why not check out the options and perhaps start your own!

 

http://www.boardhost.com/home.html

 

Stone tablets

Out of the Stone Age ………………..

December raspberries

We have had, what feels to be one of the wettest of years and although this must be a coincidence or climate change or possibly something else …. we now have raspberries. Twenty years ago I would have laughed and said “impossible!” However, this year here they are:

December raspberries - picked 02.12.2012

December … and raspberries! Whoever would have thought it possible in an English country garden?!!