Still icy outside, and I've hardly been out at all for several days. Yesterday a new layer of snow was added on top of the old ice; and today I woke up to the thermometer outside my window showing -17°C (1.4°F)... Brrr. With the sun shining, it warmed up a bit later on in the day, though; so in the afternoon I did venture out on a little expedition to the nearest small greengrocer's shop. (Normally 5 min walk away. Felt longer today, but I didn't actually time it.) - As explained in my previous post, not a whole lot of fruit and vegs allowed in my diet this week; but I needed more bananas, which are on the "approved" list...
At home, I've been packing up my Christmas decorations, to go down to the basement storage for another year. Started with gnomes and angels and whatnots over the weekend; and today finally replaced the electric candlesticks with my usual window lamps. I'll be keeping some red/winter textiles (like the kitchen curtains) for another month or so, though. (And my Christmas cards are still on display - I think I'll keep those up over next weekend.)
I found there are quite a few of my Christmas things that are suitable to keep out during the winter. Love your cool looking lamp! And your shorter plant is so glossy and pretty that it looks fake. African Violet?
ReplyDeleteGinny, the plant is a red kalanchoe. It had a lot more flowers until just recently.
DeleteI have one Christmas card still out, because it arrived only last week or so, and it shows woodland animals (a fox among them!) around a Christmas tree. Apart from that I have no Christmas things left around; in my living room, I have a table runner and matching pillow cases with snowflake patterns, but I consider these "winter" in general and not necessarily "Christmas" :-)
ReplyDeleteDo you have a new lampshade? I don't recall the beautiful pattern on that one.
Meike, I feel like that about most of my table cloths and runners etc too - they're "winter" than just Christmas. And that goes for battery candles and real candles as well (just not the typical "Advent" ones).
DeleteMeike, the lampshade is not new, I've had it for years. The pattern on it is irregular though, including the colours. If I turn it around, there's no red at all on that side, for example.
DeleteYour lamp is very elegant - I love it.
ReplyDeleteAll my Christmas decorations (such as they are) are now packed away in plastic bags and hanging from a door in a wardrobe in a spare bedroom, ready for next Christmas! I do have a pretty little handpainted glass dish that my Norwegian friend painted for me and it's filled with tiny battery operated snowflake lights. It's on the coffee table, and is there in case of a power cut!
Carol, I really like that lampshade too, and the colours on it match my curtains, even if the pattern is different.
DeleteGosh that snow looks cold. I love your lamp and is that an amaryllis? Mine's about the same size, I wonder whose will flower first?
ReplyDeleteChris, today started with a proper snowstorm, to add to the "fun" (or rather, to the worries...). The plant to the right is a white amaryllis now well past it's glory; flowers withered and gone. I will keep it a while as long as it looks healthy and does not seem to house any little flies (as sometimes happens, in my experience...)
Deletewe used to have a yard full of kalanchoe, but ours were orange and yellow. beautiful. LOVE the lampshade and went to Amazon and typed in patterned lampshade and went down that rabbit hole. had no idea they came like that.
ReplyDeleteglad you made it safe to shopping and back home. Red is such a cheery color, i say leave out what you love to look at, matters not what season is
Sandra, kalanchoes are popular houseplants here, I often buy yellow ones for spring/Easter, orange in autumn and red for Christmas. In interior decoration and also in clothes I use more red in winter (when the outside world here is black and white), but cooler colours in summer when it's hot. A combination of tradition and "instinct", I suppose.
ReplyDeleteProbably good timing to put the Chrissie decorations away. We have Kalanchoe plants here, they are very easy to look after. Loving your lamp.
ReplyDeleteThanks Amy. Thought it best to get most of it out of the way before my hospital appointment...
DeleteI'm another follower who admires your lampshade, Monica. I think it would be lovely to have any time of year but especially when it is so black and white outside.
ReplyDeleteThanks Pauline. That lamp stands in that window all year round except for 1-2 months around Christmas when it's replaced by an electric candlestick.
Delete-17ºC . I have only experienced that in central Canada!
ReplyDeleteGraham, as I shared in some other post, the worst cold I've experienced is around -40°C (one New Year back in the late 70s). And that I hope I'll never see again...
ReplyDelete(Post entitled Icy Cold, earlier this month)
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