One more month of winter?

It has been in the 20's at night. Too cold! But the days have warmed up a bit. I am anxious for spring!! I keep thinking about buying some new plants and getting the soil in the garden ready for planting. A friend told me about putting blood meal around my plants to keep the rabbits away. I am definitely going to try that!!!

My wild cat now stays under the roof of the shed. I just bought some more food for it. I like that kind of cat-one that stays outside. ha!!

I found some garden plans on the BHG site, and printed one out. I'm anxious to try it.

Outside more

I've been getting outside a little more. It's hard to come back in the house when the days are warm. I have a little bench in my garden where I sit and enjoy the sun. I have a significant other who loves to do yard work and knows about landscaping. Every woman's dream! We're getting a lot done.

I have a stray cat hanging out around the shed and the front porch. I've been feeding it for a while. It allows me to pet it occasionally but it always lets me know when it's hungry. By the way, I think "it" is a female. I need to find out. Katy named it Lily.

On the gardening front, not much is happening. Just keep watering things as we've had no snow or moisture for so long. I look forward to March when I can start to dig up the garden and plan for what I want to grow out there. The Snapdragons and chrysanthemums are still growing! That's great!!

On the homeschooling front, I am still helping teach my grandson. We started again on Tuesday. In February, he will be going to classes with the other homeschoolers every other Thursday for the day.

Covering all subjects

I have been covering all aspects of the title of my blog. It's back to homeschooling as I am helping my daughter teach my grandson. I thought I was retired! Ha!! We still have our homeschooling group here in Socorro and that will provide a lot of help for us.

On the cleaning front, I have been busy, and have, in the past year, lost some people, and gained some. I guess I like cleaning as I am still doing it, and have done it for others a lot in my life. Then there's the cleaning here at home, which never stops. Since my dishwasher broke, and especially now, it seems that there are dirty dishes 24-7!!

On the gardening front, it's mainly my house plants which are getting all my attention. My Orchid Cactus is growing wild!!! My lime tree has one lime growing, I rescued two plants, on sale at Smiths, and they are doing well now. All my other older plants are hanging in there. Outside, there are still a few things living, and green. I think the area inside the adobe wall is a microclimate because the plants there don't seem to freeze.

Some plants still growing

I have found some plants surviving so far. I even have carnations blooming for the first time! My snapdragons are continuing to grow, and columbines too. So, I wonder if, for some of the plants, if they will grow all winter because they are in protected places? Places called micro climates, which are next to walls, or otherwise protected from the elements.

I continue to keep water out for my wild birds, and animals. Walked yesterday at the nature area, and it's as peaceful as ever, but not well maintained.

Gardening almost over

With the colder weather comes the demise of some of my plants. Some were lost to a freeze. My snapdragons, and a couple of other plants have survived so far. I took all the seed pods off my Moon Flower vines to let them dry over the winter. I took seeds from several plants to plant in the spring.

So, I'm kind of sad to see my gardening end for a few months. I already can't wait until next spring. In the meantime, I have plenty of houseplants and garden plans to keep me occupied.

Finally back!

My computer went down a long time ago. I am now using my daughter's computer and fast internet. This summer was at first a slow growing period, but toward the end of July, after our monsoon, things took off! Then I had all kinds of blooming plants. My moonflowers waited til September to really bloom in the cooler weather. Same with the cosmos. The snapdragons, however, bloomed all summer. I really was surprised when a bel pepper plant sprouted up in one of my containers.

So, I have been daydreaming about next spring already. Planning more surprises for my back yard garden. Also, I made a stepping stone, and plan to do that this winter for a pastime. Surprisingly, I like working with cement and plaster.

Much Needed Rain!!

I'm happy to report that we had a lot of rain this past week. It was very much needed and appreciated! My plants loved it.
I did find a way to keep the rabbits from eating my plants. I put a tire over my plant and nothing bothers it, and it grows so much better! Even my Spanish Broom, which I thought was dead, is coming back.
My container plants are now doing better. The Cosmos plants are about 7 inches high now. I have snapdragons, and petunias in containers also and they are doing great. I planted some Moonflower seeds and am waiting for them to come up.
I'm still taking pictures of my plants so I can put them on this site. Hopefully, it will be in the next couple of weeks.
Happy gardening!