I shot this photo of our pool cover after a heavy frost about a month or so ago before the snows came (and stayed). It looked like a smiley face to me. Or maybe the pool was taunting me (neh neh neh neh neh neh you can’t swim in me!) Either way, it caught my eye.

Hopefully this will be my last post before the new look for the blog will be revealed. We are getting so close! I’m so excited to have a new, fresh look. I can’t promise that the content will be new and fresh—just the daily life of a ‘new’ Jersey Girl as it unfolds day by day.

I did manage to go over to Skylands on Friday, but it was a rather disappointing trip. The constant freeze-thaw-freeze-thaw of our snowpack has left a solid sheet of ice in spots as I found out when I tried to go cross-country instead of keeping to the paved areas. I slipped my way to the slimy bullfrog pond only to find it with barely a covering of ice and looking very un-photographable. My next slippery stop was the koi and lily pad trench which I found out they drain completely in winter. Even the Duck Pond was boring as it was totally frozen over with a heavy sheet of ice and no reflections to be seen. I would have walked the loop but I didn’t have a hat on my head and a nasty little wind was blowing. I went home. This was the only shot I took the whole time.

With the warmer temperatures this weekend we hope to get down the Christmas decorations outside. I think the lights on the trees have unfrozen by now and the snow has shrunk enough to gather up the extension cords that are on the ground. I am tired of looking at them.

One of my amaryllis has a bud coming! I think it’s the oldest one of the three, and if so it will be its sixth year or so of blooming. It’s going to be a small one, but still—six years of consecutive blooms! The other two are still not showing any signs of a bud issuing forth but they still have nice green leaves. I was contemplating cutting them off with the thinking behind it of them putting all their energy into the leaves and not in producing a bud, but my master gardner neighbor Aileen nipped that idea in the bud (so to speak). She told me not to cut them. So, I guess I’ll wait and see what happens. I’ve treated them the same way I have every year so there should be no difference.

Next up: the big reveal!

Hi. This is Rick testing the comments on the new site. Hope you enjoy it! Of course, if you have any problems or suggestions, let us know. Just use the Contact Me link at the top right of this page.

Excellent!!!  Best of luck but I don’t think you’ll need it…you’ve got it nailed!

The new site looks great! Woo hoo!

Now you have me worried about our amaryllis. The leaves on ours started to go yellow so I removed the discolored ones and cut back on watering, and now we have mostly leafless bulbs. (We still have two green leaves, one on each of two bulbs.) I was thinking I’d wait a few weeks and then start watering them again to make them “wake up.” But I really have no idea what I’m doing. I hope I’m not killing them!

Helene, thank you! Glad you like the new look.

Steve, thanks! Don’t worry! Your amaryllis sound right on track to bloom, but DO water them starting now. You aren’t killing them; they sound perfectly normal. Mine I am worried about because their leaves did not turn yellow (I only removed a few out of many) and I think they are putting all their energy into the leaves and not producing blooms. I am waiting ...