Sunbreaks are for Gardening

We've had some windstorms.  We've had some serious downpours.  We've  had some power outages in the area and some rivers are near flood stage.  We are in the throes of winter.

For someone who loves the sun, who loves the warmth of the sun, who loves the light from the sun, winter can be challenging.

To help coax myself through the winter gloom, I planted these colorful succulents on my deck after I pulled the veggies out of my planter. They don't need a lot of sun, and they can tolerate a lot of water.  I want to look out the sliding glass door, peering between the nose smudges and fingerprints, and see something beautiful growing.

I recently realized that the drainage holes Jon drilled in the bottom were sufficient for the summer, but not for the winter.  Not for the torrential downpours. During a sunbreak this week, I decided to deal with the deck gardening.

Ask a teenage boy to do dishes, it might not go over so well. 

Ask him to do something with a power tool, and he's all over it.

 Like stink on a skunk.  Jon's my tool guy.

Now it's looking like it should.

The golden rocks are from our Ocean Shores vacation with Jana and company. 

They add the warmth of precious memories.  The solar light in the middle adds a beacon of hope during the gloom - only if there was enough sun to charge it up.

This gorgeous tub was my souvenir from a trip to Leavenworth, WA.

 I'm not the back-scratcher kinda' person.

 I wanted to start my own succulents during the winter, going on a tip I received from the woman who sold me the beauties in my feed trough.

I found this starter set at a garage sale for $2

I found these in a free box at a garage sale. 

Can you believe nobody else wanted them? 

They brought back great memories of my young flesh sticking to the ice cube tray while wrestling with the handle, sometimes cutting myself, while prying out a few ice-cubes for my red Kool-aid.

A few weeks ago, Jon drilled a hole in the bottom of each of the compartments.

I put the disks in one tray, then, the whole mess sat outside in the rain while I looked out daily and was reminded that I had yet another unfinished project on my hands.

 I  went out determined to make amends for my negligence, but realized my negligence worked to my benefit.  Each little disk had plumped perfectly to fill a compartment. I pinched off  pieces of my smaller succulents and just set them in the soil.   By spring, they'll be ready to pot.

Plus, they look cool, these vintage mini gardens.

During the wet and gray rains, though I miss the sun, I always have the Son.  Though I miss the warmth of the sun, I always have the warmth of the Son's love.  And though I miss the light from the sun, I always have the Son, who is the Light of the world.

Maybe winter ain't so challenging after all.