Thursday, February 1, 2018

The Christmas Cactus

This morning started off a bit dicey, but when Marie settled in with her favorite meal, she was a delight to visit with.
I wrote,  on her dry erase board:"today is the day for castor oil for the Christmas Cactus." She spit out her orange juice and laughed. Well, I thought it was serious business. Marie had us buy Castor Oil for her about two years ago. I refused to buy it but Fran said, "If mom ordered it, we buy it." I had some choice words about it but we did put a bottle of it in the shopping cart.
We had a discussion about it when we got back with the groceries. Oh she laughed. "You thought I was going to drink this didn't you?" When I nodded, "yes" she proceeded to tell me that after the cactus quits blooming, you give it (she measured with her fingers 2 "). When she had laughed and spit out her orange juice, I began to wonder if she had been pulling a joke on me. So of course, I Googled it. Yup a Pinterest lady said one teaspoon in September. Oh brother, now what? So this is what I did. One tablespoon with two small glasses of water and we will see what happens.
Her granddaughter, Tina Lizotte has taken slips/starts of her Christmas Cactus and told me that they are doing well.  Another legacy.
March 2019 Marie's Christmas cactus which I paid, seventy nine cents for many years ago is still blooming. Not a lot of blooms the first year since she passed, but enough to make me smile. It sits right here by my computer so I think of her every day.





2 comments:

  1. This is February 6, 2018. While I was doing dishes this morning I happened to glance at this cactus. It us blooming again just like Marie said it would!!

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  2. February 18, 2018. It has 6 big buds. I guess castor oil works.

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