Wintertime News

Hey there!!

I got a Christmas card with a special request in it nearly 2 months ago now. .

I'm not the quickest. .

But I AM perseverant!!

Ms. Sue from Michigan was hoping to warm up her winter with some pictures of my greenhouse! And I did oblige quickly with some pictures. .and then took my time to get them up! In the meantime though, we endured a nasty ice storm. .and then some 80 degree days this past weekend. .so I have a few photos from that to share too!

A few years ago I bought a pomegranate tree. It flowers well. .and has grown some tiny pomegranates. I had read somewhere that the decorative trees aren't designed to be able to offer edible fruits.

So I was surprised that these little fruits appeared. .

They grew for a while. .but when they got big enough. .They split open. .to reveal the tiny little, normal looking pomegranate seeds inside! That was fun to see!

I have only used the greenhouse the last couple winters to house my succulent collection. .

But I felt like I might have some extra time to worry over tomato plants this season. I just did little grape varieties. .yellow and red. Jeremy is eating them as fast as they turn.

My two big ferns are looking mighty good for this time of the year!! I have been growing them in self watering planters on the east deck all summer. .which is the only way that this lazy over-scheduled gardener can keep them living. .and this is the first year that I have overwintered them successfully too! They should look great when the season changes! The big pots of succulents are doing well too. .but I think I neglected to get photos of them on!

In January we had a yucky 3 day ice storm. Our old elm trees didn't fare very well at all! This tree is in the front of the house by the pond. .

The guys had to use the tractor to get the branches out of the pond. They did this on day two when we were kind of in between systems!

It was BEAUTIFUL. .

But look how thick that stuff is on the lilac bushes!!

It took us a lot of days to clean up. .

In fact, we still aren't done yet-but the majority of it is cleared out into big piles, waiting for a match when the time is right!

Jeremy ended up taking down a lot of the old, ugly elms. .which I was sad about. I am still fighting for the few that are left. I want them mainly for the bird habitat until our younger trees get bigger! It is a battle of the wills!!

It was a little unnerving to stand in the house, listening to the CRACK-CRASH cycle all around.

But it was the quietest, still air in between the crashing. The ice-blanketed world made the atmosphere seem unusual!

CRAZY!

Fast forward into mid February!!

Two days above 80 degrees!

The boys got a very old fishing boat a few weeks ago. .

And spent countless hours cleaning it all up and fixing the brokenness.

Sunday it was ready for it's maiden voyage. .

It was a gorgeous afternoon with zero wind. .And while we didn't catch a thing. .It was great just to relax and soak up some fresh air and sunshine and DREAM about summer!!

I do have a few pictures uploaded to the blog already. .

Just waiting on a few minutes to spare so I can tell you what everyone has been up to!!