Solstice Blessings, Good Tidings of Comfort and Joy

Hi there! I can't believe that I haven't posted much in awhile. All work and no play makes SisSTAR dull and not shiny. So! I wanted to start my weekend with a post. The photos are of last year's Christmas Cactus. I wish I had photos of it this year because I just counted 30 blooms on the one in the white pot (it gets more sun) and lots more buds to go. This amazes me because it belonged to my father's mother who would be something like 140 yrs old now. She died when I was 9. These 2 plants used to be one but when I had it outside one summer, a wind blew it onto the ground and it broke in half. Other than that, I've never had the nerve to repot it because it seems to want to bloom just the way it is. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. My mother always tended to it well and tried to tell me what to do...move it into a cold, dark room for such and such, then move it back out in the sun ... but I can never remember, so I leave it to its own doing and the 1st bloom this yr was on Nov 26th, not only Thanksgiving but my mother's birthday ;oD. It warms my heart and soul. I guess you would say many of my plants are like Souls to me ... and I do my best to give them the care they need, without much fuss with fertilizing, etc. Just love, water, sunshine, and keeping them away from drafts. One African violet was totally dead except for one tiny leaf and I nearly threw it away, but instead, I gave it a little more dirt, put it in my kitchen window and keep turning it a tiny at a time ... and in a very short while it has over a dozen new beautiful leaves and today I just saw a tiny purple bud! Oh my heart lept for joy!
Before she died in 1994, my "second mother" gave me a cutting off her Angel Wing begonia and it was a struggle trying to keep it going, once down to just 2 leaves. But right now it stands in a pot on the floor and is taller than me (5'5") and putting out new leaves all the time. I've even made cuttings for her two daughters and hope their plants are doing well.
Enough about my plants, though...'tis the season and all. I took some beautiful ornaments into work and decorated the fake ficus tree and a small cabinet for the patients, hoping to lift their spirits. We'll probably hang our old handmade peace sign made out of the coat hanger wire in the picture window and that's about it for home. But we've been getting some cards from friends and those spruce things up a bit. Tuffy the cat even got a stocking from his Aunt Kristine and CJ. He played with a few things out of it last night...his "Mama" doesn't wait for Christmas too often. It's always been a "thing" with me and no one can make me any more ;oD
We get a little bit of time off, long weekends really, so we look very fwd to that. And perhaps those 40% off coupons that expire at Borders will do the trick for our gifts to each other today. We are also going to visit a friend to watch Dr Who on her cable TV tonight...we can't get BBC on ours and this past year we have become insane fans of Dr Who and will get to see the new ones with her.
I called my cousin last night whose beautiful pet wolf dog had to be put to sleep a short time ago, and found out just one hour before she had adopted a 7 yr old dog from the shelter where she volunteers. I was so happy for her. She realized she wasn't "replacing" Timber but she was giving help to an animal who needed it who in turn will be helping her with her grief...like our Tuffy Boy did for us when Mandy died over 3 yrs now! (He's dozing in his rocking chair after being out in the snow that he loves for a few hrs this a.m. I swear he is related to some Arctic Lynx or something!?) So congrats, Cousin, on Bear. Many blessings on your lives together.
I want to take this time to wish the very dear friends who occasionally "read me" out there very happy holidays. Whether you call it Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah(sp?), Seasons Greetings, to me it all means: somehow there just should be a stronger feeling and Knowing of LOVE and PEACE in our hearts and that is something beautiful to strive for. Monday the Sun moves into Capricorn...my sign...a winter baby. Winter Solstice, the darkest day of the year...and then the light increases! Don't be afraid of the dark ... "the stars are there by night or day, and hearts are set aright!" Oh, and Happy New Year if I don't get back here by then. All I've coined for this one so far is Twenty-Ten...Better Then! There's always room for improvement...let the past go by the wayside, have some fun, be at peace, live in joy, love one another, and esp love yourself. May you be blessed richly and given good tidings of comfort and joy.
With love from,
Your SisSTAR XOXOXO*****XOXOXO*****XOXOXO*****XOXOXO