gardening on new year's eve (eve)

So far this has been an exceptionally mild winter. Fear of global warming aside - it's been nice. This morning we helped my uncle as he planted nearly 200 garlic cloves in his garden.
Up the road a little, in my far more modestly sized garden, I finally cleared out the summer's debris. With the arrival of baby #2 in May I hardly had time to harvest anything, let alone actually do garden work. But this week I was able to pull dead plants, dispose of rogue subsoil potatoes and fertilize. I turned in about 25 gallons of partially composted cow manure then planted thirty-some of my own garlic. Today I employed my brother's muscle to top-dress with another 25 gallons of manure. (so much for letting the beds rest in 2012)
I decided to leave the Glads and dahlias in the ground so I threw some hay on them and we'll see if they survive the winter. Part experiment, part lazy.
In 2012 I'd like to start beautifying my garden area. I'm think of mulching all the pathways (with wood mulch instead of hay this time). I'd also like to plant some climbing vines on the fences. I'd love some mandarin honeysuckle and probably some clematis if I can find a white one. I think my girls would really enjoy if I could make it secret garden-y.