I am officially one year into getting my doctorate in nursing, woo!! Likely because I started the program I have little recollection of what actually occurred in 2015, Haha! I read hundreds of articles and wrote pages and pages (and pages) of APA formatted research papers. Thank goodness for the Spy Garden blog to jog my memory. I enjoyed scrolling through all the posts of the year; realizing I did more than work and school. It all actually looked quite fun and relaxing! Haha!
2015 certainly wasn’t the best year for vegetables in Spy Garden. Sikkim cucumbers are the only thing that really stand out in my mind as prolific when it comes to produce.
Sikkim Cucumbers
The ground cherries also did well. The flowers in the garden were pretty great this year.
Celosia/Cockscomb (also called wool flowers)
Celosia amazed with vibrant colors and unusual shapes and I saw more monarch butterflies than ever in the garden this year.
Celosia
Orach was another favorite
We went on lots of outings; several trips to the St. Louis Art Museum, Forest Park, Grant’s Farm,
Meramec Caverns,
the AB brewery, and got to see the beautiful…
Chinese lanterns at the Missouri Botanical Garden (MOBOT)
and the kids explored the awesome children’s garden at MOBOT.
ROA (a world-famous artist) coming to Forest School was very exciting:
ROA painting a mural at Forest School
Baby watching ROA paint another mural at Forest School
Baby and the Spy got to ride horses a couple of times this year.
Babyzilla on horseback
We painted a lot; and doing a collaborative painting (still in progress) with a friend was a highlight.
Painting in the garden
I started some new hobbies; running on trails and ballet. Well, when I say “ballet” I use that term loosely. What I mean is that Baby and I put on classical music and dance around; inspired by the ballerina project. We continue to work on our arabesques and grand jetes daily. Haha
Another huge highlight was the Spy attending summer camp (the same one I went to!)
The Greatest Place!
Fencing at camp
Kayaking at camp
We spotted numerous varieties of mushrooms this year.
Beautiful Mushroom
Sulfur-colored Chicken of the Woods
Smoochie cut down some big dead trees in the yard…
and built an awesome new shed.
The Spy started pitching in little league and their team won their league championship.
Winners!
Nana and Pop were in St. Louis the whole month of July which was really great.
The kids with Nana and Pop
We went all out with the Christmas decorations; our best yet!
A big standout of the year were the snakes living in a tree just feet from our front door. Getting to watch them (quite frequently!) this summer was a treat and I think this is the best photo I’ve ever taken:
And a close second
And though scary (I almost stepped on it); seeing a copperhead was quite exciting and dramatic!
RRrrraaaaaghhhh!!!
It seems the snakes may still be calling the tree home, so maybe we will catch them in 2016…
Snake excrement icicles?! Ewww! (Picture taken 12.31.15)
Eucalyptus in Spy Garden February 2015
Happy New Year to all and thank you so much for visiting Spy Garden; see you in 2016!
2015 was a bit of a crazy year all round. I am looking forward to 2016 and a bit more focus and direction to be honest. Congratulations on thrashing your way through your first year of your doctorate. It is hard work juggling family and work without throwing study into the equation. I am with you on the blogging front. I didn’t post for a long time and then one day realised what an excellent visual reference to where you are at and what you are doing a blog actually is so I started back up again. Here’s to happiness in bucketloads with just enough sadness to temper it in 2016 :)
Thrashing is a good word for it! Thanks for the comments. You should get some sort of Commenter of the Year award. Consider it given:) Woooo for 2016!
It would be the only award I got this year so cheers for that! ;)
Can’t wait to see 2016!!!
Your blog was among my first follows and is still one of my favorites for color, variety and excitement! Always something interesting happening at SG. :-) Hope you all have a Happy New Year!
Thank you so much that means a lot!! Of the very few blogs I follow these (busy) days, yours is one of my favorites and your photography gets better and better and is always inspiring. Happy new year to you!!!
Thank you!