Bare

Christmas 2013 is all packed away, leaving the house looking rather white and bare. I enjoyed sitting in the quiet of the late evening enjoying the glow of my pink and white lights on the tree, all sparkly and pink. I'd light the fire and there in the quiet of the evening I could think, or not. Mostly not;  I just savored the quiet, appreciating the joy, peace, and good fortune in our life here at the Garden Spot.

Here a couple of iPad shots of the whiteness and the bareness. I have determined that this year will be the year of redecorating to purge the house of the former owners' green trim,  white walls, that yucky gold that hides beneath the white. We have spent a lot of time working on the outside, now the inside needs a make over. Stay tuned.

The Year in Review (quickly)

I reviewed my iPhoto library to find photos that represent 2013. With thousands to look through, it was rather difficult to pick the best. It was a year of loss, but mostly a good year, an odd year where in one of my blogs I think I wrote of our gardening disappointments: There is always next year. 

January: Nothing notable. We begin to get the itch to plan the garden. The garden catalogs start arriving in the mail.  Egg production still good. The ladies were in a decent mood, supplying us with ample amounts of eggs. Now, we get nothing. 0. I miss their eggs. We are wondering what to do with the 8 girls who seem to only want to eat. Practical poultry mangers would send them to the freezer and get a new bunch. Not happening here.  In the garden, the trees will get a good mid winter watering because we just did not have a lot of moisture all winter.

February: we say good-bye to Violet, my mother in law. She would have loved the flowers at her memorial.

March: We finally decide where we will build our water feature: right where the mature lilacs stand. The Head Gardener clears the spot.

 April: Pond Digging. He dug a rather sizable hole. We did not get the project done, however. Just too many things got in our way. There's alway next year. For sure. Top of the To Do list: get the pond finished!

April Showers: Not your typical April showers in 2013. We had more snow in one month than all year when we should have been getting rain. 

May: Retirement. I am still working that change out. Just today one of the girls asked me if I was getting used to it. I'd say I am.

The last photo of Max. We would lose him in early June. We still miss him. After all he was part of our family for 14 years, a pound puppy who gave us years of unconditional love. We haven't' replaced him.  Hubby keeps scouring Craig's List looking for that special dog. Nothing yet. It's hard.

Tulips and daffodils. I love May.

June marks the first cutting of hay and Iris. This is only a sampling of our iris collection. This actually is where all of the left overs go to hang out after we divide the iris.

 

July: We meet Pop. Pop comes to live with us. The grand kids love Pop, especially Ellie. She'd like Pop to come live with her.

My first official asparagus harvest. I am so excited to see just how much I get next year. The plants did really well last summer.  

August: While the rest of the garden has struggled all summer, the gladiolas don't disappoint. Next year I want more, more, more. 

September: An abundant harvest.

October: Not much happens at the Garden Spot in October. The vegetable garden has been put to bed, but the roses keep blooming. This year the roses were glorious

November: Time to shut down the water garden in the front court yard before a hard freeze, drain the tub, and catch the fish. The gold fish are sent to live the garage. They will go dormant and require no care.

December: So much happens in December. It is the the month of birthdays around here: Mine and Jen's (Dec. 24th). New neighbors moved in next door, a delightful young couple with two of the cutest little boys. Monica that  mentioned her birthday was the 20th and her mom's was the 19th. I laughed because mine is the 20th too and my sister's is the 19th,  so I made her this little birthday house. These little houses have become my latest addiction.

 Santa Party: The little kids LOVE Santa. The college graduate asked Santa for a new car. He asks her what  happened to her old one. She answers: I broke it. On a her way to Cheyenne, she hit a patch of ice and rolled her jeep. Yes, she broke it pretty badly. She was very lucky to walk away with only a stiff neck.

Funky Photography

Take an ordinary plastic desert plant, place it in front of the camera lens and just see what you come up with: 

Yes, I like to just hang out at night basking the glow of Christmas, especially with my camera in hand. Here is my mantle filtered through the plastic plate with a design. 

 
Here is the Christmas tree filtered through a little glass serving dish.

Doesn't life sometimes just look a bit better out of focus?

And so we bid 2013 a fond fair-the-well. Looking back, it was a decent year. Certainly a year of big change in so many different ways. Some good. Some not so good. A tough year where we lost our grandma and our dog and a job. We will be celebrating the New Year with friends in Haxtun. Then another round of birthdays: the son in law, the grandson, and the Head Gardener. I'll tutor once a week at the University writing center, try to get more exercise, eat less, (you know where I am going with that one), and begin my living room and kitchen long over due make-overs. Mid-summer we are planning a family reunion, and who know what else will happen in 2014. Lots and lots of gardening.

For you, my dear blogger friends, I wish you good cheer, prosperity, peace, and love and really good gardening.

Happy New Year.