A Cold Hour in the Yard

Once Christmas is over, I am ready for winter to be over.  After the Christmas lights and decorations are (mostly) put away, it’s just cold and gray.  The winter blues really set in.

I know spending time outside in the sunlight, even when it’s cold, really helps, but I struggle to make myself spend time outside this time of year.

I really hate to be cold.

This year, though, to make spending time outside in the cold weather a little more pleasant, I’ve decided to focus on yard/garden chores I can do in the cold weather.  It makes it seem like spring isn’t quite so far away.

It seems like there are always things to do in the yard/garden, and I want to make it as beautiful as possible.  So, getting started on things now makes sense in addition to getting me outside in the sunshine (even when it’s cold).

Last week, Nick and I did a lot of pruning/trimming and general yard pick-up.  I forgot to take any progress pictures.

This week, I decided to prune the hydrangea that had grown out of control.  This is the ideal time of year to prune hydrangeas, anyway, so it was the perfect cold-weather yard task to tackle after work today.

Here’s the before.

I told you it had grown out of control.

I also trimmed the holly bush next to the hydrangea.  It was out of control, too, and I needed space to get behind the hydrangea to get the back of it.  I’m not sure if this is the right time of year to trim the holly bush, but I don’t especially like it, so I’m not really concerned.  I eventually want to get rid of it and replace it with a camellia.

This was my first pile of branches to haul away.  I ended up hauling away six wheelbarrows of branches. 

Here’s the after.

I still need to do some more trimming, but it was getting dark, so I called it a day. 

One day closer to spring!  

Do you have any cold-weather projects you're working on? 

Thursday 13: Around the Yard

There’s so much going on in the yard this time of year, so I thought another Thursday 13 featuring things around the yard was in order.

I apologize that the light isn’t the best in some of the photos.  It has been HOT here, and it was just too miserable to go around taking pictures until after the sun started going down.

1.     This week, we’ll start with the white hydrangea that’s just starting to bloom. 

Here’s a close-up. 

2.    Next up, we have the Shasta daisies, which aren’t looking good at all. 

The free-range chickens like to dig in the front flowerbed, so I thought I’d chicken-proof it with some decorative fencing.

3.    Clearly, the fence failed to keep them out.  I’m working on another solution.

4.    We’ve recently put a birdbath on a shepherd’s hook next to the front porch.  It’s in direct sun, so I’ve been trying to put ice cubes in it at least once a day.  The birds are definitely using it.  We’ve seen several, and we have to refill it every night. 

5.    The rose of Sharon trees are blooming. 

6.     We have full flowers.

7.    We have buds.

8.    And we have some that are right in the middle.

9.    We have a birdfeeder in the backyard now.  It’s solar and lights up when it gets a little darker than it was when I took the picture. 

10. Next, we have the flowers in the planter on the rain barrel next to the birdfeeder.  I can’t remember the name of these flowers.  I always think of them as mini petunias. 

Here’s a close-up.

11.  There are more flowers that look like mini petunias in the planter on the second rain barrel.

12.   There are also some regular petunias in that planter.  I think these look absolutely perfect.

13. Lastly, in answer to Live & Learn’s question about the groundhogs eating plants we don’t want them to eat, here’s what’s left of the basil.  They ate most of it two weeks ago, and it had started growing back some earlier this week, but they feasted on it again.  Apparently, they’re not planning to share the basil with us.  

Thursday 13: Cats, Chickens, Flowers, Freezers, and Work

 It has been insanely busy at work this week, so I wasn’t sure I’d have 13 things for Thursday 13, but I do. 

1.    Part of why work has been so busy is that there have been some changes.  I’m working with some people I haven’t worked with before.  I’m an assistant, so I’m always working with someone else on almost everything I do.  So, I was a little nervous about working with different people. 

When you’re an assistant, the people you assist can be the difference between loving your job or hating your job.

I had a meeting with my boss and one of the people I’ll be working with now, and I think we’ll work well together.  I had a one-on-one meeting with another person I’ll be working with now, and I’m pretty excited about some of the projects I’ll get to work on with them.  I think we’ll work well together. 

The rest of the year is likely to be super busy, but knowing that I’ll work well with at least some of the people is a huge relief. 

2.    Mortimer was not the least bit concerned about my job stress.  Doesn’t he look so relaxed?

3.    The free-range chickens have still been coming over for their snacks. 

4.    The chickens next door arrived in two batches.  The original chickens have been there almost a year and the new chickens have only been there a few months.  The original chickens are the ones who run up to meet me for food.   The new chickens are starting to do that, too.  All of the gray chickens, except the front right one, are the new chickens.  It looks like they’ve caught on that I’m the snack lady. 

5.    The smallest of the new chickens still hangs back some, but I’m determined to win her over. 

6.    Feeding time is always a little bit chaotic in our house.  Most of the cats are on different foods.  ALL of the cats are positive that the other cats get better food, so there’s a lot of trying to eat each other’s food.  Charlie and Howard took it to a new level this week.

I’m not sure if Howard went under Charlie, if Charlie went over Howard, or if it was a joint effort.  I feel like they deserve major points for their efforts to eat each other’s food here. 

7.    We’ve had some slightly cooler weather this week; 70s and 80s, which has been a welcome change, but not cold enough to hurt the plants.  I don’t know what these pink flowers are (GrandDaddy (Nick’s grandfather) gave them to me for Mother’s Day), but I think they’re pretty, and I’m happy they’re still doing well.   

8.    The hydrangea is still doing well. 

9.    The roses aren’t in full bloom anymore, but we still have some roses to enjoy. 

10. The marigold is still doing well.

11. I’ve realized that it’s time to work on getting the freezers at least a little bit cleaned out.  Thanksgiving isn’t that far away, and we’ll need the freezer space for when turkeys go on sale. 

12. Right now, both freezers are pretty jam-packed, and I’m not entirely sure what’s in them. 

13. I thought taking and sharing pictures of them might help hold me accountable and get me to focus on working through what’s in there. 

So, here they are in their horribly unorganized state.  (I promise we don’t actually live entirely on junk food/convenience food; it just seems like those things work their way to the top whenever we dig something else out). 

Hopefully, there will be a future Thursday 13 about the progress I’ve made in cleaning out the freezers.

How has your week been? 

Thursday 13

 1.    We’re still working on getting Howard’s blood sugar under control.  It was 419 yesterday, so still very high.  Dr. D. is consulting with Dr. V. (the specialist we like, Duke saw her for his Cushing’s Disease).

 

2.    I did successfully give Howard some of his insulin injections over the long weekend.  The only tears shed were mine. 

3.    Nick and Howard (and, to some extent, Frankie) deserve the credit for my injection giving.  Nick was incredibly patient in walking me through it.  Howard is such a sweetie about it and everything, really.  And Frankie very sweetly cuddled up with Howard (I think for moral support) the second time I did it.

4.    I’m still pretty nervous about giving Howard his injections, but I know I can do it now.

5.    My car was ready to be picked up from the body shop on Tuesday, and I was delighted to return Satan’s SUV to Enterprise and start driving my car again.

6.    We tried a pineapple cheese casserole for the first time over the long weekend.  Nick wasn’t a fan.  He thought the texture was a little weird.  I loved it!  I think I’m going to make one with Thanksgiving dinner this year. 

 

7.    For anyone else counting down, Thanksgiving is only eleven weeks away!

8.    Yes, I am already thinking about Thanksgiving and getting excited about all of the cooking and fun.

9.    I’ve been crocheting again.  I hadn’t done it in over a year.  After making so many mask adapters in 2020/2021, I was a little burned out.  I didn’t mean to take such a long break, but things got busy, as they so often do.

 

10. Now that I’m back to crocheting again, there are so many projects I want to try.  If only my talent matched my ambition!

11. My job has given us the option to request a third work-from-home day.  We’re currently allowed two, which I opted to take.  I wasn’t sure about taking a third telework day, but one of my coworkers pointed out that I wouldn’t be penalized for getting it approved and not taking it.  So, I asked for it.  We’re still waiting to see if our requests are approved or not, so I’m not sure if I’ll get it. 

12. One of my coworkers and I decided to start a book club.  We both enjoy reading, and she has been struggling to meet people here, so we thought a book club might be fun.  We had our first meeting on Tuesday to choose a book.  There were only three of us (the other two had to cancel), but we enjoyed talking about different books and what we like to read.  I’m hopeful that this is going to be fun.

13. Our hydrangea is still blooming.  So is our yellow rose.  I know we won’t have things blooming much longer, so I’m very happy to see them right now.

 

 

What have you been up to this week? 

Snapshot Sunday: The Hydrangea Is Blooming

Our hydrangea bush has gotten huge, and is in full bloom right now.

From the left:

From the right:

A close-up of a bloom:

And one more close-up:

I know it should probably be trimmed back a little, but I can never bring myself to trim back anything with flowers.

What’s blooming where you are?