Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Our Christmas cactus

...decided to surprise us and become an Epiphany cactus. Here's how it looked today:


Here is a closer view:


And here is an even closer view:


Epiphany is not quite here yet, but then neither is Mrs. RWP's second creation from her new coloring book. While we wait for both to arrive, let's watch and listen to Carol Burnett and Dick Van Dyke perform "My Coloring Book" (4:21). Their version is ever so much more fun than Kitty Kallen's original rendition in the preceding post.

11 comments:

  1. Mr. RWP,

    Good sir, your cactus is starting to look like a fuchsia. Not my careful spelling of "fuchsia"!

    Goodnight and good morning from England.

    Gary

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  2. Cactus looks lovely, but I think your sideboard is far more interesting RWP.
    Is it antique or a modern replica? What kind of timber is it exactly? I am fascinated by natural timbers. My grandfather restored and made many pieces in his time.
    It looks like it would have a story all of its own.

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  3. klahanie (Gary), It does look rather like a fuchsia, doesn't it? My reference source tells me that fuchsia and magenta are the same color, but I tend to think they are quite different.

    carol in cairns in Far North Queensland, here in the American South such a piece is called a huntboard; it is a bit taller than a sideboard. Ours is modern, I'm afraid. We had it made about 30 years ago at a place in Marietta with the exotic name Unfinished Furniture. It is not heavy at all as the wood used was birch. An 1825 southern pine huntboard was appraised on Antiques Roadshow at $12,000 recently.

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  4. We have synchronised christmas cacti. On this side of the world a couple of ours are blooming happily.

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  5. OMG, $12000 for pine? Pine is considered such a cheap timber here. I just picked up a pine desk for my son (secondhand for $300 very solid and not a skerrick of particle board to be found. It even has dovetail joins). I wasn't sure it was pine to begin with because it was so heavy and had some mulled tones like his oak bed, which is why I bought it. I will add that his oak bed was supposedly manufactured in the U.S. ~ a long way to travel I think.

    That southern pine must be very beautiful/rare timber to ask that much money.

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  6. How do you cook a Christmas Cactus? I have heard that it goes well with salmon. Another question - Why is Chez Brague always so neat and tidy? Third question - Do you employ a Mexican maid?

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  7. carol, no, southern pine is quite common here, ubiquitous almost. Perhaps it was the craftsmanship or the great age (insert U.K. laughter here) that made it so valuable. You want expensive wood, try teak or mahogany or even cherry.

    Lord Pudding, you of all people should know it takes a flock, nay, a bevy of servants to maintain a proper household. Bridget comes in on Mondays and Thursdays, Gigi comes in on Tuesdays and Fridays, and Olga comes in on Wednesdays and Saturdays. They clean all 27 rooms, polish the silver, dust the chandeliers and sconces, and perform other maidly duties as requested. I referred your cooking question to our live-in chef, Jean-Pierre, who has one wing of the mansion to himself, and he promised to get back to you with a recipe. On Sundays, Charles, our chauffeur, drives us to church and back. The only Mexican on the property, Juan Carlos Garcia-Lopez, handles all of our gardening and landscaping chores. Thank you for asking.

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  8. Elephant's Child (Sue), do you mean your cacti are synchronized with each other, or with mine, or perhaps both scenarios are true? I am confused (as usual).

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  9. The cacti are synchronised with yours. Only two of them are in sync with each other here...

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  10. Quote:- "other maidly duties"?????!!!!!

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  11. YP, I thought of you when I wrote that phrase and correctly predicted your probable reaction!

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<b>Always true to you, darlin’, in my fashion</b>

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