We celebrated. And this blazing photo, enhanced for your moody enjoyment (or maybe just blurry), proves that the pudding flamed nicely with the 150 proof rum.
But all that is over now.
My idea for January decorating is big bowls of fresh flowers everywhere and sun streaming in through the tall windows of my old house.
But the contrary truth is that the windows reveal a dark afternoon sky today, rain beats against the glass panes and there is no line item in my budget for “big armloads of florist shop flowers.” (And if you think I have an actual documented budget you haven’t perceived my random nature…)
But I do have big armloads of garden catalogs…
Short days, cold nights –and seed catalogs. Or catalogues. I can walk through the images of flowers and vegetables and remember gardening–because right now it is just a memory–and plan for the spring.
I do think it is disingenuous the way the catalogs show the flowers all in bunches, set up shots. I can imagine some poor employee gathering and presenting wall to wall nasturtiums or ten delphinium spikes all bunched up together, using glue and duct tape to keep the image utterly floral.
Rain beats on the roof of the greenhouse. The little hollyhock plants look brave.
I am happy for the pot of lobelia I brought inside at summer’s end.
Salad greens continue in the greenhouse. There might also be ghosts of those dead cucumber plants, crouched in corners, rattling their dry roots at night.
And, outside, there is one intrepid rose who feels tenacity is the key. She may be right…
Just wrapping up the year. Cheers!
Flaming puddings and martinis – hurrah! I just got my first “Spring 2012″ catalog yesterday from White Flower Farm. Too expensive for now, but it sure is fun to look, dream, cut out pictures and get out the old glue stick.
I am just a TAD jealous of your greenhouse and the hollyhocks that, among other things, are growing in it! Bravo!
Bringing Lobelia inside??? It didn’t even occur to me! I let mine dry out and composted it. I do have a fat Russian Blue mix kitty who loves to eat anything green and growing inside, so perhaps it was for the best.
Go roses!
Aimee! So great to hear from you! Yeah I just impulsively put that pot of lobelia into the (kittyless) greenhouse. It’s growing lots of baby lobelia to the side of the big plant, so I may be set for spring, or maybe they are really just baby weeds…
lacking an assistant to tape the whatnots, I find most of my best gardening is done in photoshop.
Oh Stephanie– that photoshop has ruined us all. Most distressing is when I look at say a couch that needs moving and I SO want to just cut and paste. And the smudge tool– I need it all the time.
I will be curling up with my catalogs and a count down to spring, but with a margarita.
Hi Laurie
Why yes, I would think a margarita would greatly enhance the catalog experience–and create even more hope for the coming spring. Cheers!
linnie the pooh! Be brite not tight! that’s about all I got for ya. I too would love a casa verde. Spring is closer than you think…..greggo
Dear wise Greggo– I fear I take your words all too seriously!
In total briteness,
L
Hi Linnie (the Pooh). Your “random nature”? Uh, yeah. Takes one to know one. I’m glad you had a nice Christmas. Fresh flowers for January sounds wonderful. If only. And because our budgets declare such extravagances prohibitive, we must settle for the seed catalog. I’ve been thinking that maybe deep down I don’t mind the floral fantasy. Admittedly, when I pick up a Burpee’s, for example I’m giving them permission to woo me with their wares. I guess I kind of like being wooed. Especially in January. And because I know that it’s fiction, I’m not too disappointed come July when reality’s rendition depicts a lot of space between each blossom.
Good to see Tillie again. Nothing says Happy New Year quite like a festive holiday headdress. Give her my regards.
Hey Gracie–
I LOVE thinking of garden catalogs as fiction– well done! Tillie sends you her kindest hug, which is a sort of scowly pat. But you know she means well (?). xxoo L the P
Dear Linnie, you must admit that Tillie’s pelargoniums always look fantastic, what would her secret be? Maybe she makes a special compost with the ‘oliva’ she discards from her Martinis? Who knows.
I feel something bubbling inside of me too… winter solstice has gone and days will be longer and longer now, in my house, gardening books and magazines are gathering around sofas, tables, nearby the bed and the WC. This is a beautiful moment to make plans for the garden as we all gardeners know that the best garden is the next year’s one, isn’t it?
Make a wish for 2012, I hope it will come true.
Alberto.
Hi Alberto
Tillie is a master gardener– just not a helpful one. So yes, she is able to grow her flowers (not in color unfortunately) all year round. You may have hit on the key: olives…
I am pleaased to hear that Spring is alive and well in your gardening heart. And as you say, there is so much hope for what is to come. Late in the fall, for example, I rearranged the long bed by our board fence, and removed miles of perennial geraniums which were being way too aggressive. I am most curious to see how the remaining (and added) perennials use the space. Just for example. There are so many other things to think of. As you know.
Thanks for the 2012 wish– I’ll use it well. Here’s one for you too.
-L
My garden also lies neglected at the moment but once January comes I’m sure I shall once again be stirred to venture there.
Best wishes to you and yours for a very happy, peaceful and contented 2012.
Bridget x
Thanks Bridget. I do like to think of the roots of plants growing, all winter long. I think Max can hear them.
I have started receiving the catalogs, too, and am anxious for a few hours’ time of drooling over them. I do so hope spring comes soon! Happy New Year!
Hang in there Holley– lots of nice planning time to enjoy.
Linnie – Your baby hollyhock looks really healthy. I’m sure the lobelia is grateful for your kind act.
Did Tillie give you a lovely present for xmas?
Wishing you a Happy New Year!
Hi b-a-g
For Christmas Tillie showed me where she had hidden the Irish whiskey…
The sky is just beginning to show daylight here, but I expect you are already thinking of celebrating the year’s end at your house. People like you, so far away– different times of day, different weather, in some cases different seasons of the year. How can it be that it seems I know you? Miraculous. I love it. Happy New Year!
Honey I am cheered by the very thought of seed catalogues!! I love the light streaming through the windows too and the optimist who lives there in that house. Many many thanks for your light hearted and uplifting blog, never fails to bring a smile to my face. I just picture you there and it’s enough. Here’s to a great 2012:~) X
Cheers indeed, to 2012 and to you — Thanks for your kind thoughts friend! I love your good words and beautiful images at Foxglove Lane– I look forward to a new year of visits! XO – Linnie
Dear Linnie
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog this year – always fun, often inspiring, always a treat! I wish you a very happy New Year and a stunning 2012 Garden!
Many thanks Christine! I appreciate knowing you and your gardens and your blog as well. May the new year bring you lovely flowers in every part of your life.
That last photo was the icing on the cake. Happy New Year Linnie.
I better not tell Tillie. Really she isn’t very ‘sweet.’
Fabulous New Year to you too!
Yeah! The catalogs have been coming early. Maybe not, maybe it just seems early cuz there’s been NO snow yet. I’d be an idiot to complain about that however. And I am an idiot. But I stopped by to say Happy New Year! And to ask, have you ever saved onion seeds?
Cheers and thanks for blogging!
Hey David! I wish I could say, “Why yes, I have tremendous onion seed experience. Let me just share my wisdom…” But alas, you know how I am at growing vegetables. I believe I can accurately state that I have no experience at all with any vegetable seeds of any sort. So–cleared that up. But no one raises better onions (and garlic) than YOU do. Maybe just look in the mirror and speak to that man about onion seeds. And then have a happy new year!
Seed catalogues are such a lifeline in winter! I always think they should put a picture of the leaves as well as the flower so you know what the seedling looks like as it grows. Then if you’ve sown it in the garden you don’t pull it up thinking it’s a weed. But I guess pictures of flowers sell better.
Happy new year!
Oh I am certain those flower photos do the trick. Thankfully we have the Internet to check up on the realities of these plants… Happy new year to you too Ruth!
I can’t believe I didn’t comment on this post! I just came back to see if there was any news to be had and found that I didn’t even remark on Martini Gramma – which I love and can relate to wholeheartedly. Linnie, you’ve been such a friend, such a find and I am grateful for having “met” you. I love your humor, your insights and view of the world. Happy New Year 2012 to you and your family. May it bring peace and prosperity, health and wisdom and love your way.
Oh ‘berta you PEACH. Hugs to you and dogs and husband-who-makes-you-happy and oh a pat for the hen who Flys Like an Eagle (my heroine) and a new year’s greeeting to the dead guy buried over the fence in the cemetery… This will be our Wordy Year ya know, no more pish poshing around. xo L
My life sounds extraordinarily interesting when you comment on it! Thank you. And YES!!! I can feel it coming down the tracks, a very Wordy Year is on its way.
There’s always a little bit of summer lingering in those beautiful catalogs, isn’t there! It’s a nice way to hold on to it through the winter …
Welcome Joanne
Yes those catalogs are rather closely related to street drugs I am afraid…But gardeners are hearty folk, capable of soon casting aside such winter addictions for the more meaningful experiences of watching seedlings damp off while birds eat the pea seeds and late frost kills new perennial shoots. (And they wonder why we drink…)
When I look outside and see the faded browns and grays, the plant and seed catalogs are such a comfort with their colorful photos of plants and veggies at their peak.
Sometimes I like to look at my own summer garden pictures, for a similar effect and to boost my confidence.