Excellent blogs

Diane at Alberta Postcards was kind enough to give me an Excellent Blog Award. Mind Sieve came up with the idea to give this award to other blogs that you like, and if you’re awarded you have to pass it on, etc. Diane blogs about nature, gardening, writing, and poetry, among other things….plus you’ll really enjoy her photos (for ex., check out this post about the color blue.) Thanks Diane!

I have been derelict in my blogging responsibilities lately. I keep up with the blogs I read almost exclusively through aggregator sites like Bloglines, Blotanical, and Nature Blog Network. They give me a snapshot of the headlines, articles, and photos on many blogs without having to click through to all the blogs at different times. Because of this and time constraints I’ve all but given up commenting on blogs. But, I do have a list of blogs where I “lurk” or visit via a feed or other aggregator. These are the ones I give the Excellent Blog Award to.

In alphabetical order:

Merry holidays!

A “garden version” of The Night Before Christmas:

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the yard,
Not a vegetable was growing, not even Swiss chard.
The hoses were stored in the cellar with care
And I, rest assured, knew they wouldn’t freeze there.
The perennials were mulched, all snug in their beds
While visions of springtime danced in their heads.

Happy Solstice!

To celebrate the coming of winter, a new blog header & a couple of scenes from last winter.

Winter is definitely here

It’s still technically fall I suppose–the trees aren’t completely devoid of leaves, but there are a few telltale signs here and there: winter is here for the long haul.

Blogging lightly for the last few days…we have company and my office doubles as the guest bedroom. I’ll be back in a couple of days with a post on two rare native plants in my area.

There’s something wrong with my fern

Ever since we brought it inside for the winter, it’s developed a long furry gray growth. Has anyone else ever seen anything like this on their ferns?

First frost: bringing in the houseplants

Tonight we’re supposed to have our first frost–fall is officially here. Or is it winter already?

Curt brought in the houseplants tonight–after covering all the dirt with gravel (note the inside of the planter) to discourage our cats from digging them up.

As you can see, Simba–ever the lady–loves lavender.

As you can also see, I finally replaced my digital camera!! Hopefully I’ll have some fall pictures to share over the next few weeks.