Archive for December, 2020

Poinsettias

December 29, 2020

(Note:  All pictures may be enlarged by clicking on them once or twice.)

The poinsettia has long been associated with Christmas — we have a red poinsettia like the one above on a coffee table in our living room.

I think I knew there were many varieties of poinsettias, but I didn’t realize that there were so many different colors until Betsy and I visited the Conservatory at Biltmore when we were there for the Christmas at Biltmore event. There were plants of different colors, such as this yellow-green poinsettia which was one of the first we saw as we entered the Conservatory. There were poinsettias of different hues and shades through out the building.

But I think I was most impressed with the multi-colored poinsettias that we saw. This red and white beauty was definitely eye-catching.

Some plants were more subdued than others, but still very pretty. I did like this point and white poinsettia very much.

It would be hard for me to pick a favorite, although these yellow and red plants that we saw near the end of our visit to the Conservatory definitely caught my eye.

 

Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire?

December 15, 2020

(Note:  All pictures may be enlarged by clicking on them once or twice.)

We really didn’t have chestnuts roasting on this fire, but we did still have a wood-burning fireplace when this picture was taken. (We switched to propane when the Old Man got too old to keep cutting and splitting the firewood).

But even if these weren’t any chestnuts, I like the peaceful setting of this scene in our home on a cold December night.

Ice and Water

December 1, 2020

(Note:  All pictures may be enlarged by clicking on them once or twice.)

One of the advantages of visiting waterfalls in December is that we can often see water in a couple of different forms. This picture of ice and water was taken a few years back at Dry Falls in the Cullasaja Gorge of North Carolina.