RYG 2016 in Pictures … What a Year It Was!

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I’m still not certain if all this social media shtuff is a net-good-thing or not. Which is quite ironic given that I’m relying on social media to reach you … and it’s partly the foundation on which I’m trying to build Redeem Your Ground. Oh the tension of life.

Regardless, one thing I do appreciate about social media is how it makes looking back over time much easier. So today…the first day of 2017…I’m going to take a look back at 2016 through some of the images we posted on RYG’s Instagram account (@RYGblog). I hope you enjoy the walk back in time. [If there’s a blog post associated with any given pic, I’ve included a link to it as well…in case you’re interested.]

RYG 2016 Year In Review | String Lights - Redeem Your Ground | RYGblog.comApparently the first few days of January 2016 were a bit drier than they have been this year. Which was perfect weather for me to try out my new string lights…with one of our lighted Christmas balls as a chandelier over the patio table.

RYG 2016 Year In Review | Loddon Lily - Redeem Your Ground | RYGblog.comWhen our Loddon Lilies emerge in March, it’s one of the first signs of spring. Spring 2016 was no different.

RYG 2016 Year In Review | Garden Cat ... Baby Kitty - Redeem Your Ground | RYGblog.comWhen a few friendly rats arrived at our home last spring, Britt finally broke down and allowed me to get a couple of garden cats. This is “Baby Kitty”…and she arrived with her momma, “Momma Kitty”(very original naming, I know). But thanks to our cat-raising-ignorance and a neighborhood Tomcat, “Baby Kitty” became “Baby Momma Kitty” and 2 cats became 7. Fortunately, we’re back down to 3…which still seems like 1 too many.

RYG 2016 Year In Review | Easter Egg Birdseed Ornaments - Redeem Your Ground | RYGblog.comEaster 2016 once again included Britt and the girls making Easter Egg birdseed ornaments.
RYG 2016 Year In Review - RYG Tee ShirtsOn the business front, we launched the RYG Store last Apirl…where you can purchase your very own RYG tee shirt. Check it out if you’re looking for a comfy, outdoor-themed tee. Clearly I’m biased…but I think the designs are really cool and the tees are mucho comfy.
RYG 2016 Year In Review - Featured in April 2017 Southern Living | Redeem Your Ground | RYGblog.com

Thanks to Super-RYGblog-Follower Helen (aka, my mom!)…who reminded me, I’m adding the photo above that I grabbed from Britt’s Instagram account of the article about Redeem Your Ground that appeared in the April 2016 issue of Southern Living. I left it off this post initially not because being in Southern Living wasn’t a big deal…because it was a HUGE deal..but because I didn’t post a pic of it on Instagram…and the photo shoot took place and the article was written in 2015. Nonetheless, it certainly does deserve to be represented in the 2016 look-back in RYG pics. (Thanks Mother Dearest for the prompting!)

RYG 2016 Year In Review | Backyard Chickens - Redeem Your Ground | RYGblog.comWe still love raising our backyard chickens. This is Ginger…and unfortunately she went to the big chicken coop in the sky this year. Replaced, but never forgotten…Ginger will likely remain our all-time favorite feathered friend for some time.

RYG 2016 Year In Review | Get Outside - Redeem Your Ground | RYGblog.comWe loved how our 2 simple strands of string lights allowed us to extend hang-time with friends and family well into the evening.

RYG 2016 Year In Review | Nikko Blue Hydrangeas - Redeem Your Ground | RYGblog.comEven though I lean towards a simple, classic green & white garden…we’ll always make room for some Nikko Blue Hydrangeas.

RYG 2016 Year In Review | Wine Bottle Tiki Torches - Redeem Your Ground | RYGblog.comSting Lights + DIY Wine Bottle Tiki Torches (- Mosquitos) + 2(Glass of Wine) = Laid Back Summer Evening

RYG 2016 Year In Review | Blueberries - Redeem Your Ground | RYGblog.comWe love growing blueberries. They make the perfect outdoor-snack-on-the-go…and Britt makes a mean blueberry pie.

RYG 2016 Year In Review | Family Veggie Garden - Redeem Your Ground | RYGblog.comOur family veggie garden last summer…under the watchful eye of Sally the Scarecrow.

RYG 2016 Year In Review | Our Chicken Coop - Redeem Your Ground | RYGblog.comMorning pic of our chicken coop…on the day our friends from Growing a Greener World were here to shoot the episode on Redeem Your Ground…that will air Spring 2017. So be on the lookout.

RYG 2016 Year In Review | Veggie Harvest - Redeem Your Ground | RYGblog.comI’m a wimp when it comes to spicy food…I leave that up to Britt and the girls. However, I love how cool these peppers look with our mini cherry and pear-shaped tomatoes.

RYG 2016 Year In Review | DIY Fourth of July Door Hanger - Redeem Your Ground | RYGblog.comBritt loves to welcome our guests with a bit of seasonal flair. As in years past, this is what our back door looked like in July 2016…complete with a DIY flag door hanger.

RYG 2016 Year In Review | Farm Fresh Eggs - Redeem Your Ground | RYGblog.comWith the shorter days our ladies have slowed a bit now, but I was pretty much guaranteed a shirt tail full of eggs every day this summer.

RYG 2016 Year In Review | Limelight Hydrangeas - Redeem Your Ground | RYGblog.com #monroviaThere are a number of reasons why I love Limelight Hydrangeas, but I’d have to say the fact that they continue to add beauty to my back yard through the hot summer months when most of my other flowers have given up probably tops the list.

RYG 2016 Year In Review | Coneflower - Redeem Your Ground | RYGblog.com #monrovia

Last August I had the amazing honor of visiting Monrovia’s incredible nursery outside of Portland Oregon…celebrating their 90th anniversary. I met some really incredible folks from Monrovia, as well as some fellow garden bloggers…and I learned a ton. This is a pic of a luscious red coneflower (not certain of the variety)…one of what seemed like millions that graced us that morning.

RYG 2016 Year In Review | Mango Popsicle Dwarf Poker - Redeem Your Ground | RYGblog.com #monrovia

Here’s a Mango Popsicle Dwarf Poker I saw that same morning while touring Monrovia’s Portland nursery. And the cool thing was…just 2 months later, Monrovia’s Chief Marketing Officer was touring my back yard as I tried my hand  (or face!) at being in front of the camera – doing a Monrovia-branded video on fall shrub care. If you missed the video or post I did on all that goodie, you can check them out here. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that they’ll be some additional opportunities in 2017 for RYG to connect up with Monrovia.

RYG 2016 Year In Review | Veggie Harvest 2 - Redeem Your Ground | RYGblog.com #monroviaHere’s the harvest I came home to from my trip to Monrovia…num-num!

RYG 2016 Year In Review | Gerber Daisy - Redeem Your Ground | RYGblog.comGerber Daisies are one of Britt’s favorite flowers. I love how they look outside…drawing pollinators into our veggie garden…and how they bring a little sunshine inside as cut flowers.

RYG 2016 Year In Review | Veggie Harvest 3 - Redeem Your Ground | RYGblog.comGiven our warmer than normal fall, our peppers kept producing and producing. So much so that we couldn’t eat them fast enough. So we just sliced and froze them – allowing us to enjoy homegrown produce throughout the year. Bonus!

RYG 2016 Year In Review | Thanksgiving Table - Redeem Your Ground | RYGblog.comI can only take credit for the photo of our Thanksgiving table…pre-feast. The rest of the credit goes to Britt’s mom who has a penchant for entertaining in a beautiful way.

RYG 2016 Year In Review | Our Christmas Tree - Redeem Your Ground | RYGblog.comAnd last but not least…our Christmas tree. We love how it brightens and warms up our home so much. She is still standing…just like this…upstairs. We’re going to try to squeeze out a few more days of warmth before taking her down…which will be a sad day. But fortunately we have next Christmas to look forward to…which is only 359 days away!

What a great year 2016 was! Now it certainly was not without its challenges…in fact, it was probably one of the most challenging years for us. But regardless, with 2016 behind us we’re looking forward to 2017 and all that it has in store.

Our hopes and prayers are that 2017 is a life-giving, beauty-making, redemptive year for you, your family…and ours!

Take care & Happy New Year friends!

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8 Comments

  1. Helen on January 7, 2017 at 10:41 am

    We loved reviewing this past years post and seeing again all the great pictures! One exciting thing you did not mention was the article about you and Redeem Your Ground that was in Southern Living. (or was that 2015, time does fly)
    Thanks for adding joy to each week as I learn more about how to care for my plants. Looking forward to a new year full of great new ideas and advice!

    • Doug Scott on January 9, 2017 at 2:26 pm

      Thanks so much Helen!!! And you are SOO right! I inadvertently left out a pic of our article in Southern living…not bc it wasn’t a big deal…bc it def was!…but bc I didn’t post a pic of it on Instagram. But Britt did…so I’ll have to edit this post to reflect it! Thanks for the prompting Helen…Super-RYGblog Follower…aka, Mother Dearest! – Hugs, Doug(las)

  2. Chad Perry on January 7, 2017 at 11:39 am

    Hey Doug –

    Just wanted to let you know that I LOVE your blog! It gives me a LOT of ideas and inspiration. Even though you don’t have a ton of comments, rest assured that there are folks like me that read and go back to your site often. If I ever get to Atlanta, I may have to look y’all up! I have a ton of questions and comments but too much to list here but one that I am curious about is the egg in the center of the photo in this post – the speckled one. Is that one chicken that produces just that kind of egg that has that appearance? Or do you just happen to get those every once in a while? If it is one chicken, what kind of breed produces that type of egg? Thanks in advance and big greetings and New Year wishes from Texas!

    – Chad

    • Doug Scott on January 9, 2017 at 2:21 pm

      Chad…man, thanks so much for your oh-so-kind words. You really don’t know how much they mean. Seeing bumps in traffic is one thing…but hearing from someone (that I’m not related to or don’t know!!!) that they find what we post on RYGblog valuable is huge. So again, thanks for taking the time to reach out and say so. And yes…if you’re ever in Atlanta, please look us up…would love to meet you.

      As for the speckled egg in the middle…it is from 1 of our 2 Welsummers…Jeni or Prim…don’t know which. But that’s generally what her/their eggs look like. I actually got them because of their cool looking eggs.

      And if you have other questions, please reach out…would love to help where I can.

      And big New Year’s wishes to you too…from Georgia! – D.

  3. Susan Scott on January 7, 2017 at 2:55 pm

    Beautiful pictures!!!!! I had to chuckle at your Baby Momma Kitty story!!!!
    I love all the color in your yard!!
    Keep up the great work…I learn something new every time I read your blog!!
    Susan

    • Doug Scott on January 9, 2017 at 2:13 pm

      Thanks Susan!!! We have to chuckle too about how this perceived “anti-cat” family has now come to look like anything but that w cats jumping out from every bush and the smell of kitty litter/cat box wafting from our garage…while we just walk around as if it’s normal…because it IS normal!!!! Argh!!! Take care and I hope you have a grand week! – D.

  4. Sandra Gauger on January 7, 2017 at 5:50 pm

    Love everything about your blog. Especially love your chicken coop!

    • Doug Scott on January 9, 2017 at 2:11 pm

      Thanks so much for your reaching out and your kind comments Sandra!!! We love our coop too…actually need to get out there now to tidy things up…but it’s just gonna have to wait for a warmer day!!! Thanks again and I hope you have a great week. Take care, D.

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