Merry Christms Everyone!!!

Hummingbird visit

I'm so excited!! The hummingbird came to the feeder this a.m. I picked up Lola to take her outside and noticed there was a lot of activity at the feeders and there was a hummer! It was green and so flighty because of all the activity but it was back!! Maybe it will hang around all winter. I'll keep you posted.
So I'm off and running for the day. So, ta ta for now!

Happy 1st Day of Winter

Can you believe it! Today is the shortest day of the year and the days will now be getting longer again. That means that every day will be getting longer and spring is on the way. I know that it is only the first day of winter but a girl can dream can't she? I mean, come on, gardening days will be here again!

I love getting Christmas letters from friends and today I got one from my friend Sharon who writes the funniest letters. She writes about Jerry, her husband, some about thier lives and then the whole next page is about her grandchildren. It's just wonderful. I love hearing from our friends and family. We have gotten many pictures from everyone and just love them.

Well, I hope everyone is enjoying this Christmas time and that the reason for the season is as real to you as it is to me. So, ta ta for now!

Busy, busy, busy...

Just a note to let everyone know that I am still blogging but being the busy season that it is I haven't written much lately. Nothing happening in the garden right now, except some bulbs are starting to show green coming out of the ground. The first day of winter will be here on Monday and then the days will start to get longer again and spring will be around the corner before we know it. I pray that everyone has a very Merry Christmas and Wonderful New Year if I don't get back on here before then. We are off to a Christmas party tonight and then church tomorrow. I have a new camera and will have fun learning all about it so I can start taking some better pictures. So, ta ta for now!

Brrrrr....

It's soo cold. This morning when we got up it was 12 degrees! So, needless to say there has been no activity in the garden by me except maybe a walk thru when I let the dogs out. I haven't even been walking them lately until this morning. They hadn't had a walk since last Thursday when Mark took them for a walk after picking them up from the groomers. It's been that cold. This morning there was no wind blowing so I was able to get them out for a short walk. They were very excited.

Today is our 37th anniversary. I can hardly believe its been that long. We have become each others best friend and I fall deeper in love with him every day. He's very special.

I found a wonderful book that I am really enjoying. Sharon Lovejoy is one of my favorite garden writers and she has a book called "Trowel and Error" and I'm loving it. Over 700 Tips and Remedies for the Gardener. Great stuff.

Well, I've put up two trees now and need to finish decorating and getting out all the Santa's. So, ta ta for now.

Christmas Lights

So I said yesterday I would take a picture of the lights up on the house and I did. Unfortunately, the camera's battery died and I was only able to get a couple of pictures. We really need a better camera and one that I can figure out how to turn the flash off of. But here is one picture and I will try for more when I get more batteries.

Another beautiful day outside but it was only 27 degrees. Brrrr.

Well, I'm off and running for the day. Ta ta for now.

Bald Eagles

Wow! The eagles were back today. Maybe they've been coming back for awhile and we haven't seen them because of all the foliage in the trees. They are so majestic and beautiful. They sit up there and are so aloof. Down the road from us is a small farm that has chickens and there are a lot of fields around us that are full of rabbits and rodents for them to eat. It does make us wonder sometimes if they would ever go after Bing and Lola our pugs. We don't think so but.....



The sun was out again today but it was really cold. Took the dogs for a walk and it was very brisk. The sky is so blue and very bright. Love it.


Mark has the lights up on the house and the fence. I will take a picture tonight and put it on here.



Time to start dinner. Ta ta for now.

Rare Sighting

It's a beautiful sunny day outside and my daughter Sarah sighted a bird outside that we have never seen here before. It was a beautiful male ring neck pheasant and he was fat and sassy. He was outside our fence and we quickly ran and got the camera and got some great shots. He was behind the grape arbor on the other side of the fence pecking away at the grapes that had fallen to the ground. I was able to get pretty close to him and get some great shots. He was really pretty. His markings were beautiful. Mark says that they are pretty rare around here and we've certainly never seen one before.

I finally got two seed catalogs Wednesday and I have been devouring them ever since. It makes me so excited for Spring and it isn't even winter yet! So many flowers and vegetables and so little time. I can dream and dream about next spring and have the most beautiful garden of all in my head till the real one starts to bloom.

My three Viburnum "Dawn" bushes have lots of buds on them and will probably be blooming here pretty soon. Can't wait! Well, that's all for now. Ta ta!

What's in the Garden

I had a small window of opportunity today to get a whole lot of things done and I did. Walk the dogs, go to Costco and Fred Meyers all before 12:30 when I needed to get Jacob from school. Then after I picked him up the sun was out for just a little bit and I went outside to walk around the garden and yard to see what is still blooming. I took a bunch of pictures and actually put two on here. It takes a while for them to download so I only put two on today. But I had a lot more blooming than there arepictures and there are things already starting to come up all over the place.



Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and there are so many things to be thankful for. Family, friends, faith and the list goes on and on. I am truly blessed with so many friends I love. Life would be so empty without people we love. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone. Ta ta for now!

Raking leaves......

I was able to work outside today and what a cold pleasure it was. The cold crisp wind. I had taken the dogs for an almost 2 mile walk when the sun was shining and went to Vassey's Nursery to look at what they had. They have some large hydrangea on for 1/2 price. But I promised Mark no more plants. He came home last night with a bag of leaves for my compost pile. What a guy. He really knows how to make me smile.
As I go around looking at the different beds, I am so excited about all the things that are or will be coming up. I think I saw garlic starting to come up in the garlic beds and I know that some of the other bulbs that I planted have started to come up. I got the plants that I bought on Saturday heeled into the nursery bed on Monday morning before it started to rain. All except the hardy fuchsia, which I planted in the lasagna bed in the front. There are so many beds I would like to put in and get going but I know that I have to take it slow.
I also want to do another worm composting bin. Am I getting too many things going? That's usually what I do. Well, that's all for now. Ta ta.