Have the seed catalogs started arriving yet? No? Well…they should begin to hit your mailboxes fast and furious soon. Seed companies know that we gardeners need something to dream about during the long months of hibernation.
Once you have a sizable stack, it’s time to grab a hot cuppa and snuggle down in a cozy chair to leaf through and dream a little. What better way to get new ideas and cement plans for the garden you will begin in a few short months.
As you page through the beautiful colors and spreads, notice that most catalogs give additional growing information on disease resistance, new and improved hybrids, the length to maturity on vegetable crops and often the proper growing conditions for the plants. When you combine this useful information with your own experience in your own garden, you are in a great place to choose great flowers and vegetables for the upcoming growing season.
Try not to get too carried away and don’t order more than you can plant. Make a wish list and then sit on it for a few days. Go back to it and look at it again realistically to make sure what you plan is doable. You might just try a few new things each year, while sticking with the old favorites that grow well year after year.
It is never too early to start planning your upcoming garden. When you order seeds by mail, ordering early will ensure that you have your seeds when you need them.
Spring will be here before you know it…
Do You embrace winter or do you strive to just get through it? I admit I tend toward the latter in as much as I detest being cold and wet…so I do avoid going outside as much as possible in the winter. My husband is one of those people who (although he doesn’t like the cold either) feels he MUST have fresh air each day or he gets into a physical funk. Although I can appreciate the logic behind this…I still prefer hibernating.
So…this leaves me inside…and THIS is where I begin embracing winter! Inside…left to hang out all day long…this is when I can tackle put-off projects, start new ones, reorganize that cupboard or closet that has been bothering me, rearrange the furniture, do some deep cleaning, or…just sit and cross stitch or crochet. Yes…I am a homebody who is happiest when the pulls of life are not tugging at me in all directions outside of my cozy home. A day I do not need to venture out is one of the sweetest, in my book.
Do you have any winter projects you are tackling this winter? I’ll share a few of mine:
- Cross-stitching a baby sampler
- Crocheting an afghan
- Piecing baby’s quilt and making the crib set
- Reorganizing the kids’ rooms and shuffling some kids around to different beds/rooms
- Deep cleaning (begins in approximately one month)
- Planning this year’s garden
That’s about it…but really…that’s more than enough to take me well into spring. As soon as spring is in the air I’ll be totally consumed with everything gardening!
What’s on your winter TO-DO list?
Autumn is typically a time of reflecting for me. As the weather cools and we turn inward physically to keep warm, I tend to turn inward in other ways as well and take stock. I like to reflect and meditate upon blessings and things I appreciate. I like to recognize these things and make sure I am adequately appreciating my blessings. I like to avoid taking things for granted.
So…here are some autumn blessings I am appreciating today:
- Warm quilts
- Hot cocoa
- A warm home
- Cozy slippers
- Hot soup on the stove
- A stack of good reading awaiting
- Scented candles
- Clean floors
- Organized linen closets
- Empty laundry hampers
- Clean sheets
- Winter projects to work on
- Healthy family
- A quiet day
- A simple meal
- A finished To-Do list
- House tucked in for the winter
- Garden put to bed
- Well-dusted nicknack shelves
- Evenings with candles again
- Wool sweaters
- Warm slippers
- Electric blankets
- Autumn wreaths
- Pumpkins and squash
What are yours? Please share!
Hey…have you seen any good sales on outdoor furniture? If you are like me…you start looking at all of the end-of-the-season sales for outdoor items right now. There are some beautiful things out there right now, too.
My wicker furniture is still in good shape, so I’m good there. I would really like a pair of new chaise lounges, though. Hubby and I love to sit out under the stars on autumn evenings with a cozy fire going in the fire pit. Chaise lounges would make this ideal, I think.
End of the summer sales are the perfect time to shop for new outdoor furniture.
We are all, no doubt, intimately familiar with spring cleaning. How many of us engage in summer cleaning, though? I find that my house typically needs a good deep overhaul at the end of the summer as the summer activities start winding down. This is the time that I start to feel the itch to reorganize, get into the nooks and crannies, swipe at those cobwebs, and get everything ready to close up the house again. I shudder to think of it…but it will be here before we know it.
Of course, as I’m engaging in this annual summer’s end marathon, I certainly have no need for weight loss supplements because while I am completing this madness I am also trying to preserve the summer’s bounty and prepare for another school year. This is enough stress to make anyone lose several pounds, let me tell you!
So…do you feel the need to clean at the end of the summer? What do you typically do to end the warm months and begin the cooler months?
School’s out here…how about where you are? In fact, this is the first official day of summer vacation at my house and so far so good. We quite a few things coming up that should keep everyone sufficiently busy and quell the sighs of boredom. Even so…it seems like after a few weeks things can slow down a little and we do have days that can stretch a little long.
It’s good to keep a few tricks up your sleeve for these days…so I’m going to try to share a tip or two to help spice up the down-times of summer.
Number one…might even be good for anyone with a public speaking fear…who knows?
Eak-spay Ig-pay Atin-lay! (Speak Pig Latin)
Baffle your kids by talking to them in Pig Latin. All you do is take the first sound of a word and add an “ay” to the end of the word.
Cat becomes At-cay
Dog becomes Og-day
Boy becomes Oy-bay
Get it? It’s fun!
Do you have baby bunnies are everywhere? There are many forms of danger for baby rabbits…lawnmowers…cats…dogs…people!
Find the best insurance quotes here.
If you come upon an injured baby rabbit, the best thing to do is return it to its nest. Wear gloves to prevent unfamiliar smells from disturbing the mother. Many people don’t realize that it is common for the mother rabbit to leave her babies unattended. Often the mother will only return to a nest a couple of times a day to nurse the babies but then leaves again. By the time baby bunnies are three weeks old they are ready to live on their own.
If you find a bunny nest and are concerned that it has been abandoned, watch to see if the mother returns. You could also place an “x” of string over the nest to see if it gets disturbed by the mother returning to the nest. If it doesn’t get disturbed within 12 hours, assume the nest has been abandoned. Contact a wildlife rehabilitation center for guidance.
Homeowners should check lawns carefully for rabbit nests before mowing. Outdoor cats and dogs are a major threat to baby rabbits. Once a dog or cat has found a rabbit nest, it will remember the location of the nest and want to return to it.
It’s that time of year. It seems like each year at about the time I see my first robin of the season my thoughts almost automatically turn to my yard, my garden, and things associated with the outdoors.
I like to do a fair amount of outdoor entertaining in the backyard. This means that I spend considerable time making sure that my yard looks nice. Each spring I like to add a few new garden accents to my assortment of outdoor decor.
This year I have my eye on a new bird bath for the backyard.
Do you have any special plans for your yard this year? If so, you may want to think about using ShopWiki to help you shop online. ShopWiki works similarly to Google by crawling the internet to find the items you are looking for.
It’s that time again…time for us to save some daylight!
Before you go to bed tonight, don’t forget to set your clocks ahead an hour because daylight savings time begins Sunday morning at 2 a.m.
The Energy Policy Act (of 2005) moved DST up to the second Sunday in March. DST will end this year on November 1.
A few trivial tidbits for you:
- A recent study has found an increase in heart attacks during the first week after DST begins. This is thought to be connected to a loss of sleep. When DST ends in the fall there has also been shown to be a slight decrease in heart attacks for that first week.
- Researchers have also found that DST reduces fatal car accidents. This is thought to be because people can drive more safely during daylight hours.
- Two states (Arizona and Hawaii) do not observe DST. Indiana gave in and began observing it in 2006.
- DST began during WW1 to conserve fuel. The theory was that more daylight hours would reduce the use of artificial lights. Experts disagree about whether or not this works.
Technorati Tags: daylight savings time, DST, spring ahead
It’s been a long winter…even though it is still February, I’m looking for signs of spring. Here is a little list of the things I’ve been happy to notice about the waning winter and approaching spring.
- I haven’t seen a robin yet, but I’m looking!
- I have seen and heard several flocks of geese going over, so that is encouraging.
- I’m looking for crocuses too, but mine are not up yet.
- My 15 year old son insists on going outside in t-shirts even though it’s 20 degrees out, but I can’t take that as a sign of spring because he has hardly worn a coat all winter.
- The days are getting longer, which is a good sign.
Do you have more definitive signs where you live? If so, please share! I’ll live vicariously through you.
Technorati Tags: Spring
