January Garden

The last several weeks have been rather busy due to home improvements and a visit from dear friends. My garden has been thinned considerably since our rare heavy frost a bit back, but some things are pressing on in their lovely little ways. These diminutive wildflowers have popped up everywhere. My Savoy cabbages (not seen) and Brussels sprouts (second photo) are slowly growing and I look forward to preparing them for a meal later this spring. And, finally, for some reason I didn't believe the nurseryman when he told me the variegated wormwood (bottom photo) would take over, but now I see that he is right. One plant has produced a 4-foot patch of seedlings. They're pretty when they're small but not so much when they're mature. I will be transplanting them to a bare part of the garden!

I have returned to the pottery studio this month but have had to use a different, much softer, clay and have found it rather a struggle - although today I threw the largest bowls I've ever managed (still not really that large!) Loved ones are having babies right and left, so I also have several small sewing projects in mind. And for craft group next week, I found this lovely wreath project. Can't wait to put it together!

Simple Joys

Galveston is only about an hour away but we rarely go. Everytime we are there, I vow to visit more often, at least in the winter when it's not unbearably hot. Walking on the beach is a universal pleasure - a calming, peaceful experience, as I'm sure you know. My favorite beach to walk on is Cannon Beach in Oregon, but it has been many years since I have been there. The Central and Northern California shore line also has some wonderful beaches for walking.

But mostly in the last few weeks, I've been attempting to organize and declutter. Four boxes of magazines recycled (even the scrapbooking ones that I thought I'd never part with!), a few donation runs, and some items listed on ebay. There's still more to do for a packrat queen such as myself, but I've made a dent. We've replaced an ineffective gutter and today a crew is coming to texture the wallpapered walls in my bathrooms (we'll see if they can actually remove the wallpaper, since it's applied directly to the drywall by the builders). These projects are very long overdue.

Do you have favorite beaches to walk on, or other locations?