Choice Morsels

I saw yesterday that one of my Azalea's had blooms along the bottom---a sure sign spring is on the way! They all bloom along the bottom first.    The temps hovering close to 20F for 3 days in December froze the leaves off my Winter Jasmine shrub---which actually proved helpful! With the leaves gone, I could see more easily exactly where to trim it back. 

My Gerber Daisies were going strong up until Christmas---when we had a hard freeze for 3 days. So this photo is from Dec, sometime before Christmas.  It's not uncommon to have a hard freeze or two on the Florida Panhandle, but rarely does the thermometer dip much below 28 or 29F--which generally just kills the various annual flowers. But over Christmas, it was around 22F for 3 days and frost-burnt all the Mexican Heather, the Amaryllis leaves, my Plumbago shrub, my Butterfly Bush--even my Winter Jasmine shrub---all things I haven't seen get frost-bit, had their leaves all turned brown. Even so, they are still alive, since roots weren't frozen and most, if not all, should regenerate. I was able to save my clumps of Calendula daisies & bachelor buttons only because I covered them with plastic and a double layer of towels. So those are fine. Other things weathered the extra cold without issue: the sorrel, the green onions, the parsley, the thyme, the lettuce in the veggie

"What famous people have I met?" is the Mama Kat prompt question of the day.       Actually, I've met a few. The most well-known famous Hollywood person I've met is George Takei, who played Mr. Sulu on the Original Star Trek series and a few subsequent films.        It was 1989, the year Star Trek V came out. There was a Trek Convention in Tampa. I  happened to be in a local Star Trek Club at the time and one of the members knew someone who knew someone willing to let us bunk at their home for the Con weekend. So 4 of us packed up our Trek costumes and we drove down.        I was 33 at the time and the Trek Club was run by a  guy and his wife who lived in Eglin Base Housing. My husband and I also lived in the same Base Housing, a few blocks away. We joined the Club together. Since I could sew, I ended up making several original series shirts for club members. I wore a gold shirt with the emblem, like pictured, with black pants and boots.  Pretty authentic looking.