Almost mid-January and with the exception of a few days and nights of really cold temperatures, it remains unseasonably mild. Today the forecast is for temps in the high 50's (F) and it has been raining hard outside off and on since 11:00PM last evening.
The several days and nights of cold temps created a layer of ice on The Puddle and some beautiful ice crystals on plants. A quick walk this morning down to the puddle between the rain drops showed that the ice is now all melted.
My asparagus bed was weeded and the edging put back in place in an attempt to keep the lawn from encroaching on the bed come this spring. Hardwood mulch (and some left over peat moss) has been spread with the intent of keeping weeds in check too. I recently read a book entitled "The Dirty Life" by Kristin Kimball who along with her husband Mark runs Essex Farms in New York. I would highly recommend the book for some interesting reading; however, Kristen also maintains a blog reporting weekly updates to the members of their CSA on the happenings on the farm. Of course, the blog is there for all to enjoy www.kristinkimball.com/essex-farm One of her posts in December was related to the cleanup and "putting to bed" several beds on their farm, one of which was their asparagus bed. After weeding, staff at the farm was preparing to lay down a nice layer of hardwood mulch to keep the weeds in check. Well, despite the warm weather we were experiencing, trying to find hardwood mulch here proved elusive. We finally found some at a local nursery sold in bags but I underestimated the amount needed (Mr P wasn't helpful on the amount that might be needed) hence the application of a block of peat moss found in the shed to cover the bare areas. We'll see how things work out come spring in the weed department.
One of the gifts from OnlyDaughter and her family at Christmas was a wooden jig saw puzzle of the "satellite image photograph centered on our home". What a challenge! We started putting it together on a quiet day here and didn't finish up until late the next day. Pieces seemed like they fit and then later the discovery was made that they didn't belong where they had been put in the puzzle. Once it was finished, Mr P put a blue tab where our home was located on the puzzle and that piece of the puzzle was shaped like a house. The words Home Sweet Home were also spelled out in pieces of the puzzle. Quite intriguing and lots of fun looking at the finished puzzle and identifying other homes, etc. on the picture. This would be a wonderful gift for someone and I'm keeping it in mind for when OnlyDaughter and her family relocate to their new home.
I received two boxes from Try the World (a birthday gift last year), the first being a box with items from Venice and the most recent being a holiday box which is pictured above. It contained foodstuffs from eight different countries. It's such fun to get the box, anticipate the country represented and then look at the foods picked for the box.
The rain has stopped and it looks as if the sun is trying to make an appearance. My walking buddies and I are planning on walking later today. Then I need to concentrate on the socks I'm knitting for OnlyDaughter.
Hope all is well wherever you are and the sun is shining. Until next time....
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