Mammillaria Cactus

 I have had this little cactus about 10 years and last month it decided to bloom. Blossoms are tiny, less than a quarter of an inch across. But such a beautiful color. There have been 18 of them in a circle around the top of the cactus. You can get an idea of size comparred to our cat, Twinkie. On looking it up I found it is in the mammillaria family.

This is another suculant plant that blooms frequently. It is almost an inch across. There are several succulants in this pot. The flower is on the plant that has long, thin but fleashy pieces not the one with the short thin tringles as it looks like, You can see the piece of plant on the left side of photo. Don't know it's name.

Christmas Tree and Village

 My artificial Christmas tree had lived out it's life and as it was throwing plastic pine needles all over it went to live in the trash. This year I said I wasn't having a tree since I didn't want to buy one but I thought it might be nice to decorate some of the large house plants I have. The larger tree is actually a ponytail palm plant or an elephant foot plant. The 'foot' is hid under the sheet I wrapped around the base of the plants. The other tree is a drecina houseplant. I did hang a few tree decorations on them as well as wrapping lights around there trunks and the pots. Of course I had help from the cats.

I added the snowpeople, some stuffed kitties, bears and moose and St. Nick behind the tree. Twinkie thought she should live up to her name and twinkle with the lights.

 I have been collecting some of the Christmas village house for some years now. I set them on a table along with the horse and sleighs and drapped lights around the table. I have the ranch house, barn, post office, lighthouse, castle, and coffee shop.

 Wiley our black cat decided he had to be part of the decorations.

Sunrise - Sunset

First 2 photos are sunrises over the Sandia Mountains.

Next 2 photos are sunsets over the Sandia Mountains. Sandia is Spanish for watermelon. The sunset photos show the pink color that is frequently seen at sunset on the mountains that gives them their name.

Sunsets Last Week

Lathe Turning

Some of you commented on my posting a month or so aga about the piece of cottonwood that my husband was turning on his lathe. Here is the finished piece. Some really nice designs in the piece of wood from an almost dead cottonwood tree. He has more of the tree to turn later on.

Here is a bottle and a candlestick with electric candle that he turned from a piece of wood he bought.

 Christmas decorations he made from left over scrap pine wood. There are tiny holes with a piece of string for hanging on the tree.

Here are two snowmen (maybe the taller is a snowwomen) that hubby made for gifts.

Sandia Mountains

Some views of the Sandia Mountains the other day with a layer of clouds over them.