For my birthday this year, Wonderful Husband did something wonderful. Of course, he always does something wonderful, just ask him.  Well, occasionally, he does something wonderful. Maybe he does something wonderful every once in a while…sometimes.

But this year, he hit the bulls-eye!  SCORE!  He gave me a bright, shiny, new (wait for it, wait for it…) 48” shelving unit with casters and adjustable shelves! Wow! It was fun unwrapping that big boy, let me tell you!

All joking aside, I had really wanted the shelving unit for a seed-starting station and was delighted to get it. It now stands proudly in my laundry-office-pantry-craft room equipped with two grow-lights (actually, they are LED shop lights which are way less expensive and do the job just as well).

Making Space

I was able to free up about 10 feet of pantry space and get miscellaneous bags of seed-starting mix, peat pots, used plastic pots, and fertilizer off the floor and organized. While I was doing all the re-arranging and organizing, I also took the opportunity to clean up a bit and throw away little bits and pieces of stuff that I had hung onto for some strange and long forgotten reason.

I also cleaned off my work table and have started painting a little ceramic Santa Claus that I’d found at a flea market for $3.00. The room is actually quite pleasant now and I’m going to try to keep it that way – although my good intentions generally don’t last too very long.

My new shelving unit

Back to the shelving unit: the herbs I’ve been keeping through the winter (two parsley, one dill, one basil, and one marjoram) fit very nicely onto one shelf under the shop light. They seem to be quite happy. The second light has been installed on the next lowest shelf, but isn’t in use just yet. That’s reserved for starting seeds in a month or two.

Speaking of seeds, I received the first seed catalog before Christmas – an early present! Outside, it’s gray, cold and dreary, but inside, I’m sitting by the fire with the Spoiled Mutt on my lap and fantasizing about spring (and all the beautiful flowers I’ll grow)! It really is a fantasy, of course, but a harmless one that helps me get through the winter.

This spring, Wonderful Husband and I have a lot of hard work facing us…moving earth, terracing slopes in the yard, planting B & B trees and shrubs, installing landscape block… Right now, I’m happy that I can sit on my backside and look at photos of pretty flowers.

Spring will arrive, so be patient and

Stay Green, Good Friends!