Day 2 ~Thankful for.....

DAY 2: Today I AM THANKFUL FOR FLOWERS! . I know that sounds silly but here in Alaska, flowers are RARE unless it is summer. I am not a very green thumb so growing flowers is a challenge. I did NOT inherit my moms gardening ability. She is great at it! If you have ever been to her yard you would see that. Her worker that helps with the garden will tell you "Amai(Mrs) Lindy lives in a Jungle" and she does!  But there are 2 plants that she has never been able to grow. African Violets (go figure she lives in Africa and can't grow them) and Orchids. I am not sure why she doesn't grow orchids but she doesn't. But there ARE 2 plants that I CAN GROW! Can you guess what those 2 plants are? Yep  African Violets and Orchids!

My first Mothers Day here in Alaska. Keith and Kaden got me a beautiful pink African Violet. It has grown and has now created two plants so this summer I replanted them in to two pots. Now I have doubled my violet collection. They are so pretty and bloom a lot.

 Orchids are my FAVORITE plant and flower ever! When Keith and I got married and came back for visiting family in Puerto Rico, I brought a carry on full of Orchids. They grow like weeds there. Some of them don't need soil and just survive off of the humidity and rain in the air. They are beautiful! When we moved to Florida, my collection of orchids traveled with me in the truck. Sadly when we moved to Alaska it was in the dead of winter and we flew and not drove so my orchid collection had to remain in Texas with my Grandma who is raising them. They have flowered for her in Texas so that makes me happy. The first summer we were here my mom and dad came to visit and mom brought a few clippings from my plant for me to grow. Those are still growing..... slowly and though they have not flowered yet I hope one day they will. Just having them in my window makes me feel like I am transported into the tropics.

While we in town(Fairbanks) last month, there were some beautiful orchids for sale. I kept walking by them every time we were shopping and wished I could get one home. After the week there, the night before coming home, we shopped for all our fresh stuff to take in our luggage. After filling up on sour cream, cheese, and fruit we packed up and realized we had 20 lbs plus 2 carry-ons that needed filling, so before heading to the airport, we stopped and bought a few more pounds worth of food and I bought myself an orchid. So my carry-on was full of a jack-o-lantern pumpkin, a cantaloupe and an orchid. I know that is NOT the typical things people put in their luggage UNLESS you live in Alaska. But my orchid made it here and just look at the beauty that is blooming in my window!

 Living where winter is around for so long, it is nice to have the beauty of flowers in my window. So I today I am thankful for the beauty of flowers.