Harvesting Winter

The gardens have long since gone to bed for winter, and yet there are still things to harvest. Not food for the body, perhaps, but food for the soul--evergreens, herbs, vines and red berries provide just the right color for drab December days.

Today I was out with my clippers, cutting boughs and twigs and anything that looked interesting for my winter arrangements and holiday decorations. Darkness caught me before I was finished so I will be back at it tomorrow.

On the porch--the brown teapot has no lid but it makes a good vase.

A few of the completed evergreen decorations:

Also on the porch, but too dark to show the arrangement of greens, twigs and berries.

 Beside my parking place--it really does get dark here with no exterior light except what glows from the house.

Along the walk:

And still left to do tomorrow. My hands feel rough and prickery from today's work, but I have never been able to work with gloves on.

Tomorrow, I hope I can get our tree up. We usually just have one these days, and it's a small one so that job shouldn't take long. We're actually enjoying getting the house ready for the holidays; what seems like a chore some years has been fun this time. Perhaps it's because the weather is unusually warm, in the 70's today. I can remember stringing lights up in the rain and snow and bitter cold wind, so this year I feel like this is an extension of our time in Florida.

One of the percs of country living is the abundance of wild plants right at hand. While in town this morning I noted evergreen arrangements, swags, wreaths and picks for sale at Walmart and the grocery store, something fairly new in this area as far as I know. It used to be that fresh greenery was available only at the florist or perhaps at a larger tree lot, but this year nice fresh wreaths are selling for as little as $5.00. I still prefer my own wild arrangements made with what I can gather from my yard, gardens and the woods. I like to amass a great pile to work with and then start putting together whatever looks good to me. I am fortunate to have so much available. Today as I slogged along a muddy path and complained about getting mud on my shoes, I reminded myself that mud is part of living here-it means good deep soil and no pavement. I think I'll take it--even if it means my shoes will be left on the porch tonight.

Linking to Ivy and Elephants. Check them out for lots of great decorating ideas!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.