Silver and Scarlet

Cat in a Bag

Remnant of Spring

Leaf and Reflection

A maple leaf floats on the surface of a lake while the tree it fell from is reflected in the water underneath it.

Golden October Day

65 degrees and some sunshine. Couldn't have picked a nicer day for a day off this week.

The Peat Bog

On the lowest part of our land there is a strip of woods that is wet and moist with deep soil that is loamy and black with organic matter. The woods is a tangle of fallen trees, rotting leaves, and soft green mosses. When I first walked this property before we bought it, this woods was one of the things that attracted me to this piece of land. As a little girl growing up in hundreds of acres of forest and meadows in upstate New York, one of my favorite places to play was the Enchanted Hemlock Forest with orchids, deep soft mosses, lush ferns, fallen trees, and a little winding creek. Though there are no hemlock trees in this little woods of mine, it reminds me in some small way of that hemlock forest.

It is the fallen decaying trees with their roots exposed, and the abundance of moss that brings romance to this little strip of woods.
And the gardener in me very much appreciates the dark spongy loam that this woods holds. Everywhere else on our property, I turn over a shovelful of soil and it is dry brown sand. Here as deep as I can dig the soil is dark and rich with moisture holding organic matter. It does look and smell very much like the peat that you can buy at any garden center. Because of the moss and the slight acid odor, I am suspecting the loam is quite acidic, but that can be corrected by adding a bit of lime. The sand in my flower beds badly needs the moisture holding capacity that this loam has.

Today was finally a warmer October day, and I hauled 30 buckets of the loam to my new flower bed in front of the house. Hopefully in the next few days this will be tilled in and mixed with the sand and some compost. And then daffodils and tulip bulbs will be planted in this bed.

Frosty October Morning

Fall colors

Bird Bath

Well, not really, but this would be a great design for a one, don't you think?

Simplicity

I went for a walk today to gather grasses for a fall wreath and ended up coming across a patch of purple lamb's quarters seed heads and decided to use those instead. Maybe the wreath doesn't quite say fall, but I love the purple against the green siding of our house.

A Little Country Church

Last week as I was driving to work, I stumbled across the little catholic church in our area. It seems to be one of the best kept secrets around here. Only 7.5 miles away from where we live, and more or less in the middle of nowhere. It is unusual for a catholic church to built out in the country. This morning was our first time going to worship there. Ah, yes, this is the church for country folk. Half the congregation looked liked they had just come in from milking the cows and working on the farm. We should fit right in.

A tale of two cats

Our cats are as different as night and day. Here is Nemo who is Mr. Cool as a Cucumber. He is only a little more then a year old, but is all seriousness and no play.

Blackberry is 100% play and doesn't get that Nemo doesn't want to play.
Nemo will be sitting there cool and placid and Blackberry will come and sneak up on him and try to get him to engage in a wrestling match. Other then an annoyed swat or two, Nemo cannot be enticed.
After the first sneak attack to get Nemo's attention, Blackberry rolls on his back just begging for a fight. Nemo just can't be bothered by something as petty as expending energy for no reason.


It doesn't take long before he gets so annoyed that he just ups and walks away. Ah, but that twitching tail....Blackberry just has to follow him to try to catch that twitching tail!

Shredded Paper Mountain

This is what my dining room currently looks like. This is six months worth of paper that I had been saving up to shred. I got most of it shredded just in time for a visit from Liam and Finn. Once they are done with it, it will be bagged up and used for chicken bedding throughout the winter. Once my chickens are done with it, it will be used as mulch in the garden to keep weeds down to encourage earthworms.

Morning Line Up

What better place is there to greet the sunrise then the second floor porch railing?

Grey Barns

Sand Hill Cranes

Hundreds of these large, graceful birds converged on a nearby corn field today. Quite a sight. My camera did not do them justice. On of the pleasure of living where we now do is that we see Sand hill cranes frequently, but this is the first time I have seen then in such large numbers. Click here for a close up picture to see just how beautiful they are.

Almond White Chocolate Cookies

I was planning on making chocolate chip cookies this evening, but discovered that I was didn't have the most essential ingredient--chocolate chips. But I did have white chocolate chips and lots of almonds, so I found a recipe using them instead. When you live 25 miles from the nearest decent grocery store, if want cookies you make do with the ingredients you have on hand. (Actually, I am finding that is true with all the cooking I have been doing. I keep putting off going to the grocery store, because I don't want to make the drive--and shopping list is getting longer and longer. Some day I will have to go to the store whether I like it or not.)

These almond white chocolate cookies were very much worth making!

Almond White Chocolate Cookies

• 1 cup butter (softened)
• 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 ounces white chocolate chips
• 1 cup almonds chopped in food processor

1. Cream butter.
2. Gradually add sugar beating until light and fluffy.
3. Add egg and vanilla, beating well.
4. Combine flour, soda and salt; add to creamed mixture mixing well.
5. Stir in white chocolate and almonds.
6. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
7. Bake at 375F for 8-10 minutes.
8. Remove to wire racks to cool.

White on White

A study of frost on Queen Anne's Lace.