Notes to myself:
- remember to stake plants early, including the autumn asters
- do not order from the glossy magazines, but stick to the established nurseries
- do not sow seeds you know will be eaten by the slugs as soon as you plant out the seedlings
- be sure to laugh out loud at least once a day
Floppy Asters
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Reading List 2013 (so far):
- Tulipomania (Mike Dash)
- The Cider House Rules (John Irving)
- Flaubert’s Parrot (Julian Barnes)
- Why Willows Weep (Edited by Tracy Chevalier and Simon Prosser)
- The Botany of Desire (Michael Pollan)
- Spade, Skirret and Parsnip (Bill Laws)
- Possession (A.S. Byatt)
- Dear Friend and Gardener (Beth Chatto and Christopher Lloyd)
- The Wind in the Willows (Kenneth Grahame)
- Bring Up the Bodies (Hilary Mantel)
- Hortus Eystettensis (Basilius Besler)
- The Secrets of Wildflowers (Jack Sanders)
- Wandernde Pflanzen (German book about Neophytes)
- The Bone People (Keri Hulme)
My Book Case
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A few other wishes for 2013:
- plenty of fresh air and exercise
- sunshine and blue skies in the day, rain showers overnight 😉
- no slugs or snails, aphids or cabbage white caterpillars, nor mice 😉 (I’ll be lucky!)
Snail in my Garden
Have you made any lists/plans/resolutions for 2013?
Words and Herbs 
‘No slugs or snails, …’ good luck with that one – if you find the secret, please share it! Would be interested to hear what you think of the Michael Pollan book – I love his writing, but haven’t read this one yet.
I’ll definitely do a review of the Pollan book… could take a while to get down this list though!
Thank you so much for sharing with us.Very nice.
Nice of you to stop by!
Looking forward to exploring your reading list. I have read The Cider House Rules (John Irving) and parts of The Botany of Desire (Michael Pollan). Both are very compelling. I want to join you in your plan to laugh out loud at least once a day.
Yes, I make a point of planning to laugh out loud every year, just in case I should forget one day! Very good for the facial and stomach muscles (and the soul!). 😀
I have projects and garden books lined up for this year…revealing them on Monday!! Wishing you good luck with these wishes 🙂
Thanks Donna!
I’ve learned over my many decades of life never to make New Year’s resolutions. I live my year day by day!
I agree, resolutions as such are made to be broken. But I do like to have a few goals written down – especially the reading ones.
I never plan for a new year. I don’t want to be disappointed if I plan too far ahead. I think of things that I would like to accomplish and maybe these will get done and maybe not. The photos of the asters is very pretty, even if they were falling over.
The asters were lovely like that, but got tangled in the nearby scabious. As soon as I can see the aster shoots I shall put in a support!
Well, I do make New Year resolutions, and am usually too ‘ashamed’ to break them 🙂 ! So you hope to live in Camelot with a self-organizing, perfect garden! Am in full agreement 😉 ! It would be lovely, but . . . And have begun my fresh air/exercise plan also [uhuh, on my agenda too!]. And actually staked my tomatoes [already fruiting!!] this morning. So, our thoughts seem to be on the same track in some ways!!
That’s funny, when our seasons are opposite too! My staking will have to wait till I can see where the plants are. Hope it’s a good year for your tomatoes! 😀
This made me chuckle Cathy! Liked the bit about laughing out loud! With all that reading will you have time for the garden? 🙂
I’ll do most of the reading before the gardening season starts, and some in the hammock when it’s too hot… ahh, what a nice thought!
sounds good! We don’t get a lot of ‘hammock weather’ over here!
Your wishes are also my wishes!! I hope yours come true 🙂
We can dream! 😉
I have to tend to the garden of my SOUL!!! Snails have been all cleared out. Still geting the soil ready.. acidic for the Hydrangeas and moist shade for the moss garden.. Still finding a few corners I ignored that have junk in them from the previous owned… maybe an old tire to remove next !!!
Good luck – sounds like hard work……
Oh the weeds LOL!!!!
Have new years intentions floating about in my head Cathy but still have to commit them to paper or my blog. Love other people’s reading lists – have read one or two on your list and enjoyed whilst one or two others are on my list too. There are some titles there I don’t recognise so I will have to investigate them. If only there were more hours in the day 🙂
Oh yes, a twilight zone where the clock stands still occasionally! LOL!
Great list – I should make one. Love that you listed “be sure to laugh out loud at least once a day”. 🙂
That’s on my list every year! 😀
I don´t make new years resolutions anymore because I don´t remember keeping one of them 😉 However I have also a few books I´d like to read soon. I didn´t make a list though (I know you like lists 🙂 )
I read all the books on my last year’s list, plus a few more! 😀
I’m a list girl too 🙂 Every year I promise not to plant any seedlings that slugs and snails will eat… but how can I resist Chocolate Cosmos? I just have to be craftier than those little molluscs!
I would love to hear more about Why Willows Weep once you have read it!
I’ll be reviewing it very soon – it was the first one I read! How can we expect a slug to NOT like chocolate cosmos….?! 😉
Haha, floppy asters! I do SO have those!
I’m determined to avoid that this year with some new supports… it’s fine until we get a rain shower, and then they get so heavy they flop!
Yes!
Happy New Year! I have Possession on my bookshelf too, but I’m too scared to pick it up – it looks a bit intimidating!
I like your wishes for 2013, especially the one about laughing out loud once a day – I don’t think people laugh nearly as much as they should!
I felt like that with A.S. Byatt’s “The Children’s Book”, but it was brilliant! I just started the Hillary Mantel one, which is pretty thick too, but surprisingly easy to read. It’ll be interesting to see if you read Possession before me – look forward to sharing our impressions! 😀