Remembering 2011 – Part One

Things not posted throughout the year . . .

January

My daughter sledding with her favorite kitty Fuzzy aka Wuzzy

It was a bad winter to be born for my dad’s calves, he lost a couple to the weather. He would bring the newborns in and set them in the calf warmer (the blue thing) to keep them from freezing. It was a lot of fun for my daughter and the dogs but not so much fun for my dad or the calves mommas.

February

My daughter’s art was displayed at the museum.She was really proud!

Driving up my parents’ drive on a foggy winter day. Yes, I take pictures while I’m driving.

A scene from a scary movie?

March

I blogged everything I intended to blog in March (what a concept!) so I have nothing more to add about that month.

 

Most “read” posts in 2011

Not that anyone really reads my blog. I would say people look at my blog since I don’t write many words. Here are the most “read” posts from 2011.

1. Abominable snow dog wants in
2. Wee baby plants
3. Wine box garden – Step Three
4. December 9 – Two years
5. Red Feather Lakes
6. Wine box gardening FAIL
7. I love lettuce-leaf basil
8. The pot on the counter top
9. Mammoth Hot Springs
10. UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley

 

Just testing

……..More

 

December 18 – A winter garden

I haven’t been doing so well with December Photo Project this year. I will have to catch up on the last few days tomorrow. Today, at my parents’ house, I checked on the winter garden we created. They put in a new door leaving these old sliding glass doors. My dad bought a few straw bales to create walls for a make-shift greenhouse. I planted cool season veggies like lettuce, bac choi, broccoli, and parsley.

So far, everything has germinated. Skippy hopped inside to do an inspection. The seedlings are tiny, we started this project about three weeks too late so I expect they will stay tiny until it starts to warm up in the spring. Now we just have to make sure not to over or under water it.

 

December 13 – Who says dogs aren’t clean?

They clean their paws when they are dirty, just like cats. They dig little chunks of dirt out and leave them all over my couch. (Thanks a lot PEPPER, I love you too!) This is why smart dog owners train their dogs to stay off the couch when they are puppies.

For revenge, I take lots of pictures of Pepper and her clean, clean paws. She hates having her picture taken. She even gives me dirty looks when I take too many pictures.

 

December 12 – To my surprise

I bought these amaryllis bulbs very cheaply in the spring and stored them in my fridge until the end of October. I potted them up, not expecting much, since they’d been in the fridge but here they are, ready for Christmas.

 

December 11 – A mutant in the living room

Today is my birthday! And there’s a mutant in the living room! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! It is pretty cool though, one branch of this poinsettia at my parents’ house mutated and looks very different than the others. I think it is neat-o.

 

December 10 – Sütlaç

One of my favorite desserts when I lived in Turkey was sütlaç (pronounced suit-latch, approximately), or rice pudding. It seemed to always be on the buffet in hotels. It turned out really well though I nearly set off the smoke alarm while I was broiling them. Here’s the recipe.

 

December 9 – Two years

My birthday is on Sunday. Sunday is also the second anniversary for my boyfriend and I. He sent me these flowers which is very sweet of him. They are gorgeous! Being a bit of a horticultural nerd I had to make sure I could remember all of the names of the flowers and greens in the arrangement. There are twelve different species. I won’t list them because that would make you think I was some sort of plant obsessed weirdo even though I am a plant obsessed weirdo.

 

 

December 8 – Almost . . .

. . . open.