OK Melissa, we can do our daylight countdown together. Naturally, it doesn't help my light-afflicted cause by staying in bed till 11am but, in these days of unemployment, I am loving my pillow. I also need to work harder (ahem) although the next skip arrives soon for the final death-throes of my home garden.Buy the lilacs, Melissa, and the paeonies. What else is money good for? Sherry, while you are 'fixing' your back garden gravel and paving, I will be doing the very same. I save 2pound coins in an old teapot (!) and am now up to almost 300 (6oo pounds! riches) - the new garden funds. Loving the blog too (although, once the gardening days get longer, I am betting the blog entries get shorter) Elemire, medlars: gorgeous flowers - weird fruit, weirder 'bletting'. Schisandra though - me too. Think we need two if we want the long strings of berries. Have been fancying this for my north wall for some time. Sandersonia....ah yes, I have also had it twice - each time for only one year. I tried to dig it up the second time but forgot exactly where it had been....and you remember those tiddly little rooty things to plant - totally invisible! Now consigned to the growing list of plants which I have failed with - along with gardenias, red echinaceas,cercis canadensis, zephyranthes, azaleas,phlox, hebes... Annececilia: pruning apples - although there are many, many books out there, you really cannot beat hands-on teaching. Until you find a good course or get a knowledgeable friend in, wait. The trees will not die if they never see a lopping saw or secateurs again. Sadly, in the UK, we have grubbed up many ancient orchards (philistine farmers, landowners) yet there are still century old apples and pears, blooming and fruiting, all over England. Pruning, training, shaping, mmmm, as an inveterate meddler, I LOVE these jobs. They should be approached joyfully, without fear and anxiety so dispense with worry, clear your head, sharpen your tools and jump in with confidence. Look upon it as a great experiment and take photos, if you can, of the bare branches. Step back from your work often and look again. When you have looked for a good while, make a cut, any cut. Then step back and look again. You can practice renovation pruning on some of the old gnarly trees and shape some of the younger ones into pyramids or standards. If you still feel anxious or uncertain, then wait and read and look some more - you have lots of time and apples (unlike cherries or peaches or plums) are obliging. Oh yeah, cross the weeding off the list - this is another futile, tedious job which we never really get on top of and it just makes us feel guilty. Those weeds are some creatures livelihood. Holley - yes, yes, yes - a greenhouse. Your life will be changed forever. I am in my third year of owning a greenhouse and, even though it takes up a QUARTER of my entire garden, it is a most wonderful investment (mine was free on freecycle so check those sort of things first - who cares what it looks like as long as it works. As for raised beds - my whole garden has been laid out on rubble with NO soil at all. Raised beds are the way to go - not so much bending, you can choose your soil, you can sit on the edges (for hours)and the soil remains friable because it does not get trodden on and compacted. You will never look back. Kim - aaaah. You have given us a few laughs and plenty good advice. Glad to raise a smile for you.

Wow Mellen you out did your self today i got my package i got books and more books and i like them all,they are taste of home backyardliving boston terrior book and i love it. how to build bird houses living roses for dummies i need that i got bunch of roses light and tasty 3 quick cooking birds in bloom thank you so much i didnt have many book im new to tast of home from my mom i just subscribed to it,and i was looking at the birds in bloom im going to sub to it too.thank you so much great to have gw friends.daylilymom.I enjoyed this exchange didnt have time to send alot to mine was sick and grandkids sick.I hope she enjoys what i did send,god bless you all.

Thank you Ann. I posted and it did not appear for at least 10 minutes so I posted again. The edit feature did not allow me to delete the double comment. Happy New Year! Teresa

What a fun resolution! I'm a garden/outdoor girl, so my skin is not going to be what it could be. Too much time outside during the last 50+ years. I'm okay with that...but, like you, I did make a decision to take better care of what I do have. I love Estee Lauder, but in the last few years, didn't want to spend the bucks for it. I've committed to Olay...the daily moisturizer with sunscreen and...the hardest to remember...the nightly moisturizer. You'd be surprised how often I forget to wash my face and put on moisturizer before bed. (I'm just now beginning to where makeup again--new business where I deal with people.) I do tell a difference when I use this...I have dry skin and it looks more alive and fresh when I'm faithful. I'd like to add facials once a month, too. Well see how the new business grows...