We had a couple of inches of snow the other day — actually, a combination of ice pellets, rain and snow. Breaking up and removing the resulting ice crust from the sidewalk reminded me of serious snow shovelling when I lived in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (where winters are serious).

That inspired me to remove the autumn wreath I had put together for Halloween and assemble some Christmas type greenery.

Autumn wreath, 2016

Christmas wreath, 2016

Everything is natural and from my garden, except the sparkly silver fake poinsettia thing. Otherwise: English holly, western red cedar, English ivy, variegated ivy, Senecio “Sunshine” foliage, Clematis vitalba seedheads and a sprig of rosemary. Old items included for sentimental/superstitious reasons: brown maple leaf from the autumn wreath, old dried rosehips and a peony seed pod (sans seeds). Everything is jammed into a base of Clematis armandii stems held together with garden twine. I’ve been using it for years.

Because there is no moisture-holding material such as moss, I don’t expect this creation to stay fresh until the new year, but I can always replace and refresh withering stuff if I feel like it.

*DIM = did it myself