And so it begins…..again

Chairs

Now that the holidays are over and the new year has begun we can start to look forward. I have no resolutions other than to do more of the same. Maybe stopping a little more often to enjoy what I’m doing. I have managed to clear my future schedule of a few obligations which I hope will provide the time to stop and smell the roses or whatever is in bloom or at least sit in some of the chairs I have throughout the garden.

I managed to get the garden put to bed (more or less) before the Christmas events started so I feel pretty relaxed about what has to be done right now. Most of what needs to be done can wait awhile. No need to be in the garden in the rain and cold if you don’t have to. Since we have already had some snow and it remains kind of cold it is a nice luxury to sit in the house and just look out at the garden.

greenhouse

Having the nursery doesn’t really give you a lot of free time. This is a good time to be working in the greenhouse, where it’s warm. I have ordered bare root plants that will be coming soon and they will have to be potted up along with a number of seeds and then cuttings from a number of plants.

We did have a couple Master Gardener friends offer to take cuttings from the garden and propagate them this year which was a very nice gift to us. The cuttings were from some of the more unusual plants in the garden so it will be nice to have them in the nursery this coming season. I can’t thank them enough.

It seems like the flood gates just opened for all the seed and plant catalogs. They always give me inspiration. I like to make lists of all the seeds I would like to grow and then cut it in half so it’s more realistic of what I have the time and energy to grow. All the gardening magazines are also already looking toward spring. I’ve been enjoying ‘Garden Design’ and I always manage to read ‘Pacific Horticulture’ from cover to cover. Being a member of The Northwest Horticultural Society, I continue to enjoy the new redesigned, expanded ‘Garden Notes’. It is NHS’s news bulletin and it is very impressive.

I love to read mysteries and garden related mysteries are even more fun. This past winter I read a couple of Marty Wingate’s garden related mystery ‘A Garden Plot’. I just started another one now. It makes me feel like I’m in England again but involved in a murder mystery. I love to travel and reading about other places is the next best thing.

Having time to sit and read is a luxury for me. It gives me an appreciation for these long winter nights. I know all too soon the days will be getting longer and the garden will be calling. In the mean time I hope you too get to put your feet up and relax. If not, the other thing I enjoy is listening to books on tape. Its a habit picked up when I was commuting up to 4 hours a day. Now I listen to them in the garden or greenhouse. Most are not about gardening. Here are a few I have listened to since the nursery closed in October.

Sister of Mine

The Book of Joy

To a Mountain in Tibet

Little Fires Everywhere

Hillbilly Elegy

Exit West

Thirteen reasons

American Gods

Born to Run

In a Sunburned Country

Evicted

You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me