What a Difference a Year Makes!

Last year at this time, we were firmly in the grips of the dreaded "Polar Vortex."  Several days in a row of single digit and much lower temps.  Feet of snow on the ground all winter.  Brrr.  I'm much happier this winter.  No Measurable Snow in December!  We've maybe had two feet of snow all winter.  I hate to jinx it, but we haven't even had to get  the snow blower out!  Of course, it's still buried in the back of the shed, so it would be problematic if we had to use it.

Temperatures have been so much better.  Just a couple of nights below zero here and there.  We even had a high temp of 47 degrees a couple of Saturdays ago.  There was only one snowstorm that produced more than a couple of inches of snow, but the drift on our patio was quite impressive.

As you can see, we have even had breaks in the permacloud this year.  I do believe that is blue sky in the above picture.

This is the same patio just a couple of days ago.

The seed catalogs have been rolling in.  The catalog from Jackson and Perkins roses even caught the attention of my husband.  I do have to replace one of the new roses we planted last summer.  Hmm.  Decisions, decisions.

What does a gardener do in the Winter when all they want to do is go outside and play in the dirt?  They repot their indoor plants!

Thought I was going to be so productive.  I only needed to buy one or two new pots and the potting soil.  Go to the big box store and buy what I needed.  Get home and the bag of potting soil was frozen!  They had obviously just brought the stack inside.  I had to dump the bag into a plastic container to defrost.  The lighter blue spots on the plastic bucket is condensation!  So much for playing in the dirt!

As I sit here looking out at the cold sunshine, 13 degrees currently (the coldest day in two weeks), I am so thankful that the weather this year is so much better.  What a difference a year makes!