I wish you a Merry Christmas
and a Happy new 2022 year!
'Ave Maria' by Schubert.
Mirusia's sincere and gentle singing for you, friends
Perhaps you are now wondering what Christmas greeting cards to send to your loved ones? This week I started looking for pretty Christmas cards too as I wanted to buy something interesting.
In November, I began to learn the technique of watercolor in online very helpful tutorials. I want to show you my pictures made in watercolors. When I was painting them I could not find the correct shade of paint to depict the snow, and redid the paintings twice.
I added greetings (in English and in Russian) to the files. I also designed greetings in different ways and I think to print the pictures like Christmas cards.
Now I am in doubt whether to buy Christmas cards in the post office or print my drawings. I am critical of my work, I know that they are not professional. What cards do you think I should send?
I'm so happy my Schlumbergera is blooming before Christmas. It decorates my home together with Poinsettia.
I don’t know what winter you have, but ours came immediately and in one day. Last week, a strong wind suddenly blew and drove snow clouds on us. The blizzard was named Benedict. A strange name, isn't it? The whole city was covered with a thick layer of snow. This disaster lasted two days. The next morning, it stopped, and thousands of cleaning vehicles began to collect snow and take it out of city. I went to my cottage to see and that's what I saw there.
Last week I finally took the time to cover the roses with a special cloth. Now I'm glad they won't freeze. On the left is a floribunda rose under cover and under the snow. Howbeit, plants are better under the snow, because the forecast for the week is -10 C
A greenhouse (left photo) with a polycarbonate coating has proven itself well in past frosty winters. Raindrops are now frozen on its walls. But the inside is a little warmer than the outside. Young seedlings in pots overwinter in the greenhouse. Hopefully they will survive the winter.
Father Frost did his job: the drops froze on the railing of the terrace and did not fall to the ground. A long icicle has formed next to the apple tree. I liked the shape - with a hole at the end. He also painted beautiful pictures on the barn windows.
When it is cold and snow flies, it's nice to sit on a sofa with a cup of good tea and a book. I took the book of my favorite author Dr. D.G. Hessayon 'The Garden Diy Expert' from my bookcase. This book contains many tips how to equip the garden to be comfortable. The garden is not only plants, but also objects that form a skeleton of the garden. As a rule, in our gardens there are not only plants, vegetables, but also paths, greenhouses, containers with flowers, pergolas, elements of lighting and feeders for birds and insects.
The author writes that the houses and feeders for birds are very important to properly place. If they unsuccessfully arranged then birds can become easy prey for predators.
Arches and pergolas should not be located in the center of the lawn or next to the flower bed. They are better to put along the wall. You can put a bench in a pergola. Usually people use wood, but you can take plastic, metal, brick, stone to create pergolas and arches.
Dr. Hessayon advises to use lightning devices on solar batteries. To illuminate the facade or patio use lighting devices connected to the electrical network.
The author writes further: how to explain why the water attracts us so much. Perhaps we are interested in a special world hidden under the surface of the water. Running water has a special charm. Therefore, ponds and fountains are often arranged in the gardens. The pond is pleasure if it is correctly selected and arranged.
Garden ornaments can be sculptures, forged garden furniture, lights, ornamental urns, tubs, boxes, etc. Dr.Hessayon notes, the process of finding a decoration for the garden and finding a place where it is better to put - there is a pleasure :-)).
Now often containers with flowers can be seen on the balcony and on the patio. Some gardeners prefer homemade containers than purchased ones. You can make a container for plants from bricks, wood, artificial stone. Or accommodate old kitchen sink, auto tires, dishes and even old shoes and rubber boots.
Dr. Hessayon says that there are two types of garden furniture: normal and foldable. Normal furniture stands in the garden all summer, only cushions should be removed. In winter, ordinary furniture remains outside. If there is little space in the garden, it is better to use folding furniture: sun loungers, folding chairs and clamshell chairs. The drawing shows how to make a bench in the garden: around the tree trunk, on the patio, near the border and with a flower vase.
The dream of many gardeners is to have a gazebo in the garden. It should be remembered that the gazebo is a decorative structure that should have an attractive appearance. It is intended for people who might admire the garden sitting there.
I retold you, friends, only a small part of the experience and advice for gardeners, which Dr. Hessayon shared with us, his readers. When I plan something new in my garden I often look into this book. Soon it will become completely battered :(
Much has changed in November with the onset of cold weather. Western winds often blow, bringing endless rains. Sometimes I think, looking out the window at streams of water, where does so much water come from? Really from the sea?
On TV they show the weather in different regions of Russia. I see that in some parts of the country, far from the sea, there is already snow and winter has come.
But let's not talk about winter, which will not come here soon, I hope :-)
In the garden, water is visible in all the pits, ditches, even shallow puddles appeared on the road. I walked around the garden and thought it's good that a few years ago they made drainage in my garden.
The remnants of leaves on the bushes of Symphoricarpos albus are covered with drops of yesterday's rain and the white berries glisten and fast dry in the sun .
The rhododendrons of course rejoice in the rain. I watered them a lot in September, I thought that the autumn would be dry. But everything has changed and they now have a lot of water.
As usual, Thujas and Juniperus do not require special care before winter. They tolerate rain and snow well. Sometimes, however, the snow breaks their branches. When I arrive in winter, I shake the snow off their branches.
A very bold chamomile continues to bloom, but I think its boldness will quickly end in the rains. Silverberry threw all the leaves and its silvery berries remained on bare branches. The last flowers of Aster novae-angliae and Sedum are decorated with drops of rain.
Autumn has arrived in the northern hemisphere, sweaters are coming out of storage, and steaming hot cocoa is poured into mugs. Now I would like to appeal to the classic authors for their inspiring words about this magical season.
The British novelist Jane Austen in 'Persuasion':
Her pleasure in the walk must arise from the exercise and the day, from the view of the last smiles of the year upon the tawny leaves and withered hedges, and from repeating to herself some few of the thousand poetical descriptions.
The British novelist George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) wrote to her friend Maria Lewis:
Is not this a true autumn day? Just the still melancholy that I love - that makes life and nature harmonize. The birds are consulting about their migrations, the trees are putting on the hectic or the pallid hues of decay, and begin to strew the ground, that one's very footsteps may not disturb the repose of earth and air, while they give us a scent that is a perfect anodyne to the restless spirit. Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.
The American author Ernest Hemingway in 'A Moveable Feast':
You expected to be sad in the fall. Part of you died each year when the leaves fell from the trees and their branches were bare against the wind and the cold, wintry light. But you knew there would always be the spring, as you knew the river would flow again after it was frozen.
The Austrian novelist Rainer Maria Rilke in 'Letters on Cezanne':
At no other time (than autumn) does the earth let itself be inhaled in one smell, the ripe earth; in a smell that is in no way inferior to the smell of the sea, bitter where it borders on taste, and more honey-sweet where you feel it touching the first sounds.
