What a day.

I spent an hour this morning laying down more paint in the kitchen. I still have to do the wall behind the fridge. I guess I can mark my calender on Saturday for that. It's supposed to be nasty with freezing rain, again.

Once the mail came, I had the new piece I needed for my dad's chainsaw. This thing is a monster. It cuts through 12" diameter logs like butter. Twigs just get in the way. I got a lot done. I even split enough to last through the weekend if I need it, but I'll probably do more tomorrow. It's supposed to be a little cooler and maybe cloudy. The tree is slowly disappearing.



During one of my several breaks, I planted the Giant Green Arborvitae. It's placed strategically to block several houses from my bedroom window view. It's slated to reach 70' tall and 20' wide. It's got lots of room.



A rotting log across the stream out back provides a larger puddle of clean water for the birds. Whenever I walk away, they swarm. I want to line the bank of this area with pussywillow and swamp mallow.



My weeping willow is rooting well.



There's still a little snow on the ground from this weekend.



But the sky turned out to be that famous Carolina Blue.



In the shrub island, I found one of the 100 daffodils I planted here. The robins uncovered it yesterday. They've stripped the neighbor's holly tree and have moved on to more fertile feeding grounds.



Peonies are coming up too. These came from Trevor's house in Virginia last March. I know it can take years to reestablish a clump after moving or dividing. I'm hoping for 4 blooms this year instead of two.



The camellia next to the perennial bed looks great. When I moved in, it was several large trunks with leaves at the very top. I hacked it to the ground. I'd say it's forgiven me.



With a couple day's wood in the basement, I sat for a spell. Terrible picture, yes. So much for a swing built for two.



It's 50 degrees and sunny.

The Winter Garden.

No, this is not about snow. It's about all the things I have growing under lights in the basement. Outside, it's 25 degrees and cold. On my little rack of sunshine, it's a balmy 76 degrees. When the wood heater gets back up to speed, it can reach 90 in the basement quickly.

Brugmansia seedlings.



I pruned a few of my yellow orange brugs. The leaves were getting in the way of the lights. They were looking sort of tortured. I didn't take cuttings of these since I already have too many.



It's hard to tell unless you know what to look for, but my black mission figs are beginning to push out roots. I've been keeping them on top of the uppermost fluorescent light. It's very warm up there. I need to keep an eye out for any mold that might develop. I did clean these with a 10% bleach solution, but you can never be too safe.



The weeping willow cuttings are pushing out tiny roots too. I'll be planting a clump on the other side of the stream in the gully. I'd love to hide some of the houses I can now see on Brown Ave.



Of course, I fed the birds today. With so many waiting to take turns at the feeders, I thought I would scatter some seeds on the ground. Juncos, Eastern Bluebirds, cardinals, and what I think is a sparrow have all shown up to eat. There are more Juncos than anything else in this photo.



I can't wait for spring. Next week, I'll be able to check on my wintersown seedlings. The tiny sprouts should survive this cold spell just fine, but I can tell from just looking that the bottles are frozen solid out there.