Wednesday, December 23, 2009

A Thanksgiving Cactus and a Christmas Tree

Happy Holidays! A lot of bloggers have been sharing their Christmas decorations, and I'll join in the fun momentarily. First, I thought you might find these Thanksgiving Cactus photos interesting. I don't have a fancy camera - I have a three-year old Casio Exilim - and while sometimes I get great photos, I have a terrible time replicating them. I never use a flash outside; photographing indoor plants is not so simple...
Here is the cactus bloom indoors without and with (soft) flash:

I wasn't real crazy about either of those shots, so I took the plant outside and got this:
This one is definitely my favorite.

Changing gears, here is our Christmas tree, a Frasier fir:
I love this zany topper. We're not matchy type people, and our tree is quite eclectic. You can also see one of my favorite ornaments here - the dog (which looks just like Otis in the photo above) in a golf cart!
We have many ornaments made by friends and family. My Aunt Janet made this penguin years ago:
We also have many ornaments from our travels. Here is a hat we brought back from Mexico this summer:
Another handmade ornament, by my cousin Julie. This one has always cracked me up - why is this lamb on a skateboard?! Ha.
As you may be able to guess from my name, I have A LOT of gingerbread man stuff! A whole set of dishes, tons of ornaments... Here's one of my favorites that my mom gave me:
One of our two "Our First Married Christmas" ornaments. My mother-in-law gave us this one and I love it!
Homage to Scott's alma mater (and his love of dogs!):
I have just as many kitty ornaments as gingerbread ornaments. Only one of our pets has their name on an ornament, though!
Our other kitty, Gracie, sleeps/hides under the Christmas tree every year. It is so cute!
Anyway, I hope you're all having a great week, and Happy Holidays/Merry Christmas! (Remember to recycle your real trees!)

13 comments:

Janet, The Queen of Seaford said...

Great tree Ginger! I love the different ornaments from years gone by. In addition to my love for Santa ornaments I really like penguins..........watch out for yours! Very cute.
Merry Christmas to you and your husband!

Susie said...

Sweet ornaments Ginger. Your tree is really pretty!

Merry Christmas my friend.

Randy Emmitt said...

Ginger,

Enjoyed all your ornaments especially the funny dog with the football and basketball!

Have a wonderful Christmas and New Years! And thanks for your blogging and commenting all year it has been a delight.

NotSoAngryRedHead said...

You sounded so frustrated by the lighting issues you were having indoors that you inspired me to do a quick "how-to" on a very simple photo studio: http://notsoangryredhead.blogspot.com/2009/12/basic-inexpensive-mini-studio-for.html

You did good to take it outside - it looks very nice! It's hard to beat natural light.

Happy Holidays!!! and go VOLS!!!

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

I like your Cactus picture outside too. I don't have much luck with inside pictures either.
Your tree is so pretty. That gingerbread ornament is so cute!
Merry Christmas to all of you!

Dirt Princess said...

I can just imagine how wonderful your tree smells! I love ornaments that have special meaning! I liked all three shots, but it is interesting to see what type of shots you will get inside vs. outside! Have a Merry Christmas Ginger!

Ginger said...

Janet: Isn't that penguin cute? I think it's made out of a lightbulb!

Susie: Thanks! Merry Christmas to you as well!

Randy: That is "Smokey," the University of Tennessee's mascot dog. It's a funny rendition for sure!

Catherine: Thanks, and Merry Christmas to you and your family!

NSAR: Thank you so much for the link/advice!! I need all the help I can get. Scott started humming "rockytop" when he saw your comment :)

Dirt Princess: It smells SOOOOO good! Merry Christmas!

NotSoAngryRedHead said...

Scott wouldn't by any chance have relations in Jasper, TN, would he?

Also, no worries! I'm just glad you found it sorta useful. Don't take it as the Biblical truth but more as a comfy place to start.

NotSoAngryRedHead said...

This is about to get REALLY creepy, but I'm from just outside Chattanooga. He probably knows the high school I went to (GPS - please don't hate me), and he might be related to a fellow classmate from my high school. "Swafford" is a pretty well known name in Southeastern TN along with McCall, Duke, BeVille, and some others that aren't coming directly to my mind at this time. It's just one of those names. I doubt he'd know me, but there's a good chance we know some of the same people.

Lisa Blair said...

Ginger, Gracie is so pretty! I love how she naps under the Christmas tree.

Your "first Christmas" ornament is so cute! Love the little doggie on Scott's side and the little Kitty on your side.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you! - Lisa

Prairie Chicken... said...

I love Gracie under the tree. Its a kitty Christmas jungle out there.

Becca's Dirt said...

I love your tree Ginger. Great camera work and what a beautiful bloom.

Happy New Year!

NotSoAngryRedHead said...

How funny is that?? Your SO was in high school the same time as me (for at least a portion of it). You should tell him that I've had GPS run-in's here in Texas and very randomly too... like my old boss was a GPS alum. I'll be driving to TN sometime, mind if I stop in? Just kidding! It's just such a small world, right? For the record, I generally hung around the punk/theatrical crowd that tried to distance themselves from GPS as much as possible. I wasn't a punk or an actress, but they were the ones I gravitated towards.