A Bloomin' Surprise

I know I've been mentioning the beautiful weather we've been enjoying here the past several days. In fact, we hit a record high of 85 degrees yesterday. It was perfect in every way. Now, I've had a Christmas cactus for several years and it hasn't done anything, in terms of blooming. I've given it plenty of TLC over the years and kept hoping that something would happen. Well, I recently noticed what appeared to be a solitary bloom forming, but didn't want to get my hopes up too high. So, to try and encourage its growth, I sat it out on our back deck to soak up as much of the sun's rays as possible.

Lo and behold...I took at peek at it yesterday and the bloom had, finally, opened. Here it is in all its glory...  

Isn't it just spectacular? Do any of you know how I go about getting it to bloom more? Is it unusual for a Christmas cactus to bloom this time of year?

I posted this shot to a Facebook page I'm a member of for folks who are interested in weather. In fact, it's run by one of the major TV stations in Atlanta. Other people had posted photos of their flowers and trees, so I decided to do the same. Soon after, I received a message from the Chief Meteorologist asking me to Skype with him and a few other members of the Facebook group to discuss my photo, as well as the local weather. I told him I was in! The Skype session lasted about 30 mins. and was, actually, a lot of fun! I ended up learning a few things about the weather. I joked with Chris later on that he's more than welcome to have my autograph...of course, he never asked. Oh, well!

Thankfully, he was able to catch an early flight out of Detroit this morning and we're meeting for lunch. It will be so good to have him home!

Wishing you a beautiful Thursday from start to finish!