January's Garden (2023)

Nothing to see...nothing to see...move along.

Most of the few plants that survived the polar vortex storm have since died. 

The spinach seemed to have fared best. Perhaps it was because being low to the ground protected them from the high wind gusts.

I know that a fantastic, lush winter garden is possible because I have done it. This is the garden two years ago on today's date. In my mind, this is what I expect to see when I look out the window, not a barren mud hole.

January 31, 2021

January 31, 2021

January 31, 2021

During the winter I critique the past year's garden to plan for the future. Last year's spring and summer gardens were successful. It was the fall and winter gardens that failed. I define failure as spending more time, effort, and money than is worth the rewards. The food we have harvested has been minuscule compared to the amount of work put forth. I worked the hardest I ever have but harvested the less. Sometimes no matter how much you try, success is impossible.

First bloom of this year.

I hate to whine but walking out to the garden and taking pictures was depressing hence my bad mood. Buying fresh greens from the grocery has been shocking. The prices are outrageous and the quality is what I toss in the compost pile. We are eating the food preserved from the summer garden so we are not suffering. I'm just complaining because I miss my delicious fresh vegetables.

This spring, I don't know what to do differently to ensure success. I won't be quitting but will keep planting seeds.  Something is going to work.

Last Month's December Garden (2022)

January's Garden (2021)

Through the Garden Gate

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I am finally getting around to celebrating 2023. Last year is over - it was rough. I'm looking ahead to this coming year and have decided it is going to be better.  It has to be.

 It is time to present the annual awards for the most exciting mailboxes I have driven past this year. We weren't able to travel but still managed to discover a few more. It makes me wonder if the word has spread about this competition and so now everyone is building a new mailbox to vie for first place.

The first award is for the most creative use of materials that happen to be on hand.  It takes real imagination to look at a pile of rusted junk dumped behind the barn and see a mailbox.

It was impossible to know which side was the front and which was the back. Both were equally...impressive?

The next category is, "What possessed them to make that into a mailbox?"  This is a wheel barrel holding a mailbox that is precariously balanced on top of the I-beam concrete footing which supports the powerline. Why do that? If lightning strikes the tower, will everything become electrified? Hopefully, these people know to not get their mail during a storm.

The next award goes to the first-ever "mail house."  It begs the question, "How much junk mail do these people get every day?

The next award will be presented to the world's worst driver.  This homeowner obviously can't back out of their driveway without hitting their mailbox. Now they can bump it all they want and no one will know the difference.

The "are you serious?" award goes to this lazy homeowner who bolted the mailbox to the trunk of the tree. Will the mailbox grow taller along with the tree?

Pigs do fly! 

If a mailbox could be considered inhospitable and unwelcoming, this one would be it. It wins the most threatening award. If a storm blows the mail out of the box and it lands in the middle of the cactus, retrieving it would be difficult.

Honorable mentions.

This year's winner of the most exciting mailbox was a surprise.  It was discovered in the middle of nowhere on a rarely traveled country backroad. Being uninhabited didn't matter to this artist. She painted a museum-quality piece of art to lift the spirits of the few passerbyers. It is a bright spot surrounded by isolation. After seeing it, I felt inspired to improve my world. 

This year I will go out on a limb, take a risk and make two New Year's Resolutions.  First, we hope to be able to travel somewhere, anywhere, and hopefully, stumble across more exciting mailboxes. Second, I am going to make my home more beautiful and welcoming. It doesn't matter if the whole world doesn't see, if someone is cheered, it is momentous.

Previous year's exciting mailboxes.

Happy New Year! (2021)

Happy New Year! (2020)

Happy New Year! (2019)

Happy New Year ! (2018)