The Beginning of New Things

I just really needed to turn the page on my blog.  It needed to have 2019 in the post somewhere. 
So, here goes. There are a lot of possibilities awaiting us in this new year.

I took some pictures this week to show where we are and to dream of where we can go...

yarrow

my daylily seedlings

the new arbor

byzantine glads

spanish bluebells

Tula

an empty daylily bed

I am reminded that life is short and we should make the most of every day.  It's the little things that add up and make a big thing.  Our life..

These daylily tags were hand made by my Daddy. This will be the first spring that he is not here on this earth anymore.  It makes these tags even more meaningful because there will be no more.  But they are a reminder that it's the little things that sometimes mean the most.  and that life goes on.  So I am remembering to make the most of the time because the days are short..Very thankful that I took the time to dig these daylilies from my Daddy's yard while he directed me on which ones he wanted me to be sure to get.  A very special day. 

Even though the landscape looks a little bleak, it will soon be coming alive again.  Before we know it, it will be spring again..

That's all for today y'all...Have a great weekend...

Love, 

Mona

Winter Storm

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words...such is the case this morning....

Beautiful but destructive.....

These are all of the pictures I took because I had to put the camera in the house and get to work..
We have a long way to go in getting this cleaned up....the oak tree that has been the focal point of our backyard landscape is no longer healthy and we have to take the whole thing down...  Two enormous limbs broke and fell during the ice storm and caused all the damage to our roof and deck... I am very thankful for homeowner's insurance to pay for some of it...

I am trying to look on the bright side.  I will have a whole new view of the backyard and will get to learn a lot about gardening in sun..   First I will have to dig up most of a perennial bed and move it so the tree surgeon and his crew can drive their truck where my beloved daylilies now live..  Hoping for warmer weather so I can get started on the digging...

And I know that this is minor compared to what lots of you are experiencing with this winter weather.
This is just unusual for Georgia to be so cold...and our first damaging icestorm since we bought this house 12 years ago...

Well, such is life.. As I have heard...I surely have my work cut out for me for this spring...but I'm not complaining.  Change is good even if it comes on so suddenly...

Hope you are safe and warm..

Love, Mona

Weather Girl here

Maybe I should become the resident weather girl..seems like it is a big deal lately...but maybe that is just part of the nature of a gardener...anyway, I do love watching the changes that weather brings...it has been so dreary and rainy for several days....
BUT..........

out came the sun and I grabbed my camera for a quick walk around the yard.....

our dry creek is not very dry right now.....water, water, everywhere.......

 and here comes the weather change........back to cold and wintry......maybe even some snow.....

Well, I enjoyed the sun while it lasted..all of about 30 minutes...enough to make me smile again.....

and, of course, a few more pictures........

Paperwhites

One of my favorite things to do in the winter is to grow paperwhites inside....I have always loved the fragrance because it takes me right back to a wonderful time in my young life...as a girl, I used to play in my Grandmother Lewis's yard...she had a huge flower garden and I played with the flowers...yes, I know, that seems strange but...it suited me to a tee....In the winter, there were hundreds of paperwhites (narcissus) blooming all over her yard...there was no way to pick them all but I tried....I would gather a bunch of them and smash them against my face trying to get every little bit of fragrance out of them....they are truly one of the heirloom flowers of the south...I now live a little bit too far north to have them in my yard but every Christmas season, I get some and force them to bloom inside.....

I used to grow them in potting soil but have been using pebbles for the last few years...I like seeing the roots....and it's easier to know when they need watering.....there are no blooms yet, just buds...but it doesn't take long once I add water to the pebbles.  I planted these about a week ago.....

Just wanted to share these with you now because there is still time to buy some and get them to bloom inside this winter....if you can find some at your local nursery....

Are there fragrances that bring back good memories for you?  something that reminds you of your grandmother and her love?   Paperwhites will always mean so much more to me than just a flower...they remind me of my beloved South Georgia where I grew up and mostly of my grandmother's wonderful flowers.....

Biding my time...

I have taken a break for a week..not intentionally but I have been a little under the weather and biding my time until I feel good enough to get on with it...life, that is....

I had about a hundred magazines that I haven't read.... so now that is done!  and several seed catalogs and gardening books that NEEDED to be read....here is a picture of my coffee table this morning....

A day or two before I started feeling yuk, I had started envisioning a Valentines table....that is about all it is right now..a vision..LOL  but I am liking the colors and patterns together, so we'll see what comes out of this...

Seems like winter is returning and all of it's stark coldness will prevail through the weekend.....out my front window it is obvious that spring is not here yet.......

 

But dusk does add a beauty that lifts my spirits.....


Waiting for spring and wellness....hoping wellness gets here a lot sooner than spring.....

thank you for stopping by today....hoping to be back shortly....

Mona

La La Land

It's feeling a lot like I am living in la la land lately.....the weather is unseasonal....my house is in that state of limbo between decorated for Christmas and cozied up for winter...which seems non existent at the moment.. and the twinges of spring fever because it has been so warm lately...so all of this is making for a little bit of 'every which way'  inside of me....is it fall, winter or spring??????   I know, I know...look at the calendar..it is officially WINTER..

I actually worked in my garden over the weekend and even broke a sweat...oh, wait is that unlady like to say that??  LOL  sorry....    and dug some weeds and planted some garlic....I am even thinking about planting some greens..it better hurry up and get cold if it is going to cause I can feel planting season coming on in a great big hurry..

BUT
.
I can look at this picture and realize  we have a few months before it will really be warm enough to grow much around here.....

Winterpast in winter

Bo

isn't he just the cutest thing?  we call him the lounge lizard beacuse he always has this look on his face like he is going to break out in crooning some love songs that would only be appropriate in a slinky lounge....good ol' Bo..
and he ALWAYS looks at me like this..

now back to the winter landscape.....

my beloved garden

yes, that's Bryan mowing in the background

THE flowerbed

and  ALWAYS, ALWAYS flowers....

Hopefully I will exit la la land sometimes in the very near future........there is a lot of living to do......
Until then,  thank you for coming by today and see you again real soon...