My winter oasis

My Winter Oasis

Seed catalogs surround me;

Me and my cup of tea.

My cat on my lap,

And maybe a nap.

I close my eyes

And dream of blue skies.

A lilac scented breeze,

Birds singing in the trees.

Flowers in their beds,

Shades of yellow and red.

Sun shining bright,

It’ll be a warm night.

 Alas, I open my eyes

And see the gray skies.

The view from my window

Is nothing but snow.

I’ll make do with artificial light;

My houseplants in sight.

I’ll be content with this,

My winter oasis.

                                    Bonnie

Where is your winter oasis?

Cross Country Skiing at Rice Creek

Another cross country skiing afternoon. The woods are so peaceful in winter, almost too peaceful. It's eerie not hearing any birds sing, I think it was too cold for them to be out.  This skiing adventure was through the trails at the Rice Creek Field Station owned by the State University College at Oswego.

This is my daughter deciding if she can go under this, as someone else had before us, or should she go around.

She decided to go under.  I followed her, can't believe I got down that low. It felt like I was doing the Limbo! I was mainly worried about getting under without getting stuck, she was worried about an animal jumping out at her! There were animal tracks under there, but I didn't point them out to her.

This is the herb garden, looks inviting, huh? When I had summers off, I used to volunteer to help weed this. There was a big, black resident snake. All volunteers had instructions not to harm it.  I know they are good for the garden, but they aren't good for my heart!!!

This is an old stone wall. I love it - I don't know how old it is or who built it but it truly is a work of art. Stone walls like this aren't built anymore.

Part of the trail, it was such a beautiful day.

Rice Creek - bubbling through the quiet woods.

What do you do when you can't garden outside?

Last year when I had extreme cabin fever, my daughter, Aunt, and I took a trip to Watson's Greenhouse in Lafayette, NY  http://www.watsongreenhouse.com
It was a wonderful afternoon spent wandering around their lush plants. One of their specialties are fairy gardens. I fell in love with them!  My daughter and I purchased a few small plants and then found some old wash basins at an antique store. Picked up some potting soil and started creating our own indoor fairy gardens.

This is my daughter's garden. We picked up small items at a craft store and I went through my craft supplies to see what we could use. She used broken tiles for the path, made a birdhouse out of heavy paper, and we each made a birdbath out of some wooden shapes I had. Our arbors are made out of redwood twigs. The fairies were purchased at a dollar store. Do you see her cat near her wood pile? It looks just like her calico cat. (who, by the way, loves to get into her fairy garden. I think a barbed wire fence needs to be put up.) Notice the little red wagon - very cute!

get your personal blog listed

Do you have a personal gardening blog you'd like to bring more traffic to? Kathy over at Cold Climate Gardening has a Garden Blog Directory. You can send her a request to add you to her directory at
http://www.coldclimategardening.com/garden-blog-directory

She has a great list of bloggers if you're looking for other bloggers in your area.

World Garden Carnival - New Year Gardening Resolutions

My new year gardening resolution (as is every year) is to spend more time on my gardens around my father's pond. This is always a challenge because the soil is very wet, heavy clay. I fill each new planting hole with good soil and compost. I add mulch every year, much of which gets washed into the pond during heavy rains.  I must try to find more plants that enjoy wet feet.  My other obstacles are the hot summers we've had. After working a full-time job, I don't have the energy to garden in the heat. Also, the goose poop! Lots of it! One more obstacle, or frustration actually - the horsetail weed has taken over this garden and I have never found a solution to getting rid of it.  It's quite annoying to spend hours weeding only to come back a week later to find the horsetail back. But I will try to fulfill my resolution again this summer and take back my garden.

Visit New Year Gardening Resolutions Blog Carnival

at my little garden in japan

Beautiful winter day

Last Saturday was a beautiful winter day, although I consider sunny days in August with green grass and colorful flowers to be more beautiful!  Having said that, living in my part of the world that has winter weather from November until April, you have to find ways to enjoy it. My husband and I got out our cross-country skis for the first time this winter and headed to Battle Island State Park, which is actually a golf course.  The sun was shining bright against the blue skes, making the pure white snow sparkle. Not many people were out so it was quiet and peaceful. Niether one of us fell - good thing!

 



This hill is a little bigger than it looks. I was surprised there was no one sledding on it. When my kids used to ski here with me, they enjoyed skiing down this hill. Cross-Country skis were not made to go downhill!




This is a narrow bridge you ski across at the end of the trail, I always get nervous, there's no room to fall and the approach from both ends is a slight downhill. Now, younger people probably think nothing of it, but as I get older, the fear of broken bones gets stronger.



January thaw

My new blog photo was taken in January of 2007. We are currently experiencing a January thaw, the temperature today is 50 degrees and it's raining. Much of our snow has melted. Although the snow is beautiful, I prefer driving on bare roads and not shoveling. So, here's hoping the snow stays away for awhile, although I doubt that will happen. Wishing everyone a very happy new year with gardens full of flowers.