Witch HazelI woke up to a relatively warm and relatively sunny Seattle winter day. It actually got to 50 degrees and the sun keeps winning the battles with the clouds.  Being behind on my winter garden clean up has been driving me crazy for the last several weeks, so I bundled up, grabbed my tools, and attacked the most bothersome areas for about 3 hours today.

I love gardening this time of year because I find it one of the easiest times to get a lot done. Yes, its cold. But, many branches are bare, so seeing what needs to be cut is easy. And, perennials are either fully dormant or just getting ready to rise up for late winter blooming. So, cutting them back is also really easy. Now my garden looks much better.

After getting out there for several hours, I also know that my hellebores are starting to slowly push blooms up out of the soil, my witch hazel is about ready to blast into mid-winter yellow fire, my Yuletide Camellia is a little late for Christmas, but its starting up. My sarcococca too is about ready to release sweet winter fragrance as is my winter daphne. Who says you can’t have a beautiful, fragrant garden in January?!

To celebrate the work, I cut a small branch off my blooming Witch Hazel and the first (hidden) blossom off my red and yellow Camellia. Together, they are a small Ikebana arrangement in our living room.

After I finished up outside, I decided to take Shiloh for her walk while it was still nice out. I’d let myself get too hungry outside, so I was craving (badly) a Dick’s Cheeseburger. (Un)fortunately, there’s a Dick’s (often referred to as “the hidden Dick’s) near my house, within walking distance. I go there about 2x/year. Today marked #2 for 2007. (If you’re not sure, doing this = “the bad”. Walking there and gardening for three hours = the good.)

So, what’s the “not too ugly”? Well, that would be opening my greasy Dick’s bag to see they’d given me the wrong order. Not just one cheeseburger and fries, but that plus a Deluxe. I was so hungry I contemplated eating it all, as Shiloh gave me starving puppy eyes hoping for just a bite. Instead, I enjoyed the cheeseburger and ate about 1/2 the fries. I brought the rest home to Bob (or the garbage; we’ll see what happens.)

So, all in all, I had a great day of exercise. I got lots of fresh air and sunshine. I got a ton done in the garden. Shiloh got a good walk. And, tho I gave into a rare greasy craving, I held back in the face of temptation. Since I didn’t overfill on the junk, I think I’ll rest up for a couple of hours and then practice my headstand, mid-room, a little later. Plus, tonight’s dinner will be healthy — grilled saki-marinaded black cod, steamed brown rice and baked kale with soy. Sometimes a little junk gets me excited about a forthcoming healthy meal!

(If you’re interested in more on the plants and work I did there, check gardenhelp.org. I hope to do a detailed write up later today or tomorrow on my frustrations with the lack of absicic acid in my witchhazel and other things I ran into in my garden today.)

Workout:

  • Type: Other
  • Date: 12/30/2007
  • Time: 14:00:00
  • Total Time: 3:00:00.00