Promised Pictures and a Few More

When I got up this morning the thermometer said it was 28 degrees BELOW zero. The radio said the windchill temperature was 46 BELOW zero. I have to go to town today, but I've been waiting for it to warm up a bit. It's risen all the way to 18 below now, so maybe I'll take off when I finish this entry. Lovely Daughter's car wouldn't start this morning, and she even had it plugged in!

I've been promising you Folks some pictures over the last week or so - so today is the day. First up is a copy of the "family" picture that Lovely Daughter had taken. The intense one on the left is Daisy, and the one with the goofy expression is Beau. Doesn't he look like an impish little troublemaker? Ole opened this picture on Christmas Eve and said, "Okay, I don't need anymore presents now - this one is IT!"


And here's the granddoggers without their Mom and Dad. Again, Daisy looks like she has to have things all neat and orderly and be in control. Beau looks like he rolls with the punches and takes thing as they come.

Here's the Queen of the House, at least in her mind. Lucy is a year old as of December. She's a little porkchop - a far cry from the skinny little kitty that came wandering up from the river last summer, so thin that you could see her backbone and every rib. She was only about six months old, terribly hungry and didn't have a clue how to play. Boy, has that changed.

Here's a shot of Beau - he's teasing Daisy by taking her "babies." She's very selfish and possessive when it comes to her toys and definitely doesn't want to share. She snatches them from Beau and then makes them squeak. We often say that if she had had a litter of puppies, would she have squeezed them too, to make them squeak?

Daisy guarding her "babies." I think there's three in her mouth in this picture, but she did manage to have four in her mouth all at one time the other day.

Some time ago I promised a picture of my grandmother's Christmas cactus when it was in bloom. This plant is approximately a hundred years old!! Somewhere I have a picture of it in her living room, in an old coffee can covered with tinfoil. I'll have to see if I can find that picture. It's so big now that I have to have Ole transfer it from one location to another.

Here's another cactus that I have - it's called an orchid cactus and has blossoms that are as big as the palm of my hand. It's not going to do much blossoming this year because it was so big I had to give it a good trim in order to move it this fall. The blossoms drip honeydew when they're open, so it's kind of messy. But the hummingbirds are all over it in the summer when I have it outside.

So that's the end of the photo gallery for today. Now I want you all to be careful when you're out there tonight. Celebrate, but within reason. My philosophy is why would you want to start the New Year with a big headache and a sick stomach? Not my idea of starting the New Year right.

So, in English, have a Happy New Year ~ ~

Onnellista Uutta Vuotta (that's Finnish - Ole's a Finlander, you know)

Gott nytt år! (that's Swedish)

Godt Nyttår (that's Norwegian)

I guess that about covers all the bases - see ya next year!!

Love Lena