Sunday, January 12, 2014

January 12

Well I made it through the ice storm of 2014..at least this one. I tried to drive to my mom's house Saturday but turned around and came home. I was ever so glad to be home, it was nasty out there. Still nasty out there. We got a little snow on top of the ice but it is still icey under the snow. I have to drive my mother to her pre surgery testing Wednesday, and I hope the roads are cleared by then. We have had a really good lot of snow this year after a very wet wet autumn, and even had plenty of rain this winter between snows. Maybe we won't have a drought this year.

I have my seeds and plants ordered for 2014. I ordered a lot of seeds from Bountiful Gardens, ordered many in "mixed seed" packets..like a packet of mixed melons, mixed winter squash, mixed large tomato, etc. So instead of an entire packet of one type of squash or melon, it is a packet of mixed heirloom seeds of this or that. I also ordered single packets of some of my favorites and a few new things to try.

I had two replacement trees coming from 2013 that will be arriving this spring, a sweet cherry and an apricot. I found a zone 4 peach that I wanted to try and a zone 4 seedless red grape so those are also on order.

I got a card from an herb company and they had some offers that interested me, one was 50 packets of seeds for herbs for $20..thought I'd try that one, they are all packaged separately..and yes I also did the stupid thing and rejoined arbor day this year and have their puny baby seedlings coming of 10 flowering trees and a bush coming ..

OK so I just felt like doing some crazy things..we'll see what happens from all that.

I'm excited to get my seeds and plan what I want to start inside and what I'll put where outside..don't have my pick up truck repaired yet so all my hauling will have to be in my van this year..wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I have plans to put in a sidewalk this year ..taking up the single pavers that get all overgrown with lawn.. hopefully I'll get to that this year. I was given 3 sliding doors and 2 windows so I hope to use some of that and enclose the laundry room doorway (others are already enclosed)..to give me an airlock/mudroom type thing there..on the east. I have a huge deck on that side so it is just a matter of enclosing the sides and top..I also will hopefully attach a trellis/arbor to that and put the woodbine vines up over it that grow madly in that area, to provide some shade to the deck, it is sweltering in the summer there.

After last summer's plans being blown my Ron's emergency surgery and recovery, I hope that we have a quiet peacful 2014.

Oh, and we did get our wood furnace replaced a week ago today we started it up and have burned the new one for a week, it seems to be working far better than the previous ones..and we are toasty warm.

Just a bit over 2 months left before official start of spring, but we often will get warmer weather a couple weeks before the official start of spring to where we can get out and walk and do things (can't walk now without falling on our butts)..so I'm itching to get outside..Last two years we had late springs with some really warm weather in late winter..but I prefer not to have weather warm enough to cause fruit trees to bud early and then get hit with hard late frosts like the last two years..

I want my fruit trees to bud normally and bear normally this year so we can take advantage of all the fruit we have been planting..this is my real hope for 2014.