The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 1: Our Hillbilly Christmas Wreath 2022
Inside: Let’s start the annual 12 Posts of Christmas marathon with our favorite annual tradition–our Hillbilly Christmas Wreath 2022!
The Hillbilly Christmas Wreath 2022
Welcome to our favorite Christmas tradition around the farm: Our Hillbilly Christmas Wreath 2022! If you tune into the yearly 12 Posts fest, you might notice we are using the same maroon bow as last year. This was actually the first bow that made it unscathed over the course of the weeks of display, and this is the sixth year we’ve been displaying our tractor tire wreath.
While the tire might be sporting the same bow, we did give it a fresh coat of green paint. We also streamlined our process by attaching two black bungee cords around the tire and through the bow loops which made it so much easier!
Another improvement we made was simply timing. In the past we’d always been mindful not to even begin tire wreath plans until after Thanksgiving. After all, we like to enjoy one holiday at a time. Well, it never dawned on us that we could actually prepare the tire ahead of time, minus the bow, so we’d have it ready. On a lovely warm November day, I wore shorts as Mom and I cleaned and spray-painted the tire and strung the lights.
Nice to do the work without shivering!
You can see the various years here:
The Story of the Hillbilly Christmas Wreath (2017)
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 1: Return of the Hillbilly Christmas Wreath (2018)
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 1: Our Hillbilly Christmas Wreath 2019!
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 1: Our Hillbilly Christmas Wreath 2020!
The 12 Posts of Christmas, Day 1: Our Hillbilly Christmas Wreath 2021
For the original story plus how-to instructions, go here:
The Story of the Hillbilly Christmas Wreath
We’re Back
Inside: After a seven-month absence, we’re back in time for our annual 12 Posts of Christmas marathon, starting tomorrow. Be sure to tune in!
We’re Back. . .
I just wanted to say we’re back after a long and thoughtful pause. No, it wasn’t due to illness of any kind. I needed to take some time to figure out what I wanted to do with the blog.
After much prayer, I finally got the message that blogging is not the way for me to make money. . . So why am I doing this?
I know I am supposed to be writing.
I know that we could use more money.
I also know that my part is to wait. Realize God has a plan, even if I don’t know what that plan is yet.
So while much of the way I’ve been doing this blog will remain the same, my approach will be more relaxed. No worrying about my SEO score. No fretting over the “perfect” pics to go with the “perfect” post. No word count to strive for. Just going with the flow.
Me, unplugged.
So tune in tomorrow for the annual 12 Posts of Christmas. That’s going to be a little different, too. With 60+ Christmas posts under my belt, going forward I’ll present a mixture of new posts and old favorites worth revisiting.
Stop by and celebrate Christmas with us!
Planting Season: Opening Day of my Favorite Plant Store
Inside: Some wait for that first crack of the baseball bat or when the local pool opens. Me? I look forward to a different opening day.
Opening Day of my Favorite Plant Store
Despite rain clouds and a chilly morning, Mom and I stopped by Sugar Grove Growers for an eye feast, taking in rows and rows of gorgeous blooms exploding just in time for opening day 2022. A year has passed since Bob and Alana made the move from their previous building to the spacious lot with tents and outdoor displays which gives the new location a real open-air market feel, with plenty of room for browsing and enjoying the wide variety of flowers, houseplants, and vegetables.
We happened to catch Alana for a couple of minutes between juggling customers, workers, and plants–and in a spare moment she even managed to find a home for a couple of Mom’s kittens! Busy lady!
Plants!
Just Hangin’ Around
Colorful Combos
Resources and Related Posts:
Gardening Advice from a Thirty-year Greenhouse Veteran
Create Our Simple Container Gardening Flower Combos
This Day in Past Posts:
Simple Flower Craft to Make (2020)
Poem: Common Ground
Inside: A poem I wrote last year, perfect as we head into the season of spring. . . . “Common Ground.”
Common Ground
We meet for a meal at her house in the city,
a long way from my country home.
The distance measured in more than miles.
We arrive, her father and me, bearing shortcakes and plants—basil, rosemary, tomatoes, and peppers.
I set to work in her garden plot, giving haircuts to herbs—sage, chives, thyme, and oregano.
They gather at the grill to prepare food.
She checks in on my solitary work, admitting plants aren’t her thing.
When I see my daughter, I don’t see myself. Our paths diverged a while back.
Hers led to asphalt streets. My roads remained rural.
Like a seed that hearkens back to earlier generations.
It happens like that in nature sometimes.
At the dinner table we cultivate conversation, careful not to disturb tender growth.
Hours pass and traffic needs to be avoided, but before we go, plants need planting.
She heads out to the plot with me, digs holes, sinks roots in the ground.
I pour in new soil, which she rakes and pats with her hand.
“Putting the babies to bed,” Nana used to tell her.
Before we leave, she hugs me tight—
Unrestrained, like the sage that grows wild in her garden.
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