Winter Musings

One of the YouTube channels that I enjoy passing the time with is Time Team Classics.  The show is about archeologists who are quite expert and colorful characters (and in general very poor dressers as far as TV hosts go LOL!) who go around Great Britain excavating historical sites.  It appears that in Britain you can't swing a cat without hitting layers and layers of past civilizations from the Bronze age to the Roman occupation through the Angles and Saxons and so on and so forth.  That is quite an interesting concept to a native New Yorker where the indigenous peoples left only a faint footprint of mounds or flint arrowheads and a building is considered ancient if it has been standing a mere 300 years.

I've watched hours of trenching where they study the composition of the soil and the building methods of stone piles.  Even without finding bones or pottery or weapons or coins and jewelry they can still tell a lot about a site just by the soil qualities. They can spot the site of a timber building by finding a pattern of dark soil where the posts rotted in their holes.  They can age a wall by finding the undisturbed soil beneath.  They can find a cooking hearth by noticing a pattern of charcoal and scorched clay.  All these subtleties makes me wonder what they would imagine went on here at our site if it were abandoned for two thousand years and they were unfamiliar with our lifestyle.

Here are some of our garden features and my archeological guesses.

Roadside watering hole?
Or elaborate drain?

Simple brush pile or ritualistic sacrifice site?

Gathering place or summer cooking?

Poorly built stone rampart destroyed by invasion?
Water filtration?
Certainly not a garden folly....

Animal enclosures?
Market stalls?

Location of muck pile? that would be a far out guess
Or shady lounge area?

Small scale agriculture or animal pens?

As a parting shot:  Remembering Warmer Days

Waiting for the Winter Storm

Here we sit, with chest colds, sipping hot soup, waiting for the winter storm developing in the south east to make its way here over night.  We expect to wake up to a foot of snow.  The past two nights have been bitter cold, single digits.  I brought my dahlia tubers into the basement because in single digits the bulkhead gets into the low 30s and I didn't want any nasty surprises.  Other than that it maintains around 40 degrees.  I need to go down there and put them back out now that is warmed back up into the 20s.

On days like this its nice to look back over garden pictures.  I chose the one above because I remember how cool and lush the irises looked that day - a warm June morning.  These irises are at the entrance of the drive so they are right at eye level out a car window.

That got me into looking through my "history" file where I keep milestone photos of our property.  It is amazing how much has changed in just the past 5 to 10 years.  These aren't even early, shocking "before" photos.  These "before " photos are more like "midstream" glimpses of the changes this property has gone through over the past 19 years.

Our side entrance was quite bare for many years while we worked up the energy and inspiration to finish its transformation.  The new deck gives it quite a sleek modern look but I admire it all the time for its clean and orderly atmosphere.  It is both utilitarian and welcoming.  I am excited to see the new perennial bed in this, its third year, because it will really take off.

If you look back to the very beginning you can see how much the house and plantings have changed. 

The plantings have moved on even further now, but this photo below  from a few years ago shows how colorful it has become.

Our furthest side yard has transformed the most.  This started as scrubby woods and at first we just cleared the undergrowth but the ash trees remained.  These ash trees were gone before the Emerald Ash Borer really got started in this neck of the woods.

We replaced them with the London Plane trees which have done so well here.

Our firepit area also started out as an ash woodland.  The larger tree on the left became my kitchen countertop and when the stump rotted leaving a sinkhole, we turned that into the firepit.  The Maple tree shown just to the right of where my husband is sitting in this photo has survived all of the transformations and now gives us shady afternoons for sitting and relaxing.

You can see that Maple in the photo below.  It has extra lawn chairs stacked around it and is now surrounded by gravel.  It took us a long time to decide how we would manage the ground around that tree so it would be low maintenance and keep the tree happy.  We finally decided on a thin layer of gravel over bare dirt so the roots would be mostly undisturbed and so far it has been a good choice.

The lawn immediately south of the garden shed has undergone a lot of changes too.

This little area where my dahlia bed and apple tree are now has become the hub of my daily gardening activities.

Another view of the fire pit area before...

...and after.

Those photos represent about ten years of summer projects.  We only have one project slated for this coming summer.  We have to do something about the backyard drainage (again).  We haven't gone far enough with our dry creek bed.  We will see what develops.  Of course, we didn't intend to do any major projects last year and just look what happened.  

Its a beautiful sunny day out today.  And when I look out the window I don't see snow...

I see flowers.

Happy Winter Solstice

 Today is my favorite date of the holiday season.  We have had a very mild early winter enabling me to poke around outside and take sunny walks most days.    Yesterday my husband brought his father's sled out of storage and I made a wreath from the landscape.  Now I am headed out to have lunch with two of my former co-workers.

A Happy Winter Solstice and a Good Yule to all of you.

Woodland Fox by JunkyDotCom
This was my Christmas card back in 2018.

Checking Dahlia Tubers and Waiting for Spring

 What do gardeners do all winter?  Think about gardening.  Wow, did that wind blow last night!  It flipped one of our heavy Amish patio chairs again.  No major trees down though, just a few branches.  The sun is peaking through today so I had to go and have a little garden walkabout.  Everything was too frozen to dig in though so I just wandered around.

So much potential there.

I still have lettuce growing under this heavy frost cloth!  Its a record!!!  We have eaten lettuce on Midwinter before, but it was picked weeks before.  Usually we lose the lettuce around the third week of November.  Yes, it has been mild, (when it isn't snowing) but we've had at least one night at 24 degrees F and that would usually do it in.  I think the difference is that the frost cloth is close to the plants rather than being up on the frame.  The bricks were frozen down this morning but...

A quick peak underneath shows happy green leaves.

I found some stray packets of tomato seeds in the basement with my seed starting gear.  I brought them out to the garden shed where my seed collection spends each winter going through its cold stratification.  The packets in the pocket on the left came in the mail this week.  They are celosia, snapdragons and marigolds.  Rather than scouring nurseries all over the countryside for the exact varieties I want I am going to try starting them myself this year.  

Today I checked on the dahlia tubers I have stored in the bulkhead.  I opened up each box and felt for moisture.  The vermiculite felt just right.

I uncovered some of the tubers and gave them a pinch.  They are not drying out at all and there are no signs of mold or other yuck.  I am really looking forward to dahlia season this year.

Yup, feels healthy and springy

So what am I doing to keep myself occupied in my first year of retirement?  Some days I am very busy and some days I sit in front of the computer.  My husband says he doesn't know how someone can sit at a computer that long... years of practice my friend,  Years!  only now its not forced.

Well, as far as what else has been going on, we got our vacuum cleaner fixed.  Its a Rainbow and its 32 years old.  The motor died, but we were lucky to get a new motor for it for about a third of the cost of a reconditioned unit.  We still have all the accessories and didn't need an upgrade.  We still have a vacuum repair place here in town.  While waiting for the vac to return, I used the carpet shampooer and also scrubbed  the grout lines in the kitchen.  I tried the new motor out yesterday and Wow!  Does it clean!  I think the old one was fairly worn out for awhile before it quit.

See, retirement isn't all fun and games

I remember one year when we were first dating my now husband got me jewelry for Christmas but initially thought he would get me a vacuum cleaner. We joked about that for years. Now, after 22 years I am super excited to get a new vacuum motor for Christmas!

Also, during my computer time - I ordered a bunch of seeds - natch.  I've only received one seed catalog in the mail so far. (!)  Last year they started arriving right after Thanksgiving.  But that didn't slow me down.  I am waiting for Longfield Gardens spring bulb ordering to open on the 15th. I want to get some Non-Stop Begonias for the whiskey barrel that doesn't get enough sun.  I have my Etsy cart full of Ranunculus corms.  That will be a new planting endeavor for me.

I spend a lot of time learning on Youtube and such.  Here are my favorite channels:

Garden Answer

The Impatient Gardener

Susan's in the Garden

Growing a Greener World

Charles Dowding No Dig Gardening 

Not gardening, but also super interesting if you like historical living:  Townsends

Their latest video is about Gardening in the 18th Century

My favorite Podcast:  The Joe Gardener Show

Bill Alexander (he of the $64 Tomato) has a new book coming out in June.  I have it preordered and am counting the days.

So that's about it.  Its a beautiful sunny day out.  Still a bit windy.  If only the wind would quit I'd light a campfire and go sit outside with some hot cocoa.  When I came in from my walkabout, the sun was shining in the porch...

Lake Effect Snow

 It's a marshmallow world in the winter

When the snow comes to cover the ground

It's time for play, it's a whipped cream day

I wait for it the whole year 'round....

The good thing about Lake Effect Snow is that usually, the weather is otherwise pretty decent.  So you just put on some warm socks and tall boots and grab a shovel. 

 Its 32* and calm today.  And I am so happy that I did not have to get up in the dark and drive 9 miles before the plows came through.  In the past few years I can remember at least two drives into work where you did not linger for stoplights if you wanted to keep moving at all.  Usually the county roads were better so I had an "inclement weather route" which involved more county roads, and fewer hills.

Plowing happens before breakfast begins.  First you have to find the steps and move that snow to the driveway in reach of the loader.  Then it gets pushed back towards the woods.

I always admire all of the creative ideas for decorating entryways for Christmas, wheelbarrows full of greens, and life sized toy soldiers.   Around here we just use snow, snow and more snow.

I'm sure there are places even here in Western NY where the entry is sheltered enough to allow for some seasonal cheer.  But up here on the hill where the winds whip from every direction, they always deposit the most snow right between the side door and the two car garage.

If you choose not to find joy in snow, you will have a lot less joy in your life 

but still the same amount of snow.

This is the sort of magical Christmas snow that Frosty the Snowman is made of.

But I'm not quite that ambitious

Low Key Black Friday

After a couple of snow free days, it is again dropping snowballs out there to the point where we may actually have to plow the driveway.  Its very peaceful and cozy.  The kind of day to light some scented candles, put on some wool socks and bum around the house with a warm drink.  

For Thanksgiving yesterday, I just put a turkey breast in the slow cooker and we had quiet meal for two with stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy and carrots freshly pulled from the garden.  And pumpkin pie. Today we are having hot dogs and beans LOL!  And pumpkin pie.  We're tired of eating.  And with Korv Day and Turkey Day pretty much back to back, my kitchen staff is tired of doing dishes.

Traditionally, Black Friday is the day I haul twenty Christmas tubs down from the attic and spend seven hours redecorating the house.  For the second year in a row I am cutting back on decorating.  Maybe next year I will get back to two trees and even some garlands.  Since it started snowing fairly early this year, I have already been slowly changing over from fall to winter.  A table runner here, some pinecones there. 

Years past I have had a few orange slice ornaments.  I might sacrifice an orange or two, but this year my husband bought oranges that he was dissatisfied with so all of a sudden I had a whole bag of oranges that nobody wanted!  I sliced them all up and put them in the dehydrator.  Lots of orange slices!

The star anise, cinnamon sticks and raffia I already had on hand.  I am just waiting for my Amazon Day delivery for some more red and natural jute twine to make the hangers.

I already had a little of the correct twine on hand so some of the oranges are already finding their way into my decorating.

This little cedar welcomes people to the side porch.

Some of my decorating still has a fall and winter mix.  

The crows and a pumpkin are still out

 but now we also have pine cones, rose hips and orange slices.

At this point I am still just rounding up elements that I want to enjoy this season and putting away collectibles that I'm not going to use.  The actual construction of each arrangement is yet to come.  This is where I realize that I am one tin grater short for what I want to do and have to shop for one on Etsy.

Plus, I don't have enough fairy lights which should be here with the red striped twine.

I recently found this fun, local, candy striped malted milk can from the 1930s while out antiquing.  I still have to pry the lid off, then I think it would make a fun base for a little Christmas tree.

For now some of my other fall decor can stay while I get my ideas together.