resolutions and plans

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." Do you think maybe Dickens was talking about January?


The first month of the year is dreary, dull, and boring. It contains what is reputed to be "the most depressing day of the year"; technically, this is the Monday of the last full week of the month, which this year was the 21st -- phew, it's over! People beat themselves up over all the things done wrong the previous year and make lofty resolutions about how things must change for the coming months.

And the garden!

How dismal it looks -- a soggy, brown shadow of it's summer splendour. In fact it's darn hard to remember that it ever looked respectable. While in other parts of the country, "winter interest" might include snow-topped stems, interesting shapes under a drift of white and sparkly icicles dripping from branches and rooftops, around here everything is muddy, wet, and pretty much dead.

Or maybe January could instead be a time of opportunity; a chance to take stock, research and make plans when there really isn't much else going on anyway...

After all, the gardening section of the local library is at it's fullest this time of year -- it's a little too early for even armchair gardeners to be hoarding those books.

And so, our resolution this year is to finish the yard plan. We puttered away at it last summer -- with projects like the media room window garden, the greenhouse, and the shed -- but this year the whole package should come together and feel "done". Well, as "done" as a house and garden ever is... Let the planning begin!