Looking Back on 2011...

January...Deer Grove

One really nice thing about having a blog, is that you can look back at former posts, and see what happened and when it happened.  

Technically, I think you're supposed to look back at the year, on the LAST day.

But, that didn't happen, here.

2011 was a busy year.
Trips with friends and family.
Visits from friends and family.
Withstanding the extreme cold, then the extreme heat.
And, the drought...always, the drought.

*******
January

After a tropical storm in October, it seemed like it didn't rain at all, for months.
It was dry...but, it was winter.  We did have some damp days.
But, not many.

*******
February

We had a very cold spell.
It didn't get above 24 degrees here for four days.  Then...
We had a snow day!
Now, we didn't have MUCH of a snow day.
But, in Central Texas, if there is ANY snow...it's a big EVENT.

The other big event for February, was the
Big Trip.
A cruise, with friends, to the Panama Canal.

*******
March

I spent a lot of time in March, cleaning out the Rio.
It was full of old leaves, and dirt.

Never did get around to cleaning out the Rio outside of the fence.
But, since rain storms were few and far between, it didn't matter much.

*******
April

Worked on the beds in the fenced yard...reworking and replanting.
We lost a lot during the hard cold spell in winter.

During April, I celebrated the second anniversary of my
Patchwork Garden blog.  It was fun looking back over the two years.
Things had changed quite a bit.

We also took the
Texas Hill Country Wine and Wildflower Trail tour
with our friends Mike and Jorj.
We had such a great time, we just might do it again this year.

*******
May

By May, I had the veggie garden going.
We did a little remodel, and got it a bit more tidy and easier to work in.

The days were especially warm for May.  So, I was working hard to get things ready for a hot summer.

There also was my annual 'Girls' Trip' coming up.
  That didn't go too well.
Seems I had pneumonia, and had to come home.  The rest of the month was a bust.

*******
June

I was still not doing much in June.  That pneumonia stuff is a tough one to shake.

But, Life is Good.
I had a new swing.  We'd had a little rain.

We had lots of wildlife for entertainment.

We still haven't replaced the 'lightly trimmed' shrubs the 'Tree Experts' cut down.
Need to do that soon.

By the middle of the month, Texas had been deemed
Exceptional.
Not something to be happy about.  It's the worse drought designation there is.
Not a good thing.  We needed rain!

With help from the rain barrels and faucet, things were blooming, though.

I got the veggie garden weeded and things were looking good out there.

*******
July

We'd had quite a few triple digit days of HOT by July...with more to come.

We did have some light rain.
Not much.  But, beggars can't be choosers.

Our daughter and her two little ones, came from North Dakota
to visit at the end of June, and stayed half way through July.
We had a wonderful time seeing her and having fun with the grands.
Miss them a lot.

Little else was going on, but keeping things alive and trying to stay cool.

*******
August

August arrived with more heat and no rain. Things weren't looking too good.

The two ponds in our neighborhood were dried up.  There was barely a trickle, under the bridge at the low water crossing on Cypress Creek.  We made sure to put out water for the wildlife.
Food was hard for them to come by.

Regardless of how hot..or how cold..it might be, we spend some time on the porch.
I did change my spot and sat under the fan.  Much better.

It did change my point of view.

But, it was still hot.
  We'd hat 69 days of triple digits by then.
With more to come.

*******
September

Now, September around here, means pumpkins and football.

This year, it meant dead, dry grasses and trees...and wild fires.
It was very scary around Texas for a while.  We're still not out of the woods.

We ended up with over 90 days of triple digit temperatures.  That's the official count.
I think we may have beat even that, here at Patchwork Garden.
Glad to see those go.

*******
October

October, the weather started changing a bit.  We were having some rain.
Not much.
But, some's better than none.

Things always seem to pick up speed, in October.  Life gets busier and busier.

October had been deemed Support Your Independent Nursery Month by Pam at Digging.
We were singing the praises of our local nurseries.
I featured King Feed, here in Wimberley.

At the end of the month, we finally got over to Hamilton Pool Preserve.
It's something I've wanted to do for years.  I think we'll be going back.

*******
November

I finally got around to doing a post on my hometown,
Wimberley, Texas.

Then, Cat, at The Whimsical Gardener,  challenged us to a 30 Day Challenge of Thanksgiving.
A post a day, for 30 days, to celebrate the things we are thankful for, in our lives.

I have a lot to be thankful for.
So, I took the challenge.
It's not easy posting every day for thirty days.

*******
December

Closing in on the end of the year.
We finally got the Island Bed redone.  Got that ground cover out, and new plants in.
I had won a give away back in October...and, I used some of those plants.

It looks SO much better.

Still more to do...but, that'll have to come later.

We had some cold, cold mornings...in the low 20s.
And, several days of rain.  Again, not much.  But, we don't have to make up
two whole feet of deficit rainfall, now.

We went to The Trail of Lights, here in Wimberley.
It was a cold night, but we had fun.

I finished the quilts for Christmas.

I was well-gifted with garden goodies (say that three times fast).

We took a little road trip and a nice hike...I'll be telling you about those later.

*******

Things have greened up.  The deer are looking better.
There's water in the ponds.  And, we haven't heard of any
big fires for quite a while.

All in all...2011 was a pretty good year for us here at Patchwork Garden.

Hope you had a good one, too.

Happy Gardening...
~~Linda~~