February Indoors

I'm still looking indoors for my February entertainment. Wintery weather continued for most of the month, but here at the very end, it's finally warming up a bit. It's been far too cold to work outside, other than removing the holiday greenery from my planters. By March, I'm tired of looking at evergreen boughs, because they look too wintery to me. Since it's too soon to plant pansies, my permanent planters will just sit empty for the short term. 

I find myself lacking much photo evidence of what I've been up to in February, except for sunset and flower bouquet pix. But trust me, we've been busy. With hubby retired, we're starting to go through the house, sorting and discarding, with eyes on moving our Nest! Nothing is set in stone yet, but it looks likely that we'll be returning to our home state of Michigan, to be near our family. Leaving my garden is going to be tough, but I'm looking forward to starting fresh on a smaller, more manageable nest. This one has gotten to be lots of work! We've decided it's time to take it down a notch, while still growing a few vegetables and flowers. Will keep you posted. 

For the first time since we've lived in Ohio, I found zero flowers in bloom by the end of February. It was a long, cold winter this year, instead of the mild winters we've been used to. Even my earliest bloomers are still sleeping. But the bulb foliage is coming up, so it shouldn't be long. 

With hubby at home, I find myself in the kitchen far more often, and have been surprised to find out how much I still enjoy cooking and baking. We often cook together, but he's usually the one doing the dishes afterwards. I finally figured out the reason that I didn't cook much when he was traveling is because I hate to clean up the mess, so I'm sure grateful that he likes to clean up after me. Here are a few of my photo worthy foods for February. During the cold weather, we made several batches of soup, on this night it was minestrone. I made us a little Valentine cake as I usually do, and admired this chef salad we created. We even made this massive stack of multigrain waffles. Since we are dairy free eaters, we struggle to find frozen multigrain waffles that are safe for us to eat. Instead, we bought a waffle maker and did it ourselves. For now, our freezer is full of waffles. Turns out we didn't need to double the recipe after all! Here's the recipe if you are interested. Multigrain Waffle Recipe Next time, I intend to add a hint of sweetness to the batter itself, probably maple syrup. I also made oatmeal raisin cookies, which I like to fool myself into thinking are at least borderline healthy. 

I'm a big fan of Valentine's Day, and as I said last month, I even decorate my home for it. In all of our home sorting, I found a hidden stash of old Valentine decor that I had forgotten about, so I added them to the mix. 

As usual, when there are no flowers to be seen outdoors, I keep my vases filled. 

My tiered tray had a couple different views this month, once I removed the Valentine look I showed you last month. I get the biggest kick out of changing the decor on this little tray in the middle of my kitchen island. Not sure why it's so fun for me, guess it's just a simple little way to feather my nest. 

I did complete a few crochet projects, since winter is a good time for crocheting. I thought I was done making scarves, but clearance Christmas yarn caught my eye, and I couldn't figure out what else to do with it besides making another scarf. I also completed another cozy afghan for my collection. I call this one my hat blanket, because I saw the color combination in a winter hat pattern. But since I don't wear hats, I translated the color scheme into a blanket instead. 

Took a little jaunt to the Franklin Park Conservatory to see the butterflies, and it was delightful! It's always great to see them again in the middle of winter. 

I'm still watching the sunset skies out the back door, with occasional jaunts down to the pond for a full view. Winter sunsets rarely disappoint. Plus I found a bonus rainbow! 

I hope to see you back here at the end of March. There will surely be a few early flowers to share by then. Can't wait! Thanks for stopping by, I sure appreciate it. 

March is for Transitions

I'm not sure that March actually came in like a lion this year. It started out a bit chilly, then took a slow transition into lamb weather as the month progressed. Yesterday was 73, and I sat out on the patio with my iced tea, wearing flip flops. Tomorrow? Well, we won't discuss what's supposed to happen tomorrow. Looks like I'll be tucking a few things into the garage for the night. 

With agreeable weather, I'm back in the garden working most times. There's plenty of winter cleanup to do, plus prep work for the main garden season coming up soon. I have plans, so many plans! I did have a small crocus bloom in late February, but March is showing me ALL the crocus. Hubby and I like to make funny plurals, so instead of all the crocus, we'd say croci. I guess I scattered them widely, because they keep popping up in new locations. I love a good surprise. 

My other favorite early bloom is iris reticulata. It's also scattered everywhere around here. Half the fun is figuring out where it will pop up! I often tell people that it looks best planted under sedum Angelina, but I found that only a few of mine are planted that way. I've started removing some of my sedum, only because it was hampering where I could plant things. 

Hellebores are under appreciated flowers. They can be expensive, and their blooms aren't quite as showy. Mostly, the flowers face down at the ground. You can see from this first photo, that I'm practically laying on the ground, and you can still barely see them. The solution was right there, for many years, and I neglected to try it. Finally, I remembered to pick some of the blossoms to float in a bowl so I can see them better! 

And what would spring be without pansies? I rarely put any pansies in the ground, this is a container plant for me. I plant them in mid March, and by the end of May, I'll replace them with summer flowers. I could probably keep them a little bit longer, before the real heat arrives, but I consider them fleeting. 

Finally, we have daffodils. I really love my daffodils in bloom. Yellow flowers of any kind just make me smile. I call this the inherent sunshine effect. I don't know the variety for most of them, but my favorite is Jetfire, because it blooms first. I rarely cut the flowers to bring indoors, but I think I'll do that today. 

Of course my crafting slows down once gardening starts anew. I did finish  up a couple of crochet blankets this month, but I can't show them until they are gifted. I had the urge to paint some more rocks, to scatter around town for strangers to find. I've also slowed down on my cooking and baking, I suppose that was winter entertainment. I still cook, but not every night like I was. Instead, I make family size portions, allowing us to  have frequent leftovers. I made a big pot of beef stew on Sunday that kept us fed for three days running. Many times, we'll have what we call The Big Salad, a reference to old Seinfeld episodes. It's just a kitchen sink type salad, better than anything a restaurant can serve. It was so appealing to me all laid out that I had to photograph it this time. I don't normally put it all out in portions like this, I guess I was inspired that day. 

The biggest news of the month was that I was able to get my first vaccine. I can't tell you the joy it brought me. Even though I'm not yet fully vaccinated, it gave me such comfort to know that soon I'd be more protected. This Friday is my second dose, I'm both nervous and excited. It will be nice to transition into a slightly more relaxed lifestyle.

I'll close with sunsets as I often do. Lately, we've had a string of clear blue sky days, which don't lend themselves to pretty sunsets. Window sunset season is coming to a close, as the world shifts slightly the other way. But I did make it to the pond area for one particularly lovely sunset. 

Thanks for visiting here with me each month. I appreciate your visits more than you know. April is on the way in all her flashy glory, and I'm down for that!