Amaryllis

I had the day off today, and we went to visit my mother-in-law who is, sadly, in a care home due to her dementia.

I'd hoped we might take her out for a drive - she loves being driven around all the nearby lanes and villages. The weather, though, was atrocious, with heavy rain and high winds, so we weren't able to do that.

We found her in good spirits, though, and two things are brightening her life at the moment. One is a board with pictures of all the family, which we gave her a couple of weeks ago - it always triggers conversations with anyone passing about the various children and grandchildren!

The other is this spectacular amaryllis. It's one of two she got for Christmas. The other one flowered twice, both times with four huge blooms, and this one is well on its way to doing the same.

It stands on her window sill, and when everything outside is cold, wet and miserable, she can enjoy its splendid flowers instead. (And it certainly lifted MY spirits after a horrible drive - and gave me my blip for today!)