Restless

From shaggy horses looking unkempt in
their winter coats to. . .

January seems to draw out the restlessness in wayward gardeners who can't get their hands in warm spring soil. I can see that restlessness in your words as you write about January, cooped up in your house, desperately wanting  needing to be outside in the warm sunshine. Oh, we have had sunshine here, but the temps are cold, hovering below freezing with another bout of bitter cold on its way to the plains of Northern Colorado.

As I write today's post, the Head Gardener is upstairs on his computer. As I cleaned up the breakfast dishes, he kept coming into the kitchen to check the calendar. He asked what day Mother's Day was. I got all warm and fuzzy. He was planning something special? Or planning a fishing trip with his buddies? Wrong on both counts. Even he has that January restlessness. He was planning his planting guide. Having planted potatoes so late last year and failing to get the garlic in, he has a plan for 2015: Garlic March 20th, potatoes April 20th. I feel better. He has a plan. We buy potatoes early then wait to plant them for who knows why when actually I do believe that when those early sets appear in the garden centers they can go in the ground then well before they rot in the bag.

. . .frost covered trees and crusty, dirty snow,
January
leaves little to brag about.

Raise your hand if your gardening plan begins to take shape in January?

With crusty, dirty, old snow hiding a layer of ice underneath from the thaw/freeze cycle here, just walking across the lawn can be perilous. So I have retreated to my basement work area where I sew, craft, work on the dollhouses, write. I can last another month or so.

The little granddaughters were here yesterday. They always want to craft. I have been sewing, so they decided to make something too. They are rather specific in what they want make until an new idea pops into their little heads and then "Grandma, let's make this…." 5 minutes into the first project. The biggest challenge, then,  is keeping them focused long enough to finish a project.



Lucy wanted to make a blanket for Ellie, so I dug in my stash of flannel so that she could make a blanket big enough to wrap Vern the teddy bear in. I had her iron out the wrinkles. She was rather wary of the heavy, hot iron, but I convinced her that she could iron, cautioning her to keep her hands away from the hot metal. "But grandma. . . ," she tried to whine. "Hey, look," I said, "when I was your age [6] I was ironing all the clothes. That was back when clothes had to be ironed." I got a rather blank stare in return, but she did manage to iron her flannel flat. I turned and pressed the hem, then showed her how to use the sewing machine.  I explained to both of the girls that using the foot control was much like pushing the accelerator on the golf cart, which they have both driven: the harder you push, the faster it goes, so don't push too hard. Both girls did very well. I'd show you Ellie's project, but I took her photos on her mom's camera and didn't get them downloaded.

I think that is very important to teach children to iron and sew and bake and clean. The home arts are getting lost in modernization. Children have so little clue or interest in creating, making, or doing. Ellie made a lace edged cape for her sister that required a button. She came up with idea and with some help, Lucy went home with a cape.

Today's photos were taken by the girls' mother. She got a new camera, a Canon Rebel, for Christmas.  She thought I should be outside taking photos of the hoar frost covering the landscape, too, but as I told her, I have dozens of hoar frost photos. And then there is the little Miss Frozen Princess in her Anna dress, a nice contrast to the cold, frozen, ice covered landscape.

And so this all I have to write about today. The Broncos play the Colts at 2:40 this afternoon. I don't know why I get so anxious about a silly game, especially since I probably won't be watching much of it. I have laundry to fold and a messy craft area to clean up.

I am not sure what the week will bring. I have finished Drums of Autumn and will go to the library to get the next book in the Outlander series this week. I do hope that you have a good week planned.

Thanks for dropping by. I love your comments, too.

Be sure to visit Judith at http://www.lavendercottagegardening.com to see this mosaic and all of the other cool mosaics posted.