Holiday Time

This is the time of year when I annually search for something to say in this blog.  I question why I write.  Am I a garden blogger?  Most likely, but i don't really have any expertise.  All i know came from the Wise Women who taught me over the years - and continue to teach me now.  This time of year, there's nothing happening outside, so i find myself at a loss for ideas to contribute.  

 

Am I a cooking blogger?  Clearly not!  I work at home, so i can't blog about life in the workplace.  Style?  nope!  Travel?  not likely.  Commentary on current events?  Not!

i like to think of myself as part of the vast world of blogger friends, but am not sure that i contribute much to the conversation [especially since i can't comment from my tablet and find myself using it more and more]. I don't want to just crawl into my chair, bury myself in a book [actually, i do like that idea!] and not post until spring, so i need a holiday project.  

This year it will be wreaths.

It seems like the Thanksgiving weekend is the start of serious decorating for Christmas in the States.  Except that, as i have been looking for interesting wreaths to share, i am not finding many yet. 

This charming wreath was in the downtown square of Harrisonburg, Virginia, where we vacationed for a few days early last week.  The wreath was pretty enough, but it was the whole little "summer house" that caught my eye.

Stay tuned.  There will be plenty more before the month ends. 

I'm Thankful

Whether it was the Pilgrims or the Jamestown settlers, I'm glad our forefathers and mothers took the time to be thankful for their survival and started us on this annual observance.

We live in a time of such plenty [at least in much of the world] that an annual pause to reflect is in order.

This year I am especially thankful for good health.  My younger brother is dealing with serious vision issues and it makes me realize how precious my good [tho aging!] vision is, and how much it contributes to my well-being.

I'm thankful for Mitchell, who enriches my life daily.  Playing his harp fills our home with music and my heart with joy.  

And, the man can cook, too. 

I'm thankful for Elizabeth and James - they know why.

And, I am very thankful for the friends I've found in the blog world.  Women and men across the globe who share their daily loves and lives with each other and with me.  Interesting people with triumphs and tribulations who offer support and guidance to folks who used to be strangers.  

It's a wonderful world on the blog.  Who knew?

You know who your are.  Raise a cup or a glass and know I am saying "thank you" when I raise mine .... hopefully filled with something bubbly!

November

November may be the only month when the garden truly sleeps.

There is nothing left actively blooming, but as I look around the camellia is full of buds that mean flowers by Christmas and then in January the hellebores will burst forth and we will start the entire cycle again.

Outside, it's time for a rest.  Time to enjoy the grasses and the berries.  

Time to focus indoors for a few months.

Mission Accomplished!

If you garden, it's nice to have your own compost pile.  It's good for your garden, good for the environment, and probably good for your soul.  There's a lovely sense of accomplishment when you "make dirt" and then use it to enrich your own plants.  You avoid filling your municipal landfill with recyclable materials, and you have a place to put all the cleaned-up stuff that comes out of your beds - without filling your weekly trash cans!

At the top of my garden "To Do" list for the past two [probably three] years has been "turn the compost pile".  It's one of those things that is ultimately satisfying, but in the moment ... not so much.

 Before:  all sticks and branches on the left; one the right there's good dirt on the bottom with this season's "new" stuff on top.  This was in September.

There is a convenient corner in the back of our yard - behind the sheds - where I built a compost pile that is 4 x 8.  It's "constructed" of four metal fence supports and the back property-line fence and is actually two 4 x 4 "bins".  The idea is that there would be "old" ready-to-use stuff on one side,  and "new" work-in-progress on the other.  That worked great for the first few years, until we got the chipper/shredder.  

It's one of those "role" things.  Deep in his heart Mitchell thinks that he should operate the shredder, but he doesn't get around to it often.  Recently, I have discovered that it's easy to do, so without discussing it, I just took over doing it.

With the last two weeks of mild temperatures and sunny afternoons, I dragged out the shreader/chipper and then took pitchfork in hand and finally got it done.  It took me three afternoons to get the limbs and sticks shredded and down to small twigs that could be left to decompose.

 This is November.  See how the right side has grown in two months!  It was over my head.

The chips.  About the equivalent of one bag of mulch.

Under the right hand pile was nearly three FEET of good composted soil.

 Chips spread on top of the piles and the left one stomped down ... we're ready to add leaves (on the left) and use the good dirt in the spring to replenish the beds.

And like so many other things that we put off in life, I'm now asking myself why I wasted so much time finding reasons not to just do it!