another go round

 If you love winter blooms inside,
I suggest you don't discard your spent Amaryllis

bulbs after the holidays. Christmas 2011

a good friend gave me a lovely bulb which

bloomed in February. I didn't have the heart to throw it out

so instead waited until late spring and
planted it down in a protected area.

One day in late August the Amaryllis, once again,

spewed forth it's beauty. Surprise!

I thought best to read up and found that the bulb

will continue to renew seasonally. In the late fall I dug it up,

planted it in light soil and put it in the cellar until November.

[dark and cool being needed ~ a closet will do]

In December I brought it up and set it out of the sun in a cool room.

Just this week it began sending new buds.

It was suggested to feed it once a week

during this stage. 

I am using a liquid 10-15-10 fertilizer.

We have been doing the same with five Cyclamen for

many years and they just keep working their magic;
same pot, same soil, year in, year out.
The blooms begin in October and run through June each year.
This is a north facing window.

The difference with the Cyclamen is to just "dry them off"

in the June and put in the dark until September.

a heart for you

Notice hearts as you walk the path, smile to them, give back

 and put a swing in your STEP
with this fun snippet

cloud hidden

I have taken an unintentional disappearance that is clearly needed.
Once I got that clue, the rest has been easy. 

Hanging out on the farm, with all my animals friends
has been a good prescription.

Google (Blogger) informed me I had used up all my picture storage and

 now I would have to pay to post. 

Ya, ya, I said. Perfect excuse not to.

I burrowed deeper.

I prefer focusing on the good things like a gift of firewood
to a dear friend who needed some warmth.

And getting an order of yarns and roving 

shipped off to Japan from my great wooly producers.
Overdue writing, updating the website and
summer workshops is getting checked off.

Long walks to clear last year's gray ghosts away.

  I have new promises for each day.

I don't want to miss a minute of it hunched over the 

computer pecking away, when I could be here.

And here, meeting this flock of sheep.
 [I can't spill the whole bean pot just yet.]

Working with a group of women on growing and

dyeing their own indigo to produce products to sell

to improve their lives. No one is famous there.

It's beautifully simple.

The seeds have been shipped to be sown.

An adventure is in the works.

I can't lug my sax there but a recorder may do the trick
or even some percussion.
I will be dancing, giving, sharing, singing,
whatever comes to the fore.

For now, I am here, cloud hidden [unless the sun comes out].