The Thanksgiving snows melted and I was able to get out into the garden and cut back the last of the perennials and put up Christmas lights.  This time of year the “bones” of the garden really show through so I though a few photos would be fun.  Here are three taken from the back step left to right  – a panorama of sorts.

There are still creatures about – deer mostly as I think the little bear cub must have hibernated.  The birds and squirrels are at the feeder non-stop, and we had a nocturnal visit from this little flying squirrel.

When its too cold to garden, I bring the garden inside – here are some succulents wintering over in a south facing window

I like to make a “sparkle tree” from a crabapple branch – the light is wonderful when the sun sets around 4:17 these days.

I made this star from milkweed pods and an acorn cap collected on a walk

Winter is here and the garden is resting

Wishing all my readers a Merry Christmas and Happy and Healthy New Year

When we moved here in 2001, there was a small hedge of forsythia behind the fence.  It grew and grew and became a monster 60 feet long, up to 15 feet high, and 20 feet deep.  Intertwined were vines of bittersweet, grapevine, and Virginia Creeper.  We mostly ignored the “hedge” because we didn’t have to gaze at it very often, but once the porch was finished, we knew we had to tackle the monstrosity or be swallowed up.  Here it is back in October.

Starting to cut it back:

Making progress:

We found the groundhog burrow:

Almost done:

There’s a bit more trimming to do and we created a pretty big burn pile to take care of in January, but come spring it should be a vast improvement.