As some of you know, last year I had tried to do an herb garden and quite literally failed. So I have made a choice. Instead of doing a bunch of herbs like last time, I am only choosing four (or five) to do. I will probably do tea-based herbs mainly. I am going to do my winter sowing, and I start February. I can start later because we have a longer winter here in SD.
I am not going to stress, just do the best I can and appreciate whatever growth comes. I am not going to be putting my herbs in the ground to grow, rather this time in pots. I may also do a couple flowers like foxglove and baby's breath, but that is yet to be determined. So for right now, I am going to start picking out my seeds and choosing pots. I already know the spot I am going to put them. I don't have to worry about that, thankfully.
You may be thinking, "four herbs isn't a lot" but I call it progress for me. If I can get these four herbs to grow healthy and lush this year, I will next year add another two herbs to grow. And little by little, I can get used to the routine of winter sowing and growing in pots. Ok, that is it for now. Once I pick my seeds, I'll let you all know and…please just wish me luck and blessings. After all, I am newer to gardening. 
Happy New Year, dear gardeners! May the new year bring you all the well grown, delicious, lush plants you hope for. May your hands be just as dirty with the cool soil as last year! I must say, I really am looking forward to germinating my seeds come February. 
Wow, I have not done a blog post in quite a while! Since summer, actually.
Well, first off, today was a rather busy day. I am already preparing Christmas gifts for everyone close to me. I'm doing woodburning, painting, and drawing for various different people. Once I'm finished, I'll include pictures of all of the gifts. I think creating gifts for someone with your own hands is so fun, and it makes the process a bit more special for the person making the gift. I feel as if it makes that person put more thought and care and love into that gift instead of just buying one. At least, that's how I feel. I do enjoy creating and crafting! 
Secondly, I wanted to tell you all that my orchid is growing like mad! I think it's the first plant I've really fallen in love with 
it's so cute and I'm doing my best to give it TLC. Oh how I hope it won't die come winter. If it doesn't, I'm definitely going to try to get more orchids, because I like 'em! By the way, I'm already starting to plan my container herb garden. It's going to be right under my window so that I can smell it all when I open the window. I also don't want any rascal critters coming near. I'm hoping that by sticking the garden under my window they won't come because it'd be too close for them.
Thirdly, fall here was just beautiful! Of course the weather was a little off, but the colors of the trees were breathtaking. I wish I could've taken pictures for you all to see. Fall is definitely my favorite season, except for Summer.
Sadly, we already have below freezing temperatures. But I do like the snow, so I'm hoping a bunch of snow will come. We're in a drought, and I'd like any moisture we can get. There was another drought here that was broken by a blizzard. I believe in one night 4 feet of snow was dumped. Perhaps the sky had a stomachache. 
Those are my updates. Other than that, I've just been very, very busy with school and other things. I promise my next blog will be posted sooner. Until then! 
I know it may not seem like such an exciting thing…but I got an orchid! I've always liked orchids and was at first wary to get one because I was afraid I was going to kill it. But…I winged it and now I have one. It has very pretty blooms and seems pretty happy right now. I hope it stays that way! Alas, we get negative temperatures in Winter, so we'll see how it ends up doing. But I'm not going to worry about that yet.
It's sitting on my dresser in bright light next to my lucky bamboo (dracaena sanderiana) so it also has company. 
If I can't do outside plants right now, I'm going to work hard on keeping my inside plants happy with me.
Try to have a good day today, my fellow readers!
Hello! I feel like it's been a while since doing a blog post. I'm going to give y'all an update on my garden and tell you flat out that my garden is now a failure. First of all, let me start out by stating that my seedlings had begun to grow and grow into beautiful, healthy plants. As you all knew, I was very excited about it. I had kept up with the weeds, kept chicken wire down to keep the rabbits and deer away, and overall kept a neat little slice of a garden. But then the leafhoppers and grasshoppers came. These grasshoppers and leafhoppers will eat pretty much anything that comes across their path (of course it figures that they don't really eat WEEDS) well, my herbs began to have holes, big and small, and they all began to look like they'd been in a war zone. Ok, "take a deep breath and keep calm" I told myself. But I couldn't because read what happens to my garden next. Remember how I said my wildflowers were blooming and doing great? They all were chowed down by the deer and rabbits. On top of that, weeds began to grow and I (not making excuses) couldn't really keep up with pulling out the little suckers because of my preparation to CA. When I came back….when I came back…whew this is hard for me to say. When I came back ALL MY HERBS WERE OVERTAKEN BY WEEDS!!! Aaargh! And still are, unfortunately. So I'm starting over. That's that. I'll keep it simple and direct:
I'm pulling/killing every single weed, going to save as many herbs as I can, pot those up, and leave the 'garden' as dirt until I, or someone else, can find big bushes or plants to plant that won't be destroyed by all these bugs and critters. Thank you for reading my sob story. Although I most definitely have good reasons to be frustrated! Now on to the more enjoyable part of my blog…
I went on a Vacation with my family to Ca to visit other close family. It was a very enjoyable time and I don't regret it at all. We visited many lovely places, including a beautiful redwood forest, and overall had a smashing time. The beach was just as amazing as I remembered it. I also took some pictures of the Shoshone Falls in Idaho, as well as some pictures of a dog that was part of my Aunt's family. The dog's name is Bailey and one of my favorite dogs I know.
I hope you all enjoy the pictures! Ciao for now.
Here are the falls:
These are other photos taken of the state park at Shoshone Falls:
I can imagine a creature living in this hole such as fox, coyote, etc.
These were very pleasing to the eye in person:
And here are some rocks that were fantastic:
And here is Bailey
