Get Me To The Country

Tuesday, January 31, 2023

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

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

Friday, January 27, 2023

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)

Saturday, December 31, 2022

December's Garden (2022)

The old saying is true, "Death comes in threes." This month we lost Mom, then Scooter, and now my garden is gone.

Most of the middle of the USA was hit by a massive polar vortex of bitter arctic air that froze the nation. My area had 30-mile-an-hour wind gusts and temperatures between the lower 20s and zero degrees Fahrenheit for four days. The garden has endured low temperatures before but the high winds were too much. It was destroyed.

The death of a garden is obviously nothing in comparison to the loss of Mom and Scooter but it is compounded pain. It is like a sore thumb that keeps getting smashed. My heart keeps getting trampled.

The garden is a difficult loss for us since we eat from it daily and share it with others. Prices are rising and shortages are rapidly increasing in my area. Winter vegetables taste better in cold weather but more importantly, they are medicine for our health problems. It was a big disappointment.

Below is last year's garden at this exact same time. This is the amount of produce that I was striving to have as we move into the colder months of winter. This was the plan. This was my dream.

December 29, 2021

As I look back, this year I worked much harder than last but was met with repeated defeat (drought and pestilence). I tried as hard as I could but failed. It just wasn't my year for a fall or winter garden.

December 29, 2021

My brother put life into perspective as we were sadly going through Mom's possessions at her assisted living apartment after she had passed. We had her room torn apart and were sorting her things into various piles to be donated. He said, we had been hit by a tornado and were digging through the rubble trying to salvage what we could; next, we needed to move on and rebuild. Life is one tornado right after the other.

His wisdom made sense. This year my family has experienced more tornados than we can count and they just keep coming.

When the weather clears, I will return to the garden to begin salvaging anything that might be edible. There are a few plants with tiny green leaves hidden under the damage that could grow a little if the weather improves.

Soon, it will be time to start seeds for spring. Rebuilding and planting time is ahead.

Last Month's November Garden (2022)

Last Year's December Garden (2021)

Through the Garden Gate

Sunday, December 25, 2022

Scooter, Our Best Friend

My sons scheduled their vacations at the same time again so we could all be together. Reese lives the furthest away. The last time he was home in February we all had covid and Bill almost died in the hospital. Our family has had a rough year and we all agreed this vacation was going to be different. We would have fun.

We had a long list of exciting things planned, well, exciting to us at least.

Just as they were arriving home, my Mom passed away. Since I finally had a free moment, the following morning Bill and I took Scooter to the vet. He had begun losing weight and drinking extra water which we thought was caused by his dog food. We changed brands and he improved but we still wanted to make sure he was fine.

He was diagnosed with diabetes and because of his age, there were no good options. He only had a week and a half left to live. He became the center of our lives.