It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Well, not anymore. But last week it really looked like Christmas, as evidenced by the photos.

Berries from Aronia arbutifolia 'Brilliantissima'

Osmanthus heterophyllus 'Goshiki'

Leaning Myrica californica (Pacific Wax Myrtle) branches

Euphorbia stygiana

Melianthus major

Allium schubertii already up!

Carrots wintering in the trough

The snow is gone now. Time for spring.

I wish.

Love to you all.

I Bought Myself a Present

It's not a new car or a spa vacation or anything nearly that elaborate. I bought this little guy.

He was at the grocery store and looked so cute with his little red bow so
I had to bring him home. I don't know his botanical name but that didn't stop me.
He'll get a bigger pot after the holidays so he can get bigger.

This moss on this rock is now thick enough to support a little native sword fern.

Here's another view of the pond from a few weeks ago.
It's now covered with Japanese maple leaves.

Last weekend, my garden buddy Carol and I went to a little country boutique called The Vintage Roost. Customers are required to park on the road and walk down the short gravel drive to the cottage. Along the way we saw this: 

And this:

Don't you love the rusty patina on the bedpost?

And that's all I have for this week. It's been super rainy and windy this week but last Saturday was a perfect day and I got all my bulbs planted. Yippee! Take care, peeps.

Merriest of Christmases!

Hi Dear Friends. I hope you're all doing well in your preparations for Christmas, just a few short days away. Can you believe how quickly the time has flown by? 

Nadezda of Nadezda's Northern Garden fame presented me and several fellow bloggers with the esteemed Beautiful Blog Award! (Thank you, Nadezda.) Typically I have good intentions when these types of things roll around but let the time slip away before acting on them. This time I'm taking the bull by the horns. Here are 5 things about me that you might not know or maybe don't care to know...

1.  I've been married to the same man since 1980. I met him in 1978, when I was 17. We defied the odds and we're still happily married! 

2.  I was blessed to be a stay-at-home mom while raising our 4 amazing kids. The youngest is now 20 and in college. 

3.  I returned to full-time work a year ago in September. I love my job and consider myself the luckiest gal in the world. 

4.  I've written a memoir to be published in 2013. I couldn't be more elated. More details to follow.

5.  I'm writing a garden book which will also be published in 2013. I bet you didn't know this, did you? I'll share more details soon. 

6. Here's something I hope you do know. I CHERISH each and every one of you, my  beloved garden-blogging/Internet friends. Being able to touch base with you, however infrequent it might be, is always the highlight of my days. You're all class-acts and my life is richer with each of you in it. Even though I don't get to your blogs as often as I should, please know that I'm thinking of you. 

My wish for the New Year is that scientists will hurry up and invent a (legal) way to function during the day without needing to sleep. I really believe I could stay current with all of you if I didn't need to get that dang 8 hours of shut-eye. Anything's possible, right? 

  

Have a blessed holiday, my sweet friends. May you be warm and filled, surrounded by the laughter of loved ones and filled with hope for the new year. Love, Grace 

Christmas Finery

WELL, IT'S OFFICIAL, the last month of 2012 is officially upon us. Can you believe how quickly the time has passed? I know several of you already have your Christmas decorations displayed throughout your homes. I commend you. My garage is kind of chaotic and, well, let's just say Christmas might have to wait another week or so. 

In the meantime, I'm scrolling through the offerings on Pinterest and finding lots of inspiration. I copied and pasted a few of them here for you to see. What do you think? 

I love the outdoor-sy look of this wreath with all the natural elements.
Very well done, don't you think? 

Here's another beauty. Much more formal than the previous but so captivating
with the lime green and maroon colors. Not sure about that baby photo in the middle though.
What do you think? 

Someday, when I pick the winning lottery numbers, I'm doing this! I love the white Birch branches
and the gradations of green. 

Again, the more informal... I love the captivating simplicity of this wreath.
Nothing says Christmas quite like a red bow. 

So now, are you inspired? I am. Inspired to get my crew to clean up the garage! 

As always, thanks for visiting.