A new year

A baby can be used as an excuse for nearly anything.: needing to go out, needing to stay in, not getting any sleep, sleeping at all hours of the day, etc. But a baby is my legitimate excuse for not blogging for 4 months. We've been a little preoccupied with preparing for his arrival and then with handling the never-ending demands of a newborn. (It's totally worth it, of course.)

But before he was born, we did manage to finish up the kitchen. Mostly. It could still use some caulk, but at least the walls look way better now.

We really like how the color turned out. Eventually we'll tackle the same wallpaper in the laundry room (seen through the doorway), but that's a bigger room so it will take quite a bit longer. I'm not in a big hurry to start stripping wallpaper again.

And despite being in the midst of the coldest, worst winter I can remember, it's time to plan this year's garden! We are going through seed catalogs and making our choices now, and as soon as seeds arrive it will be time to start some of them inside under grow lights. Last winter we set up our seedlings on shelves in the baby's room, so I'm not sure where they'll go this time around. It's hard to believe when looking at the garden now that we'll be planting things out there in just a couple months.

That large part of a tree hanging out in the garden is a branch that snapped off under the weight of heavy snow in the bitter cold a couple weeks ago. We were already planning to rebuild the fence this spring with wood poles and better wiring, or I'd be really annoyed that the branch was smashing it.

We had some successes last year. Carrots, tomatoes, peppers, and green beans all did well. We had at least that many utter failures, but I think we learned from our mistakes. We don't get nearly enough sun to grow cantaloupe, for instance, and if we want to grow brassicas (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts), we need to be aggressive with bug-repelling soap spray or caterpillars will eat literally every plant. 

And in addition to planning better, the conditions should be a little better as well. Under all the snow in the garden beds are cover crops of clover that Mike planted last fall to help restore some nutrients to the soil. And we'll have lots of homemade compost from a year's worth of kitchen scraps, chicken poo, and dead leaves to spread. 

Everything will be a little easier with experience under our belts, but it will also be more complicated to find time to do it all with our little guy added to the mix. And he'll definitely be my excuse for whatever fails or doesn't get done this year!