Goodbye to the Garden, 2010

At 7:00 AM it was  a beautiful dawn on the last day of  December, 2010. Clouds , cold, and lake effect snow flurries have been the norm this month. I think just three days got above freezing. Two of them featured rain and lots of it. The other one was today. Of course red sky in the morning... , but Ed didn't want to go sailing. He just wanted to spend some time working outside in relative comfort. As it turned out we both spent some time outside. It was sunny with blue sky for the early part of the day. It must have been pretty close to freezing, because although the snow pack did some melting, it was in the areas touched by the sunlight. By late afternoon the clouds were back and things cooled down in a hurry.

The Stone Wall Garden is such a peaceful setting. One would hardly guess that a garden could be as exciting as a roller coaster. This year we've had the high of   beautiful flowers, delicious meals of fresh produce and herbs, a small article in 'Horticulture' , and the Garden Bloggers' Convention in Buffalo. But we have also had the lows of frosted lilies, rodents in the beets, and tomato blight. It has been an eventful year and  tomorrow we begin again. 2011 brings a new garden journal and a new beginning! Best wishes for a Happy New Gardening Year! I can hardly wait!

Great Garden Gifts

I have to say I was tickled "pink" when I opened this Christmas gift from Helen. Even though the garden is covered with snow and it will be months before I can put this house in the garden, I couldn't have been more delighted. Every time I look
at this brightly colored bird house it will remind me of the dear friend who gave it to me and it will make me smile.

The new pruners were a gift from Ed. Every year, he gives me a new pair with nice sharp blades. One would think that we have scads of pruners lying about, but somehow they seem to disappear, not unlike socks in the dryer. I will put them in my garden cart in anticipation if spring.

The somewhat feminine eye protection was also a gift from Ed. He's not fooling me one bit. I know he figures I will wear these and not borrow his. He may be right. I like these so much. They have good eye coverage and look oh so cool on me!

Of all the gifts I received , Amy gave me the one that excited me most.It still does . She downloaded "Plants and Stones " on a portable disk drive. Now I can read the blog even when I can't get online . Sad to say with my Frontier dial-up service, that is becoming a very frequent occurrence. It's the price we pay for living where we do .