December...Really?

Recently, my regular walks have been on the quiet side.  The resident birds, normally quite vocal, have been scarce.  Where do these year-round birds hide out in the winter?

 

 

 

Yesterday, though, the robins were out in large numbers.  A large ash tree that I pass was chockfull of these birds which were quite active twittering and flitting from bare branch to bare branch.  They sounded as if it were spring, which at 70 degrees, felt like spring. The grass is still green. The only hint of the actual season is the leafless trees.

 

December has been quite mild sporting daily, lately in the mid-sixties and getting into the seventies, very comfortable and non-humid temperatures. 

 

My mind and activities have wandered from the holiday season and all that entails - cookie baking, decorating the Christmas tree and house, writing Christmas cards - to getting outside and immersing myself back into gardening.  I do not want to waste a minute of this fabulous weather.  In December, it can change quite rapidly.

 

I am still cutting back browned perennials and doing a basic clean-up of all garden beds. Overall, the garden looks great for the season, but there is always something more to do.

 

Hence, I started to construct a bottle border around one of my perennial islands.  This activity has been on my ‘to do’ list for quite some time.  I have been collecting empty beer and wine bottles for years (my packrat tendencies).   I do not imbibe beer or wine as Coca Cola is my drink of choice, so I gather the empties where I can. Most bottles rarely get recycled and end up in the trash.

 

 

The ground not yet frozen, I got to work.

 

My intent is to build a small section initially and then see how it weathers the winter season before spending too much time and energy completing a full border encircling the bed.

 

As I started, Snowball wandered by and knocked down a five bottle section - ugh.  Hmmm…even if this border survives the winter, will it survive the likes of Snowball?  My Great Pyrenees has quite a mind of his own and stepping over a bottle border is probably not part of his radar.  Absently padding through is.

 

I have been told (names will be kept anonymous) that the project sounds ‘tacky’.  I think of the glass border as a repurposing task in progress.  Check out ‘glass bottle yard art’ on the internet for a plethora of photos of bottle borders, bottle walkways, bottle screens, bottle trees and more.  I find the creative uses of empty bottles quite intriguing, colorful (I love color), and whimsical.  Even my small section makes me smile.

 

I also discovered that creating such projects takes a lot of bottles.  I started with a pattern of one blue wine bottle and three brown beer bottles separated by one green beer bottle repeated five times before adding another blue wine bottle.  I have plenty brown beer bottles, but I quickly ran out of blue wine bottles and green beer bottles.  Donations will be gratefully accepted especially for those exceptional blue wine bottles.

 

Having finished an approximately nine foot section of border, I now wait.

 

Is this a project I will continue come next spring? 

 

Come back and find out.

 

For now, I will be taking advantage of the lovely weather staying busy…outside!