Christmas has come and gone. Got all the Christmas stuff put away. New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Done. Thank God ... no more turkey until ... whenever. And I have ROOM in my Freezer again!!! Yay!!
I think January is my least favorite month of the entire year. I don't feel like doing a damn ... thing. It's very cold right now and going to stay that way for a least the next 2 weeks. The last few days have been overcast and we expect some snow in the next day or so. Even the birds outside aren't flocking to the feeders like they usually do. The deer, too, aren't coming around as frequently as they had been, but I always have bird seed or some apples to give them when they do. It's funny ... but I can easily recognize some of the ones that do come round. There's a mama and her 2 babies that have been coming around since late Spring, early Summer. I loved watching her little twin fawns play when they first started visiting. The twins are both females, and one of them has a WHITE spot (sort of like a dab of white paint) right in the middle of her forehead. So, I called her White Spot! They are still regular visitors.
I'm not a big fan of snow, but I love taking photos of snowy landscapes. I had nice photos that I had taken last year that I'd transferred to my old computer, but I lost them when my computer crashed a few months ago. Had to buy a new computer (bought an all-in-one) and I'm still learning my way around it. I did KEEP the old hard drive. I talked to someone at STAPLES (where I bought new computer) and they told me they probably would be able to get them off the old computer. I sure do hope so. I've got some nice pics on it!
February is BIG Birthday month for me, family wise. Me, my son, 1 granddaughter, 2 nieces, 2 sisters-in-law, and 1 nephew. February 14th is also a double-header ... Valentine's Day happens to be mine and my hubby's 23rd Wedding Anniversary, too!
As for as gardening goes, not much going on. I do have some beautiful Amaryllis plants blooming inside right now. My Thanksgiving Cactus started to bloom right around Thanksgiving and lasted until a little after Christmas.
That's about it for now. Adding a few pictures for your viewing pleasure.
Jane
PS. NO photo of White Spot, but one of these pics is of a of a cute little buck!
Hello gardening friends,
Nothing really new, gardening wise. I still have 2 bags of garden soil and 1 bag of mulch left in the garage. I will probably put down the mulch on some plants later this winter.
The Christmas tree is up. Really very simple. We keep our small, decorated tree (wrapped in clear plastic) in our garage. Took it out last week, brought it into the house, tore off the plastic and ... VOILA! Instant Christmas Tree! Just plopped in on table in front of our living room window. Also got a large box out of the attic with Christmas stuff and hung a few stockings, put up some inside house decorations, and put our Nativity Set on top of a curio cabinet. Don't know why, but was missing a camel for one of the 3 Wise Men. Maybe it broke last Christmas?! Don't know. Oh, well ... I guess one of the Wise Men will have to double up for the trip to Bethlehem. :-{
Does anyone here still make Christmas cookies? I'm going to make a few small batches of cookies (chocolate chip & snowball cookies) for Christmas in the next week or so, but I'm no longer making any PRESSED cookies. I'd been making pressed Christmas cookies for years (since my kids were little) and always mailed a batch to my 2 sons and their families. Well, last year I decided it was going to be my last year doing it. I gifted my oldest son and his family with my cookie press and cookie recipe. Well, the other day I got a message on my phone with 3 photos. First one was of my son mixing the dough. 2nd photo was my grandson (17) pressing the cookies onto the cookie sheet. A tray of baked cookies was the 3rd photo. They came out great! Kudos to them! My daughter-in-law was working that night.
I've been wanting to go someplace at night to look at Christmas decorations. I discovered that Nay Aug Park, in Scranton, PA (about a 45 minute drive for me) has a free drive through that's supposed to be just lovely. Hoping to go some night this upcoming week. It's on between 5-9 pm until January 9, 2022. I have a decent small digital camera (Canon sureshot 710) that takes good photos, but not sure how to take nite shots with it. I'll try some nite shots locally first to see how it goes.
Well, that's about it. As usual I'm posting a few photos for viewing pleasure or displeasure.
Jane
What a beautiful late Fall day. Hubby and I went to Promised Land State Park this morning. We took fishing rods, but the lake was so low, and nothing happening fish wise. We put the rods back in the car and took a walk along the shoreline and then on one of the walking paths.
I love his time of the year. No bugs, no heat, cool temps ... but nice. We've been to the park (which is beautiful by the way) every season but Winter. Why not Winter? Don't really know, but we definitely are going to make an effort to get there this Winter. Walking on the trail we noticed signs for SNOWMOBILING trails. Must be beautiful in the winter driving on them.
Nothing much else to say, just that it was a nice day.
As usual, some pics from our walk ....
Jane
Hello all,
Can't believe it! October is more than half gone. Geez! I both LOVE and HATE the Fall. I love the changing colors ... but hate how they clog the gutters and blow into the house every time I open the front door. Hunter, our cat, LOVES them! He loves to sit on the top of his cat tower by the living room window and watch the leaves blow all over the place. If some leaves happen to make it inside the house, he has a ball! He chases them, pounces on them, and bites them! I can only imagine what he would do if a mouse got into the house!
All the gardening is winding down. Many plants have been cut back, divided, and moved. Hubby helped me divide 4 HUGE patches of overgrown Siberian Irises. They bloomed very little in the last few years. I don't really remember, but I'm guessing that they haven't been divided in at least 4, or maybe 5 years. I'm hoping that they will do better next year and after.
On a positive note, I had planted plain old purple Coneflower seeds about 3 years ago. First year, barely grew. 2nd year - nice leaves. And this year they BLOOMED! They were so pretty and tall - over 4 feet! The bees absolutely loved them this past summer.
I have to say, for the most part, the flowers this year were ... Eh!! Too much rain, not enough sun, and mostly cool temps do not make happy flowers. :-((
I planted Heavenly blue morning glories ... nada. Just leaves. I also planted Moonflowers, and surprisingly, I did get some flowers. Moonflowers are usually more stubborn than morning glories.
Well, that's my Summer story. As usual, some pics for your viewing pleasure or .... displeasure. Also a few pics of ODD things.
Jane
Well, it's mid-August and I've noticed a change in some of the trees already. Little bits of Fall color here and there. The gardens are still pretty green and lush still, but I'll probably begin my late summer projects by the end of the month or beginning of September. I've got some potted-up decent sized Foxglove seedlings that I'll be planting out for next year's blooms. I also want to move some Asiatic and Oriental lilies to different spots. I'm also saving some dried coneflower seed heads in paper bags, but I'm still going let some of them go to seed naturally. I personally love Coneflowers! So do the bees!
I'm still undecided about some Peonies that I have. They haven't bloomed well the last few years --- not getting enough sun because a lot of the trees are now are shadowing them. And ... although everything I have read claims they are DEER PROOF - that's not the case for mine. 3 Summers ago the deer hit mine - chewed off just about every leaf on the 4 plants I have. I had to cage them, which I hate. I don't know if they are worth the trouble anymore. The flowers don't last long, and if it's a very cold Spring, I have to cover the plants to keep the buds from freezing. I have to think on this one ....
I also have quite a big task to tackle concerning my Siberian Irises. I have a LOT of them ... and they NEED dividing and replanting. Hardly any flowers this year and the plants are HUGE! I'm hoping to tackle them around the end of the month or early September. I'll wait for a good soaking rain first, then dig them up, and replant decent starts from the clumps. Oh, and they are DEER PROOF!
That's about it for now. As always I've posted some pics for your viewing pleasure or displeasure.
