Culinary/Garden musings: Tea/coffee Date January 2022

~ Chocolaterunsjudy

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Welcome to 2022! I know that this will be another hard year for me due to my mom’s failing health, but even so, there’s always something hopeful about the start of a new year.. Thanks,  Coco and Deborah, for hosting us — I’m ready to get together over hot drinks and let you know what’s been going on in my neck of the woods.

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Christmas Cactus, beautiful sunset, don’t mind the crystals “charging”

If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . .
I’d tell you my Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years Cactus has brought me much joy this year. Yes, it’s been blooming through all those holidays. I also found it was like the Fall: there was just a few blooms at first, then different clusters over the next couple of months, rather than most of the flowers blooming at the same time.

What we couldn’t save? Our raised planters! We noticed that the side of one was slowly sliding down. Then the bottom completely fell out of the other one one day. Finally the bottom fell out of the second one, too.

If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . .
I’d tell you that I had totally forgotten about the Rosemary plant we had on the deck, through one or two freezes. I finally brought it inside, and it seems to be surviving. It’s even blooming. 

If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . .
I’d tell you that we got some Parsley in one of our veggie boxes in the Fall. I stuck it in some water in the fridge, with plans to make Pesto with it, and there it sat . . . and sat . . . and sat — until it totally dried out. I can use dried Parsley, though, it’s just a pain stripping it off its stems — I’ve done some of it, but about half is still sitting in its mason jar on the counter.

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If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . .
I’d show you this is how my body reacted to my COVID booster. I found it amusing because all I did all day was rest!

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At least it’s getting used

If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . .
I’d tell you that undated planner from 2021? It’s hosting my packing lists as I go back and forth to my mom in recent months. Hey, at least it’s getting some use!

Are you making big plans and dreams for 2022 or just waiting to see what happens? 

Do you have any indoor plants bringing you joy right now? 

How did you ring in New Years Eve? 

Also linking up with:

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36 thoughts on “Culinary/Garden musings: Tea/coffee Date January 2022”

  1. My Christmas Cactus is gearing up to bloom again. I don’t mind seeing the blooms either. And my succulents continue to thrive in my sunny window.

    I have yet to understand how Garmin knows how you’re feeling…

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    1. Mine has been continuously blooming so far. It’s got lots of buds on it, too.

      Garmin just reports on your RHR & HR Variability. I just found it amusing that it said I had not restful periods when all I did was rest — but obviously that was because of the booster side effects.

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  2. My Christmas cactus was beautiful this year but only for about three weeks, still, it was lovely while all the blooms lasted. I had some oregano and basil on the back porch in smallish pots but didn’t bring them in before the frost so they died. I need to do better next time and bring them in because it is great having fresh herbs throughout the year.

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    1. Oregano & basil aren’t as hardy as rosemary, unfortunately. I didn’t remember to bring my basil inside before the frost got it either.

      I’ve found the secret — for me, anyway, every house is different — is I have to water the Christmas Cactus more when it’s starts to bud out. Hopefully it’ll continue to bloom through my birthday in February like last year.

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  3. My cacti continues to bloom. I’m succulent obsessed. I just love them. I can’t stop buying them. And my African violets have been blooming continuously. Something good about the pandemic.

    Lots of running goals. Racecations planned and races registered. At least running is good in 2022.

    Had a lovely NYE with friends.

    My Apple Watch probably tells me the same weird things but I don’t use it that way. Mostly for texting and phone calls.

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  4. I didn’t have a Christmas cactus, but my Mom got me some wax bulb amaryllis for my birthday in November, that bloomed beautifully over Christmas.

    I need to make some plans for 2022 so I can start moving forward.

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    1. Ok, that is weird about the aerogarden!

      We had the most beautiful, humongous rosemary plants when we lived in TX! They can tolerate some cold, but it’s far too cold up here for them to winter outside. I’m glad I actually remembered to save mine!

      I appreciate the wish, Deborah, but nothing has changed so it’s just going to continue to be stressful — until it isn’t anymore.

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  6. I want a Christmas cactus! At least my orchid is bringing me much joy (and color) right now. I didn’t mention this earlier, but I also brought along a couple of amaryllis bulbs…and they’re going bonkers in their current location. I’m tempted to buy a few more to take back to Iowa. I have a similar weekly planner, from a few years ago, that I’ve used for scratch paper. Hey, paper is paper 😉

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    1. Well, my Orchid didn’t survive, so there you go. It was doing quite well for a while, but then I didn’t take care of it so it died.

      I got my mom the same Amaryllis bulb that Coco got. She’s really enjoying it and you didn’t have to do a thing to it except watch it grow!

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  7. I do not have a green thumb at all, so I will just appreciate all of the things you have blooming, lol. I tried a few years ago to grow cucumbers and tomatoes and ended up with 1 very small cucumber (looked more like a pickle) and 1 small tomato (more like a grape tomato) lol

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    1. Thank you, Michelle! I used to have a ton of houseplants when we first got married. As we got more animals & they aged & needed a lot of caregiving, I just gave up on the plants!

      I don’t have many houseplants now but I do enjoy the ones that survive. 😊

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  9. I’m putting “get a Christmas cactus” on my list of things to do next Christmas- yours is beautiful!
    I hope this year isn’t too, too stressful for you. i know, dealing with aging parents is hard. Good luck with everything!

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    1. I came this close to buying a second Christmas cactus this year. Because they’re really relatively low maintenance.

      I have read you should repot them every 3 years — ;which for me means next year! Once they stop blooming they start growing all over the place which is also pretty interesting.

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  10. Ahh, I keep meaning to start up a little herb garden but haven’t gotten around to it yet — it’s been so, so busy lately. :[ I’m glad your rosemary is doing ok!!

    I don’t have huge plans/dreams for this year mostly because I don’t want em’ dashed to pieces again, haha. I have some little hopes though. 😛

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    1. I can only imagine how busy your life must be!

      I hear you on the big plans, too. I don’t have any either. Hoping when Spring/Summer rolls along and COVID dies back that we’ll have some more vacation time. That would be really nice!

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  11. Love that Christmas cactus! My pointsettias this year were a total fail for some reason that eludes me. I still have some plants from my dad’s funeral that continue to thrive. I’ve been thinking about going much bigger on this year’s garden. We’ll see about that.

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    1. I’ve read you should repot the Christmas Cactus every 3 years, which is where I’ll be next year. I might just change out the soil. 🙂

      Good luck with your garden!

      I suspect that I will someday inherit my mom’s plants. Would you believe that one is actually from my grandmother, who passed before I even got married?

      I had a plant from her when we first got married too. I kept it alive many years through a few moves, but then I went through a phase where I just let go of my plants. Maybe it’ll be a full circle thing.

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    1. We had cacti in our backyard when we lived in TX — here it’s far too cold!

      Good job on keeping the orchid in bloom! I will probably try another one some day when my life isn’t so hectic. They sure are pretty!

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  13. With two cats I don’t think I would want indoor plants. I don’t even put up a tree! 🙂 I want 2022 to be a great year. So far I have one race in mind but am also looking at other half marathons in other states. My sister that lives in Mexico is planning to visit in May. I might be going there in June/July once school is over. The plan is not to teach summer school and go there for 2-3 weeks.

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    1. That would be awesome to have so much time with your sister! I didn’t know one lived in Mexico.

      We had a ton of plants with our first cats — but you do have to be careful about them because some are toxic to cats. Not herbs generally though! Catnip is actually an herb. 😊

      That’s why we have so much trouble planting something on our backyard, nought — so much is toxic to dogs.

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