Effects of a freeze

Winter is a strange season in Florida. Most winters we can be out on the beach every day, some winters we have to light the fire. This winter has brought a few good, cold freezes and our plants are there to remind us of it. Before we went out to CA, we had 2 nights below freezing and we covered all the plants. While were were out in CA, there were a couple more nights of freeze and when we got back, we had a lot of trimming to do. Below are the bananas and elephant ear a few months ago at their peak and third is a photo from last weekend. Their leaves were all wilted and brown so we had to trim them all back. Don't be sad, we're seeing green sprouting through and there's actually 1 leaf about to open up so there's still hope! A couple of the smaller ones I don't think made it, but we'll keep them in the ground for a few more weeks to be sure.

The crotons didn't survive at all. They all dried out so quickly, you wouldn't even be able to tell they were there. Our nightblooming jasmine didn't make it, but it had a fungus before the freezes. The areca palms are brown, as are the bird of paradise but I see some green on birds. The ixora and ficus trees out front were all brown and we trimmed them back last weekend. There's new green leaves coming out so they're all clear. We also modified the front flower bed so that it's not taking over the whole yard and walkway anymore and made the outline for a new flower bed with room for a tree or bush. Don't mind the dirt, it's covering transplanted grass that seems to be taking to its new home.

One plant that did well through the cold is the lily of the nile, or Agapanthus. This is great news as these are ones we love - nice big green leaves with beautiful flowers in the spring and summer. We first saw these at Epcot last year. Wonder what Disney puts on theirs to make them so big and full?

Who knows if we're past the freezing temps. Forecast for early next week show lows in the upper 30s. Usually by mid-March, the weather warms up for Spring Break, so we'll see.

We've got a nice weekend planned. DH went golfing out at LPGA today with his dad. Saturday we're doing some work around the house and yard - weather looks perfect, upper 70s. Saturday night our church is starting Saturday Night Life church and that's where we'll be. And we're also going out with DH's dad for a belated birthday dinner. Sunday our friends are playing a gig out at JB's Fish Camp so we're going to support them and eat some delicious rock shrimp! We'll have to bring our jackets as there's 40% chance rain and a high of 62! But tonight, it's a movie and Giuseppes for pizza and wings.

Oh, and side note. Partylite Summer Catalog goes into effect April 1. That's a long time to wait!

Vets and candles

Just another Thrursday today. Rufus went to the vet to get his heartworm prevention meds and got weighed - at 2-1/2 years old he is 96 lbs. Not too bad considering he was 94lbs on 06/27/08 and 93lbs on 07/27/07. Our vet is building a new building and it's looking great so far. Their current building is pretty small, but the vets are so nice. After the vet, Rufus looked like he wated to go back to work with me, so here he is all jolly in the car. (don't worry, we were at a stop light when I took this pic!)

I know I mentioned the quarter auction at the Partylite meeting the other night. My mom won a beautiful Moroccan Spice Lantern with universal tealight tree (which is an awesome insert that is like a ladder for tealights and allows many levels of light, as in this photo) and a trio of glass candle holders similar to the set in the photo, but not frosted stems, more decorative stems. Oh, and we won the necklace and braclet set which isn't shown here.

Here's a display of the items I won.

So, we've got the Whispering Pines Tree Votive tree set (9inch and 12inch) which I only took 1 out of the box for the photo. I have a set of these and they're great during the fall and winter holidays, $32.95/set. Then there's ball candles (blue, box says Woodland Spice, but I don't agree $17.95/pr) and Iced Snowberries snowball candle $15.95/pr. I have a set of the smaller snowball candles and love them - such a different type of candle! The snowball's sitting on the Deco Ball Tray ($20?) and then pillar garland which there's a closeup in the next photo, so pretty, retails $12.95.


There's $91 worth of product for about $4, and that's not including the jewlery or the big ticket items my mom got which probably retailed for about $95 ($40 for trio, $45 for lantern, $10 for tealight tree).

And that's about the gist of it for today. No big news. I still don't know what we're having for dinner. Guess I should start planning out the week again, that seemed to always work out well. I'm excited to watch Lost from last night - that show intrigues me and makes me mad at the same time. The late time slot and cliffhangers from commercial to commercial have made us record it and watch it the next day.

New Partylite product!

Last night was the reveal of Partylite's new Spring/Summer products and catalog. Although the party lasted for nearly 4 hours, we all had a great time at the Regional meeting. The new summer catalog is in addition to the current Winter/Spring catalog - I'm not sure when the new products can be bought, maybe March 1?
And of course they had Quarter Auction - my mom and I won so many things! I'll probably be having my next Partylite show in April or May - I'm excited!
So here's some snapshots from the new catalog:
New Spring/Summer Partylite products! The candles on this page are like little sorbet scoops - so cute! If you want to view the pics close up, check out my flickr page Partylite folder, and choose all sizes. New scents: Pineapple Coconut, Mango Ginger, Passion Fruit and Papaya. Yum, Yum and YUM! Love the bright colors, perfect for summer.

New Iced Tea Fragrances - Iced White Pear Tea, Iced Green Lime Tea, Iced Red Raspberry Tea - and the jars can be used as drinking glasses! And new print,

I love the linear lights set on the left page - perfect for a summer outdoor party. On the right, neutral colored candle refills in several scents - what a great idea! And mini-reed diffusers. New scent, Citrus Bloom Citronella.

This is one of my favorite pieces - the photos don't do it justice. They took down the new product display before I had a chance to check it out up close and personal, but even from a distance, it's breathtaking.