Wrapping up the Year!!

 I can say creatively, I have had a great year!! I didn't do any crocheting, but gardening has done wonders for my soul.

I am saddened that we will not be on the old homestead this coming growing season, but I am looking forward to a simplified lifestyle. 

We headed out East for the last weeks of October. We enjoyed our trip so much. We did run into some rough weather on the way out and the windshield and roof of the truck got messed up from someone slinging a mud flap. We came back through Louisiana to New Mexico so we would not get stuck in that horrible early-season snow and cold snap through Nebraska to Wyoming. I can now say that I have been to all the Southern rim states now!!

Once we were back, I began the job-hunting chore. It was brutal at first. I had been out of the interview game for some years now. Luckily, I found a job very quickly and it is with an accounting firm!! No more administrative/personal assistance for me!! The best thing too is they were willing to conform to my start date of Feb 1st!! They offered me more than what I am making currently and there I have advancement room!! I am over excited to begin this new job. I wished I could start tomorrow, but I have to stay until I can get my severance. The severance is what will get us the new camper to begin our RV lifestyle!!!

So I will suck it up for another month. Another cherry on top about the new job is that it is hybrid. I only go into the office one day out of the week. The rest is remote work!! I am serious when I say that I am over the moon happy to find this position!!!!!

So the holidays have come and gone. I did not overly decorate the house. We barely did anything outside. Most of the Christmas decorations are at their expiration date and will be going into the trash when I begin taking everything down on Monday. I started doing some small undecorating this past week so it won't be so much at one time.

So here is a roundup of the year. It was a good year. There were some decisions that were forced upon me, but I think my new career chapter will be the best yet!! As for gardening, I had some struggles in the beginning but found my niche in the end. 

Goodbye 2022!! I am looking forward to 2023 and all the new adventures we will take!!

Cheers,

Winnie

Corner Garden Update

 I was not able to do much work in the gardens on Saturday. I spent most of the cool part of the day getting an oil change on my Element. Even with making an appointment, almost 3 hours of my day was spent going, waiting, and heading back home. So by the time I made it back home, I had some time to do some reassigning of plants to different areas of the garden. I was able to repot my okra and find a new home for my cucumber plant. 

Sunday I really worked on thinning out my iris at the corner of my porch. This was a transplant from another spot in the yard when we first moved in. It had taken over so much of that corner area of my front flowerbed and needed to be thinned out really badly.

This is a picture from last Spring/Early Summer. We had just finished updating the border and adding some pebbles to the beds. I think it was larger than this when I started thinning it out.

I filled a 5 gallon bucket with some water and began digging up parts of the iris. I replanted them in the corner garden with the hopes they eventually make a lovely border. My dream for this corner garden is to make it into a beautiful cottage garden. I am doing a lot of research on what perennials and annuals will go in what area of the garden. I might do some containers as well by the end of the season or have the ready to be placed in next spring. I want to be able to go into this little garden and just soak in the beauty of the sweet flowers. I have to really sun map this area soon in order to have a good plan set by next spring.

I had an extra 2 irisis that I had to just tuck into the bed where I think they might thrive.

I think the one between the two trees will do great there. I also repotted my Christmas cactus. I hope it does well hanging from the plum tree this Summer. It would be extra cool if it bloomed, but I won't hold my breath.

I had moved my poor zinnias that I got on clearance at Lowe's June 20th three times now. These poor guys were struggling to begin with and then the cold snap got them. I had them planted in my new flowerbed next to the side yard gate, but I think they were too shaded and getting too much water. I then moved them into the flower bed next to the patio and again they were being over watered. Those two beds are receiving a lot of water because of the new sod. I now have them in the corner garden nuzzled up against a rock feature. I sure hope they bloom one more time so I can scavage some seeds from them. We shall see.

They are looking pitiful. If you look closer, you can see my sunflowers sprouting along the fence line.

On a brighter note, my apple tree is loaded down. I sure hope the weather doesn't go south and destroy these tiny little guys. The picture does not give it true justice. The apples are so small and green the leaves take away from their little glory.

I hung the cutest windchime from one of the Apple Tree's branches. It is a good luck horseshoe chime. I am hoping it gives my sweet apple tree lots of luck so it can have a bountiful harvest!!

I have a couple of wisteria plants coming in this week. My plan is to make an arch at the gate entry with some of the leftover cattle fence. I will plant the wisteria on either side so it will eventually engulf the arch. The colors are deep pink (almost mauve) and white. The struggle right now is removing all the small stumps that are through out the corner bed. I tackled some while replanting the iris. It was mid-day and getting really hot when I got around to it. I have one stubborn stump in the left side entrance that I had to walk away from due to the heat and being tired from all the digging I had done that day. But I will conquer this stubborn stump!!

I know that our time is limited at this old homestead, but I just cannot do what I love. Even if I won't enjoy all the hard work we have put into the landscape, I sure hope the next renters can appreciate it. Who knows the owners might just rip everything up and completely do a redo in their ecstatic. But you know what, I don't care because I love what I have done so far and will enjoy every minute of it while I can.