Random 3 for February 2, 2025 – Spring, holidays, plans

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I bought this as a “Christmas” cactus two years ago. It has bloomed on Easter, 4th of July, Thanksgiving and now Groundhog Day. It’s obviously conflicted about it’s identity.

Today is a short one!

That dang groundhog! – Today is Groundhog Day when folklore says he will predict the start of spring. “They say” he saw his shadow signaling six more weeks of winter. It’s overcast here and there is no way he could have seen anything. We’ve just finished a cold and weird January, and I really need early spring.

Post holiday holidays – We’ve had a month of dreadful weather and stuff. The holidays seem so long ago. We celebrate alternative holidays like Groundhog Day to perk us up. Mardi Gras is at the end of the month with Fasnacht Day (donut day) on March 4th. If we seem to be desperate, we are! At this point, I’ll celebrate anything.

Some things don’t work out the way you plan – Yesterday we had a celebration of life for an old friend. He’s been a great friend to the beloved husband for 60 years. It was an hour and a half away from our home. The beloved husband took a short cut that turned out to be a long cut. We got to the venue just as it was starting. There was no parking so we parked under a sign that said we would be towed. There were a lot of people and there was no seating. We heard his wife’s opening remarks which were wonderful but wisely chose to leave before the “tow truck” found our car. We went home the old way but somehow missed a turn taking a tour of a nearby town. Overall it wasn’t our day for efficiency but it was a fond farewell to a man we both loved.

So how was your week?

72 thoughts on “Random 3 for February 2, 2025 – Spring, holidays, plans”

  1. Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry for how things went with your friend’s celebration of life! It’s good you got there but the circumstances could definitely of been better. Agree with you danging the groundhog. It has been a weird winter here too. Not a lot of snow, but lots of weird weather. I too celebrating pretty much everything going!

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  2. You tried to be there for your friend’s service, and I’m sorry it didn’t work out too well. And I’m hoping the groundhog is just wrong! May spring come quickly for all of us!

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  3. I just tried posting a somewhat long comment and the danged thing told me my comment couldn’t be posted. Sigh.

    I’ll make it shorter this time and hope it works. I’m sending you and the hubs warm thoughts on the loss of your dear friend.

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  4. I eat about 2 donuts per year and one is in the late wintertime. I’m not looking forward to March 4th.

    I understand about your Christmas cactus. Mine bloomed for Thanksgiving and is looking like it’ll be blooming for St. Patrick’s Day. I like their randomness, but talk about mis-named!

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  5. I had a bit of a giggle at the idea of a “Christmas cactus” being conflicted about its identity.
    And, although I know I should not (high triglycerides), I feel that Donut Day is definitely something I could get behind (lol).

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    • It’s truly hard to find a good donut locally. Most of the old mom and pop bakeries have closed. When my mom was alive we would make them. OMG! I could easily eat a half dozen! (I don’t eat that much of anything!)

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  6. Well, today is Carrot Cake day, the 6th is Frozen Yogurt day, and the 7th is Send a Card to a Friend day. The. 9th is Pizza day, the 16th is Do a Grouch a Favor day, the 20th is Love Your Pet day and the 27th is Retro Day. Someone gave me a “Every Day is a Fabulous Holiday” calander for Christmas!! Enjoy.

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  8. Sorry about your husband’s friend. Don’t worry about the groundhog. I saw on the news he is only correct 30 % of the time.

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    • You are right (and he is not usually). It’s a publicity thing in PA because when they pull him out of his home, it’s pitch dark and there is no way he can see a shadow except from the spotlights. However, we did get maybe 2 inches of snow yesterday.

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  9. What do you feed your Christmas cactus? Mine isn’t doing so well.

    I’ve been watching the daffodil spears as a sign of spring, although they can trick you. I have to remember there’s a few weeks between the first leaves and the actual flowers.

    Yesterday, my sister and I drove together to my daughter’s house to celebrate my 28-year-old grandson’s birthday. You’d think that with Google Maps instructing us, we couldn’t go wrong, but we did. She was driving, and she missed one of the instructions. Fortunately, it only caused a small delay.

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    • I don’t feed it anything. It’s on a window ledge that gets full afternoon sun. There is a tree in front so in the summer the sun is dappled but in the winter it’s sunny. It’s very happy there. In fact, most of my plants are happy there. We were surprised at how “off” the timing was. It took 1 hour 40 minutes and not 1 hour 5 minutes and it wasn’t because of traffic. There wasn’t much traffic. I haven’t looked for little sprouts yet. This week should be warmer.

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  10. Your Christmas cactus is so pretty. Our groundhog says early spring, but I won’t get my hopes up. We are in a deep freeze this week and snow on the ground. I’m sorry you lost a friend.

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  12. Great minds think alike Kate because I had not read your post when I said “no way your groundhog saw his shadow” (they gave the whole spiel on the 8:00 a.m. news) and I mentioned Paczki Day which is similar to your Fasnacht Day. I’ve listened to Pennsylvania-based AccuWeather on my radio for years and one of the meteorologists always talked about Fasnacht Day and described them. Your “Christmas” cactus is beautiful, but yes – conflicted. My grandmother had a gorgeous one for many many years. It sat in her back kitchen on her Singer treadle sewing machine, right in the direct sun. I once went to a baby shower at a restaurant for someone at work and it was long before computers and Google maps. There was a hand-drawn map in the invitation, so I thought “no problem finding the place” … except the map did not mention the fact that there was a “Little Mack Avenue” and “Greater Mack Avenue” – sigh. I was lost, late and frustrated but made it in time for cake.

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  13. Luckily, Punxsutawney Phil’s Spring weather predictions have only been correct 35% of the time. Despite today being our first snowfall of the season on Central Vancouver Island (and our snow is almost all melted now), I tend to side with other weather experts who predict an early Spring. Or maybe that’s just wishful thining! ❤

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  14. I am glad your vehicle was not towed and you were there in time to share a fond farewell to someone you both loved. That had to mean so much.
    Your Christmas cactus is beautiful and a lovely color. I miss mine… it was pink and every bit of 20 years old.
    Our week was busy with family that came from Missour-ee. We had a very nice time but we are exhausted. Good FOOD, lots of laughing, hit and miss kinda weather and lots of wrong turns trying to follow one another to favorite beaches. I think SSNS and I should be back to normal in a couple of days.
    There’s a donut day? I am up for that. I have no idea where to find a good donut!

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  15. I am sorry for the loss of such a valued friend Kate, and so glad you could get there to pay your last respects.
    My cousin sent a video link so that we could view my aunt’s service. The three musical choices were Unforgettable by Nat King Cole as they brought the coffin in, which was draped in a Union Jack and preceded by two standard bearers , Softly by Matt Munro for the moment of reflection, and We’ll Meet Again by Vera Lynn at the end. For the committal, they played The last Post as the standards were lowered. It was so very moving. She was a lovely lady and they gave her a fabulous and well deserved respectful send off.

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  16. My husband’s driving has gotten a bit more creative in the recent years, too! I’m glad that the celebration of life was well-done. How wonderful to have had a friend for so long.

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  18. That’s a beautiful Christmas cactus. My mom had one for as long as I can remember and it was huge. She was wonderful with plants except for a few that, oddly enough, are the ones I am good with. I do well with plants that prefer to be ignored. I still feel bad that I didn’t realize that Dad was not watering her plants. But there was only so much I could do.

    I agree with you on the holidays. I’m ready for some good news and positive things. Donut day sounds like something good to celebrate. As for that ol’ ground hog. If he sees his shadow, there are six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t, then there’s a mere six weeks until spring! You can’t win with him.

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  19. Can I recommend Chinese New Year as an interim celebration? There are dumplings and noodles and lots of red and gold. Also cash in red envelopes. Plus some fun traditions about not cleaning: “You’ll sweep away the luck!” (I always wonder if this means vacuuming is okay, as long as I don’t empty the canister outside.) And the lion dances are incredible. I recommend looking at some of the reels on Instagram or YouTube. (It beats watching Rome burn, although apparently I can’t look away from that either.)

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  20. Sorry about your friend – never easy saying goodbye especially to someone you’ve known forever. I think the groundhog does a pretty danged good job – and I also think that if someone dragged me out of my nice comfy warm hole in the ground I’d predict bad weather for them too! I love “Easter/Christmas/Whatever” cactus……they bloom when they feel like it not when their plant tags say. Gotta love that about them – they are ALWAYS beautiful though.

    Hugs, Pam

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  21. That is the best Groundhog’s Day Cactus I’ve ever seen! 😀

    Glad you were able to arrive in time to hear the wife’s remarks. Also glad you reclaimed your car before the tow truck did!

    We had a decent week. I’ve started taking fitness classes at the gym ~ membership included in our lease. My favorite class was a low impact high intensity cardio class with GREAT music. Dancing is my kind of exercise!

    Did a bit more exploring since the temps have rebounded a bit and are once again more like Florida than Alaska.

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    • Glad you are enjoying better weather. Technically we are too although nothing close to yours. I tried Zumba once but it wasn’t for me. I’m more of a “sweating to the oldies” kinda chick!

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  22. No mater how that critter slices it, there is still 6 more weeks till spring 😉
    When my mama passed I got two of her cactus’ one blooms every Christmas and the other every Easter 😉

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  23. I’m so sorry about your friend. We do too much of this as we age. Sigh. I think I have Covid…waiting for Marley to get me a test at the pharmacy. Ugh. Feel like crap, and celebrating anything will have to wait!!

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