How do we get through this last month of winter?

We have had our February thaw, followed by a blizzard with ice underneath the snow, and now we are back into freezing temperatures. Which will be here for a while yet. How do we get through this last part of a Minnesota winter?

I try to enjoy all of the expanding daylight. The candles and lights of the holidays aren’t the ticket anymore. I get up early most days and enjoy the sunrise with some sort of hot beverage.
This last month of winter is not the month I take on a lengthy, boring, “I wish I didn’t even have this on my list” project.
We try to eat healthy, but nothing crazy depriving. My husband is an excellent cook. I am an ideas person. And a “keep the kitchen clean and organized” person. Today the idea was to use up some rotisserie chicken. I got the kitchen ready. He went to work. Fresh mushrooms, two peppers, a half bag of those tiny potatoes, the rotisserie chicken, two cans of cream of chicken soup, a dash of milk and some seasoning. Simmer for an hour. The house smells so good! And the soup/hash/concoction was so yummy!
We work to keep food treats in moderation. Not eating celery when we want chocolate chip cookies, but moderation is wise.
Have a daydream project. Mine is – you guessed it – garden planning, prepping what I can, and then blog posting and reading and replying for fun. Maybe just a tad of history. If I am so inclined.

Which leads me to ‘Hyperion’. I am daydreaming. I don’t need it. At all. And I have no idea where I would put it. But wouldn’t another diploid be fun?

Hyperion is an old daylily. It is both pollen and pod fertile. It is tall. I like its simplicity. And it is fragrant. Pink Tirzah could use a new option. In 3 years lol. Unless I buy locally. Then maybe I could get self-seed.

You see how this goes.

Yah. Winter here is long. Very long.

Cozy Time

We had some beautiful weather in the beginning of the week. I even got over to look at the historic cemetery.

To my detriment, I suspect lol. I started thinking about spring, and gardening, and all of my ideas for the upcoming daylily season ….

We are now headed back into sub-zero Fahrenheit temperatures for a few days and cold through to the start of February. I am not deterred, however, from enjoying the days. Not my first time to this “inevitable”. I am invoking layers and layers of cozy. And focusing on wonderful. The white squirrel crossing our patio toward the door, and only moving away after our dog approached, the way the sun hits the old prism on the window ledge and makes sparkles. Blue hour (before sunrise and after sunset). And then the layering begins. A good cup of coffee while snuggled with our 15 1/5 year old dog who is (amazingly) still with us. The smell of brownies baking while snuggling our 15 1/5 year old dog and watching the prism sparkles slowly move. A delivery of 3 ring binders, plastic sleeves, photo splits, so I am ready to start the next phase of making our nostalgic greeting card binders – while the fireplace warms the room and the wind howls outside and the brownies bake and our dog snuggles closer and makes a little contented sound and I sip my tea and watch the sparkles fade in and out with clouds and sun. Layers and layers of Cozy. It is the only way to get through a Minnesota winter. Or the only way I get through a Minnesota winter 🥰

And don’t forget the June in January pics. These are from June 16, 2024.

The potted plants are my beloved shamrocks. I overwinter them. Right now they are crazy good indoors, in my office/sunroom.

I hope you also are invoking cozy ❤️

Be Blessed 😊

It begins 2022

Gardening 2022 has begun here. The daylily seeds have gone in the refrigerator for stratification, and plans for the garden adjustments and potential additions are beginning to take shape. This year the plan is to add pumpkin. Pumpkin (singular) you say? For sure! One 20 something pound pumpkin that will celebrate his first birthday in a few months. One little pumpkin that has diverted his Gramma’s attention just a tiny bit away from garden expansions and Grampa’s attentions as well. For instance, Grampa came to Gramma with a plan to capture rainwater from our new gutters up north into raised bed rain gardens. Oh be still my pitter pattering heart! Less watering concerns? Would that be awesome? More time for growing pumpkin ❤️

More to come. As it takes shape. You know how this goes.

In the meantime, the gardens rest. All of them are still under lots of snow.

Yes, those are squirrel tracks. But that too is a story for a different time.