Pansies in December

This is why I love pansies! These have looked pretty wilty with all the freezing nights we've had, but just a little warmer weather perks them right up and it looks like we'll have pansies blooming at Christmas!

Getting ready for Christmas

December 16. The Christmas tree isn't up yet because our college daughter wants to help with that and she won't be home until Saturday, but all the gifts are bought and wrapped, there are Christmas cookies in the freezer and there's a wreath on the door. We're ready! Hope you are too!

A chilly Sundae morning

December 8 and the thermometer says it's below freezing, but Sundae doesn't care. She's wearing the thickest fur coat in the county.

Putting the garden to bed

We took advantage of an unseasonably warm day December 1 and finished putting the garden to bed. Rolled up all the garden hoses and rugs, emptied all the pots that don't winter well, pulled up the Dahlberg daisies and drained the fountain. It looks awfully bare out there, but nice to have that done since cold weather is upon us!

Sunrise, sunset, swiftly go the days

We have some of the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets here in Kansas, and especially at this time of year, it seems. Too often we almost miss them when we're not outside to notice like we do in the summer. But this one didn't get away.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

No thanks to the gardeners at this house, but our neighbors across the street have decorated enough for the both of us! It's hard not to get in the holiday spirit with this view off the front porch every night!

Farewell, Frosty

We said a sad goodbye to our faithful old cat at the end of November. Frosty joined our family as a tiny kitten (born August 1997) and was our beloved pet when we still had a houseful of kids. He loved being a garden cat, and in spite of being diabetic–and in his final years, deaf and blind–he always managed to work up a purr for anyone who paid attention to him. The garden won't be quite the same without him sunning himself on a rock, or on the back deck. We'll miss him a lot, but he left us a wealth of happy memories.