from Scarlett

BIANCA

Scarlett and Bianca update...

yes, Scarlett has grown 2" in 2 days!!

and Bianca is ready to explode into blossom any moment

just in case you didn't believe the yardstick!

it's still winter

I'm feeling just a wee bit disoriented.

Not just because I still have this nagging head cold that refuses to move on.

It's only Tuesday. Is it not Christmas Eve yet?? I feel like I should be doing something to get ready and yet.....

The gift exchange with friends and the family Christmas were all on the weekend. I've even eaten all my portion of leftover ham and sweetpotatoes and stuffing and creamy, cheesy potatoes. It is too late to mail any cards I didn't get around to mailing (again, I am so bad at this mailing thing). And I am definitely not going out into that mad rush of frantic shoppers when I clearly do not need to.

Hmm, maybe another nice cup of tea and wild blueberry pie while I have a think of what to do next.

and watch my Amaryllis grow.

Scarlett grows a storm

Outside


Inside

Amaryllis One and Two

and I haven't even watered them yet!

I had to play with the brightness and contrast so you could see the first picture more clearly. I had intended to take another when I woke up this afternoon and was shocked! to see how much they had grown in 5 hours. Which, admittedly, isn't as dramatic in the pics as in real life.

So meet Scarlett (right) and Bianca (left)

amaryllis, turtles

At least when Otis sheds, I don't get turtle hairs all over my clothes.

But, we do have to deal with this: HE IS STILL GROWING.

Turtles shed their shells during growth spurts. In anticipation of a lazy hibernation, his body will be busy getting even bigger. Great. He should really be living within his means and that means is a 36x17x15 aquarium.

See that darker square in the centre of his back?

That is where one of these came off.

Something's gotta give, they are like fingernails and very thin and almost transparent. Tortoiseshell ornaments will also peel if they get too dry. But we don't have any of those, do we?!

In other news, it is now official that Lonesome George will have no progeny this time around as all the eggs have been verified as infertile. But, he has to deal with this: another turtle (tortoise, actually) that is 176 years old. Apparently Jonathan posed for a picture with some Boer War soldiers and he has been outed as the oldest of his particular species. Not sure how he was recognized - Boer War? So George could have many more years of interference in his social life.

Every time I hear of aged turtles, I give an inward sigh ... how long will Otis decide to keep growing?

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I don't have a Christmas Tree, but I do have some twigs I decorate. And I have a plant stand I use for poinsettias and storing small gifts on so that as I buy them, I can easily remember what I have bought (yes, I have been known to forget. sad, isn't it?). And this year, I was given an early present of TWO Amaryllis. Now their growth spurts and the way they shoot up with such magnificent majestic blooms are a joy to watch.

I need to find a good spot for a photo shoot to chart their progress.

I also need to pick up some stuff left lying on the floor and get my laundry bag downstairs to the laundry room.