Winter again

well it is winter again here, but we only got a few inches of snow this time, and zero was our bottom temp so far .... and now the sun is out and the eaves are dripping..still feels like we haven't really had much of a winter. I guess they say we may have had a record mild winter here, but it isn't quite over yet.

I am very thrilled that all of my seeds have arrived except 2 that are backordered, 2 of which I really didn't need that badly, so I'm ready for spring.

I have spent the past few weeks on making plans for some changes on our property, improvements, that I hope to do this year. Generally every year I have huge building plans, but not this year..only a few building repairs..take downs of fallling down old fences and reusing the materials to make some arbors and birdhouses. My plans are more in the idea of reclaiming some decrepit areas of our property and trying to get those nasty clay piles around the pond moved (need Joel to help there) and try to get some landscaping (edible) around that pond  put in that has to wait until the piles are moved.

One area I have neglected is east of our garage between us and my son Joel's house. For years he had a project car parked there, which got moved and left a nasty bare spot in the lawn, and then for the last couple years his Jeep was parked beside it, and last week that got moved, leaving another nasty bare spot in the lawn. This was all next to the south end of  our garage on the east..so it is protected, but it is really raggy looking. There was a small flower border there at one time with a pear tree, the graft died on the pear tree and it came back from the roots, so we'll see what that is, maybe a quince or a wildish pear?? And there is a rhubarb there, some clochicium and a few other bits of things left and another sapling, not sure what it is. I have a thought, of digging up some Jerusalem Artichokes and making a curving screen between our house and Joel's with them around those trees and things, and moving a birdbath to that area..using some salvage lattice, 2x4's and posts to build a little arbor under the garage eaves (there are woodbine vines there) and putting a bench under the arbor..so you can sit and enjoy the little garden. This is near our driveway ..so it would be nice to be able to sit down if talking to someone out there..and there is a partially finished cobblestone path from Joel's house nearly to ours, and a pile of cobblestones left to finish it..so that is on my radar of things to do this spring..

North of this also along our property line between us is an old woodpile and some misc stuff that needs to be clelaned up and removed..and I'm thinking of continuing that Jerusalem Artichoke screen in a snakelike curve into that area once that is cleaned up too, with some occasional trees and shrubs here and there..it would make a nice border privacy fence and wind screen.