January 2024 – Page 2 – Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs..

About this time of year, I start planning out our garden. This year though, we are doing something a little different.

I’m going to be honest. When I started gardening, it was something special I did with my Uncle Art, and since he has been gone, some of the joy has gone out of it for me. So this year, I am mixing things up. Instead of a vegetable garden and a wild and carefree flower bed, I am going completely the other direction. Well, not completely. I will never be a formal gardens type person. However, the vegetables are out this year. I am just not growing them. And my wild flower garden is going to be tamed, both in the front yard and in the backyard.

Let’s start in the front. That makes sense right? We already pulled out everything that was in the main bed, all the lavender and yarrow and whatever all else I had thrown in there because it was pretty. Our lavender border is coming out as well, but we may replace it and move it further back from the sidewalk and line the sides with rock or gravel. It had been growing out over the sidewalk, which was pretty but also hard to navigate, and then the actual yard grass started to overtake it and it became a big mess. So that absolutely has to go and be replaced.

As for that main bed, we are going the traditional, neat and tidy route. I am not sure yet what will go in there quite yet, but I know I want simple, and maybe a small little evergreen type tree/shrub. Maybe some hostas? Definitely a few little flowers for color but just a few simple ones, here and there. Like sprinkles.

The backyard is also getting a big change. We are pulling out the old stump, and where the old tree used to be, we are planting a stand of birch trees, because I love them. I also hope to plant a few conifers in the back as well, somewhere. I realize it will take time for them all to grow up and be real trees, but, I am good with little baby trees right now.

Then, I am going to slowly make a rose garden. One new rose plant a year, as a Christmas gift. A few years ago I splurged on a David Austin Munstead Woods rose, and it is so beautiful. It is in our yard now and getting bigger every year.

This, I have already taken steps with. I have some Christmas money and I ordered another David Austin rose today. It will ship in April, and I am already so excited to watch it grow. It is the Ebb Tide rose, and is a deep purpley plum color, so very delicious looking. It is a super fragrant variety, according to the David Austin website, and the scent is that of clove and citrus. I love this description:

A wonderful variety with double blooms of a striking, smoked, deep plum purple. It has an attractive, compact, rounded habit and is very healthy. The fragrance is strong – a wonderful combination of clove and citrus blossom.

Photo from Spring Hill Nurseries

Then, Billy wants to grow a cut garden, full of zinnias, dahlias, nasturtiums, and those Dr. Seuss looking flowers, alliums. And maybe some Mexican sunflowers because I think they are beautiful. I will probably have to keep some rue around in case the Black Swallowtails come back, because their caterpillars eat it. And then that is it! Although this free photo I found is charming and now I want this scene recreated somewhere in my yard.

So, I am dreaming of spring, in a very different way this year. I am excited to see how it all comes together!

Good morning (or afternoon, or evening) everyone! It has been a crazy long week for a short week! I am so thankful for a lazy day hopefully today. One with a cup of coffee at the beginning of the day, and a cup of herbal tea later tonight.

Soo what have we been up to? Well, we had a very quiet New Years, just the three of us. We were planning on getting together with my brother and his family, but then my brother got sick so it ended up just being the three of us, which was fine. I always feel holidayed out by New Years Eve so sometimes I like the quietness of welcoming a new year snug in bed after a calm night.

I spent the day of New Years Eve taking down Christmas. I love having the decorations up but then I am ready to have my house all back to normal soon after the holiday. I have mentioned before that we live in a very small house, which I don’t mind at all, I just need to be mindful and creative with how we use our space, and while the decorations are so cheery and festive it’s nice to have our space back.

This year when I took the tree down, I decided to carve out a little “nook” for Wyatt. A few years ago we flip-flopped our space – we moved our couches and television into our dining room and made it our “den” and then the living room space we moved in the table, books, whatever else we wanted and use it as a sort of do it all room. It was a good decision and we are still very happy that we did it. Please excuse the mess in the photos, I was still cleaning up and clearing out after Christmas when these photos were taken. But little man is super pleased with his little nook. We also bought new couches for our den, one of which is here and the other arrives today, so I moved this old beat up tiny loveseat into our all purpose room, threw an old comfy quilt and some pillows on it. It created another comfy little spot to sit in, right next to Applejack our crested gecko. Lol.

New Year’s Day we went for a ride, Billy made us a delicious dinner, and then we watched our annual watch, The Big Year, which we watch every New Year’s Day and have for at least ten years – maybe more! It is just such a feel good movie.

Then Tuesday we hit the ground running. Wyatt started a brand new, very exciting therapy this week! It is very intense, for both him and me honestly. It is an hour away, twice a week, and each session is 75 minutes. But it is amazing. It is called Lokomat, and basically it is a way to build new neural pathways for walking and build up endurance while also providing more physical support. He looks like he is a robot or training to walk on the moon! He is doing very well so far. Each time they build up a little more time and speed, and random weight bearing, and he is very tired afterwards but he is a trooper.

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So we have both been finding our bearings, with schedules and routines and recovery days and trying to figure this out for now. He has this therapy for 7 more weeks. Please if you can send good vibes and prayers as we begin this new journey in the new year!

I also want to add that Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are launching Jane Austen January this month – in fact, it has already begun! Feel free to post any Jane Austen related posts between now and the 3rd of February! I have a permanent linky page up top in my little header bar but here it is as well.