Welcome to the December edition of Rewind, an essay told mostly through photography.
You may not believe it when I tell you that the scene outside my front window looks more like October, or even late March, then it does December. Gray clouds blanket the sky while light rain dampens road ways and splashes on bare rooftops. Minnesota is without snow, and it appears that’s how things will remain as we move into the holidays.
Welcome new subscribers, and happy holidays to all my readers!
I tried making Danish stars for the first time using origami paper. Soon they will hang from the Christmas tree.
Shortly after Thanksgiving, I made a batch of dried citrus and hung slices all over the house: from the kitchen window, around a gift bottle of wine, on the Christmas tree. When the dried pulp catches the sunlight, each slice glows like stained glass.
Stray blue spruce, Canaan fir, and a few sprigs of bittersweet fill out this small holiday candle arrangement. I confess I made the arrangement instead of working on a writing project.
I decided to print my photography and use it to decorate for the holidays. This might be the start of a new project!
I love Vego Garden products. I had more fun arranging tools in each pocket and then carrying the new tote around the house.
I cut several stems of coleus in the fall before frost arrived, and now each cutting sits beneath a bank of grow lights in the basement. In January, I’ll pot them in soil where they’ll remain until summer.
I pulled this photo from the archives because its color scape so perfectly matches winter: hazy purple with hints of evergreen.
Foliage and products featured in today’s essay: origami paper from Daiso, blue spruce, Canaan fir, rosemary cuttings, Vego Garden tool bag (vegogarden.com), coleus, and tradescantia “Wandering Dude” (tonkadale.com).
Thanks for keeping Roots & Vines strong by subscribing, referring a friend, or pledging a monthly amount to the newsletter.
See you back at the end of the month for a new essay!
-Betsy