. . . . and 2012 begins

I've started off the new year kind of the way I ended the old.  Negleting my blog.  Not that I have neglected Kingwood Center.  December was a busy time with Kingwood Hall decorated for Christmas.  I assisted in many hours of hostessing in the decorated house.  And as January started up, so did I... helping pack up the Christmas decorations. 

  ===== I have also neglected my pictures, so I took Bonnie H's from the Kingwood Website for this blog without asking. Thanks in advance Bonnie!

As the picute here of Bill Collins in a sea of Christmas aftermath will give you a visual.  What turned out to be my favorate project this year was puttng newspapers in bow rings to keep the felt bows in good shape for next year.  The bows came off the wreaths which decorated the house and there were sooooo many!  It was great fun working with my partner in crime Miss Kathy M.  Lisa Duckworth joined in to help as well.  She is the new volunteer coordinator upon Kay's retiring.  But they gave her a different title of Events Coordinator.  Whatever - more on the 'Whatever Kingwood' in another blog.

Last year I spent most of the tear down time taking lights off the tree.  That would be one of my least favorate jobs.  If you remember there were 7,900 lights on that tree this year.  I was very pleased that the task was for the most part done as we worked on other things.  Here is Glenna Sheaffer finnishing it up.

When I first showed up Jack was loading up the flocked Christmas Tree, that took so much effort by the Johnny Appleseed Garden Club, in a truck to go to the chopper.  I snickered a little as he got flocked lifting up the tree.  He was not quite as amused.  As I came outside later in the day, it was just one of many on the truck.

So to sum it all up, that is much of how I spent my first week of January at Kingwood Center.  I'm glad Bonnie H had her camera those days.

Lett-us Plant Pansies

My partner in all good Kathy M and I volunteered ourselves to help out the Kingwood Staff planting seasonal pansies and lettuces.  Shawn McClain made sure the beds were prepared and the soil was fluffy soft.

 




 
 
 

 Next Bill Collins, Glenna Schaeffer, Charles Applegate and Don Miller laid out the designs.

and now we plant....
Do you want to live here Mr. Pansy?      Grow and thrive!
  

..with a chill in the air and an excitement to be outside ... we planted the Gazebo area....

We didn't worry about watering.  As Charles Applegate puts it, we would let God water the next day.

What's that Charles? ..a little thing called photosynthesis, means that you cannot bury the plant, the leaves need to be uncovered?  Got it.  Oh the things we learn! 

We moved on to the Old Herb Garden, or Bay Tree Garden or whatever the name of the day is for it.

After a break for lunch, in which Kathy ate fried clams with rice pudding and I had too many hash browns, we continued onto circled fountain area.  We weren't hungry any longer, but with full bellies, we weren't bending over as easy after lunch either.

The day moved on.. so did we, (though we were moving a little slower) up to the formal garden to finish up the beds for a job we considered well done! 

Could it be the last snow?

Today was a beautiful day to be at Kingwood.  Snow covered trees bring a special quiet magic. Also a busy day. Don Miller is back from a two month lay off.  Kathy M and I visited with him on the peony project that we had been working on over the winter.  After that we headed up to the house to work on the attic library project.  Had to stop many times along the way to take just a few pictures of snow covered Kingwood.  Kathy M took this picture of me taking pictures and now it is my favorite picture of me.  We saw Kay Hostetler on the way in to the house.  She was on her way out to take pictures.  Glenna Sheaffer is also back from lay off and we popped our heads in her office on the way up the stairs to the attic. She lent me a book on animal tracts.  I plan to use it in the snow!

Charles Applegate is also back from leave. He showed us the newly created dried flower arrangements.  Christmas removed, the rooms looked strangely barren so the arrangements gave the rooms a pick-me-up.  Charles recycled an  arrangement by removing peacock feathers, replacing with dried flowers.

Glenna Sheaffer created this beautiful arrangement.  I love the sweeping look.  Most of the other new arrangements were created to be place under a dome glass.  Which although beautiful, difficult to get a good picture.  Well, as I said it was a busy day.  So happy to see the staff back at work and to have been able to see just one more snow covered Kingwood before the busy spring begins. 

Kingwood by the Numbers Countdown - Four Days

Tea Garden

FOUR areas in the herb garden (located near the workshop and beside the rose garden).  Tended lovingly by Glenna Sheaffer and the Kingwood Herb Society.



Vertical Gardening
jar designed by Pat H and Carol S

 

Culinary Garden

Thyme Clock Garden