Looking Forward

Now that the holidays are past and we've had a chance to absorb the news that the Russian is here for good, things are starting to return to normal around here. We still have a few days off however so it's been a good time to talk of plans and dreams for the coming year. Some are still far off dreams, like where should we travel first, when he actually has documents in hand. Others are more day to day; like when will we finally finish some of the building projects that have been on hold forever, like the coldframes.

I have a few small projects of my own that I'm planning on doing this winter. Some are repeat projects such as sprouting and making yogurt. Others are new to me like making my own wine from various sources- I recently was given a book called Peggy Hutchinson's Homemade Wine Secrets, published sometime in the 1940's, that gives recipes for making wine with everything from clover to beets and I am excited to give it a try. I've also got plans for a wildlife tree which makes use of the christmas tree once it's taken down- a second chance to shine, similar to the pumpkins at Halloween.

Gardening of course is always at the top of the list and even when the weather isn't condusive to growing things outside, there's still things to be done. New Year's Day was unseasonalbly warm so I made use of the thaw to finish up a few things that hadn't been dealt with in the fall when my arm was in a cast- emptying pots of dirt and storing all the tools that hadn't made it away. Yesterday was right back to frigid temps so I took the time to change the worm bin and was ecstatic to discover another sprouted lemon pit ( they keep sneaking in somehow) and even more exciting, a walnut sprout! I had thrown one of the Pelham walnuts in the bin months ago to see if it would grow and had all but given up on it. I used the worm casting to augment some used potting soil and transplanted them both, along with the volunteer tomatoes which are still hanging in although one looks like it might not survive the transplant. There are also seeds still drying all over the place that need to packaged up and labeled for future plantings. And I'm already musing over seed catalogs and dreaming of what I'll grow in the gardens this summer.

Of course canning is still ongoing, although it's slowed to a trickle lately. We're still waiting to hear about this year's version of the Can Jam but you can be sure Colette and I will be signing up. I've also agreed to be part of a Spice Rack Challenge so there will be posts of those as well. There's a few other blogging projects that I'm intrigued by but haven't committed to yet- I'll be sure to post about them if I do!

So as the days get longer ( incrementally I know, but still!), one thing is for certain- this year is going to be a busy one- hope you're along for the ride!