Not Much Garden

Well, I completely missed the month of December here in Robin’s Nest. That’s not like me! But December was exceptionally busy this year, and I just couldn’t get around to tending my blog. I mostly keep it for myself these days, people don’t seem to follow blogs much anymore. Instagram has further reduced our attention spans, and allows us to share quick bits, instead of a whole month’s worth like my blog. But onward! Still I like to summarize my garden and/or home life here most months. And I’ll continue to do so. But do check out my Instagram page, it’s a more immediate glimpse of the pretty spots in my life. Click here to check it out. msrobin58

This is about the closest thing to gardening that you’ll see around here in the winter. Since we rarely celebrate Christmas at home, I tend to put more energy into my outdoor decorating, since others can see it. I'll keep these greens on display until March, only removing the big red Christmas ball. Maybe I should take down the red and black buffalo plaid ribbon on my wreath too. Do you think it screams Christmas?

That being said, this year we did have holiday company! We usually see our family in Detroit over the holidays, but this year the kids and grandkids came for a Columbus celebration, and I was in my glory. Honestly, that’s what made me crazy with Christmas preparations this year, which is what kept me away from my blogging. We had a wonderful visit, with eating, baking, playing, crafting, and opening presents. So this year I actually put out all of our decorations that had been gathering dust, including a real live Christmas tree. It was a tiny little thing, but I still loved it.

I never even made it to Franklin Park Conservatory this year, and had to content myself with seeing the photos of their fabulous holiday displays that others had posted. I did go to the tree lighting ceremony at Easton Town Center, which made me feel like I was inside of a Hallmark movie. It was crazy busy with people, but I loved it so much that I plan to fight the crowds again next year.

After Christmas is Cozy Season for me, and I very much enjoy the slower pace. I do more cooking, and work intently on my crafts. I’ve even made a list of projects and gifts to compete for the upcoming year, to keep me on task.

But the biggest crochet project I ever did was my temperature blanket for 2019, and I finished it exactly on time on December 31st. You choose your own color theme, usually with colors that coordinate with the high temperature each day. I chose cool colors for cool weather, warmer colors for summer. Each day, you check the high temperature in your chosen location, then stitch a row in the color that represents that temperature. Because there will be 365 rows, you know it will be a large blanket. So I simply used single crochet with a small hook, to keep it from getting too large. Still it ended up six feet long! This blanket now rests at the end of our bed. I had fun making it, but by year’s end, I had grown weary of stitching it. There are over 69,000 stitches in this thing, and that's an awful lot of stitching.

I do have a single spot of garden to share with you, even though it’s January. You see, we are having a crazy mild winter so far, and my autumn container of ornamental kale and pansies is still blooming and looking pretty! I’m sure we’ll get some real winter eventually, but meanwhile, I’m loving it.

I’ll close as I often do with some sunsets. I never do tired of watching the sun set, as you can surely tell if you follow any of my photos on social media. In the winter, the sun sets directly over the waters of the nearby ponds, so I’m there frequently to capture the sight. Winter sunsets seem particularly intense here, so I've seen some real beauties lately. Thanks for stopping by my blog, hope you’ll leave some comments so I know if anyone is actually visiting.