Very Cold

Very cold lately. Highs in the single digits.

Winter Solstice 2013

Today is the equinox.

Yesterday's Full Moon - 12/17/13

Graphic by - design: jdl
Full Cold Moon
December 17, 2013

Lots of Snow

Quite Chilly

12-7-13
Yowza! This was the temperature when Dale and I left for the gym on Saturday morning.

Winter Greenery

The spruce top looks so much more Christmas-y with snow.

Chilly Night

Things have gotten cold quite quick. Snowed a lot yesterday as the temperature hovered around 32 degrees and then it plummeted.

Winter Greenery

Every year I buy a spruce top from a gal at work who sells them for her daughter's Girl Scout troop.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The backyard on Thursday November, 28. What a glorious day!

Full Moon November 17, 2013

The Full Beaver Moon occured at 9:16 this morning. This photo was actually taken a couple of days ago and treated with photoshop. 

Fall Leaf Raking Part 4

It is finished and looks pretty good.

Fall Leaf Raking Part 3

Lots of leaves. Lots of effort.

Fall Leaf Raking Part 2

The Bagmeister

Fall Leaf Raking Part 1

The front yard yesterday.

Barberry Bush

I took this shot of the barberry bush right after getting home from work this afternoon. Lovely red.

First Snowfall of the Season

First snowfall of the season with any accumulation occurred overnight. I snapped this backyard shot this morning as Dale was pulling the car out of the garage to drive me to work. If you look closely you can see him in the front and Athena sitting in the back. She loves to ride in the car.

Front Yard Silver Maple

The trees have held their leaves a lot longer than usual but they're finally starting to come down. Between the silver maple in our front yard and the one in Jim's back, we're getting a nice covering of yellow leaves all over.

Full Moon - Friday October 18, 2013

Time for the Full Hunter's Moon.

First Day of Autumn 2013

We've Gotten A Little Rain Lately

Harvest Moon

Full moon this morning. Took the photo from which this image is derived last night.

Icky Dewpoint

Dale told me the dew point got up to 77 today. That's just NASTY.

Full Moon August 20, 2013

The following is by Clara Moskowitz and was found in Huffington Post:

"This month's full moon, which rises on Tuesday (Aug. 20), is not just a Blue Moon - it's also the Full Sturgeon Moon, the Full Red Moon, the Green Corn Moon and the Grain Moon."

"Today's full moon qualifies as a Blue Moon because it's the third full moon in a season with four (most seasons have only three). Historically there have been two different definitions of a Blue Moon."

"Technically, a Blue Moon is the third full moon in a four-full-moon season. However, a 1946 article in 'Sky & Telescope' magazine mistakenly defined it as the second full moon in a single month (since most months have only one full moon), and the definition stuck. Because August will have just this one full moon, it wouldn't meet the mistaken, though commonly used, definition, though it does qualigy as a technical Blue Moon."

Huh, who knew? I guess you learn something new every day. (I like the mistaken definition best, though.)

Anne the Magnolia - Summer 2013

Anne the Magnolia has been doing well in 2013. Deb recently did a little decorating to brighten her up.

Sophie's Ashes

Dale and I finally spread Sophie's ashes the other day. I put some in a small vessel but the rest we poured around our backyard pine tree, not far from where we first found her in our driveway way back on that cold January day in the year 2000.

More August Planting

I put a mum and some ornamental peppers in this planter. The mums will be yellow when they bloom. Although the peppers are yellow now, I believe they will turn red. I think they'll look nice together.

August Planting

Dale loves the feathery plumes of the celosia plant. I picked some up at Bachman's the other day and will pick up some more soon. Celosia does well in sun to light shade and it blooms from summer to early fall making this just the right time of year for it.

Cocktails in the Yard

Dale and I had cocktails in the yard the other night. The temperature was pleasant and there was a wonderful breeze that kept the mosquitoes away. The photo shows my view of the tree across the alley.

One Wicked Weed

The type of weed you see on the left  has been popping up around the yard this year.  Actually they pop up every year but this year they just grew bigger than usually due to my late start in the gardens. I decided to let this one go for as long as I could stand it. Well, yesterday I couldn't stand it any more but had to get a picture before I pulled it up. It was removed very carefully since it has little nasty spikes on its stem that can make your skin tingle (I know from experience) if you touch them.

Helenium

My helenium by the driveway didn't come back this year. I think this flower in the grill garden is helenium but I'm not quite sure. Beautiful none-the-less.

Grill Garden

I can never remember the name of these flowers. They are quite pretty and remind me a little bit of my helenium.

Tiger Lilies

They've been blooming the last week and a half or so.

Zinnias

I love zinnias. It's a beautiful flower and it's just plain fun to say the word zinnia. All of the photos above are from one of my backyard planters. Illustration is by Mary Cicely Barker.

Leo's Lily Pond

My cousin Leo in Washington D.C. has a lily pond in his back yard.  He posted pictures of some of the flowers. Quite pretty.

Pumpkins?!?!

Noticed what you see in the top photo only a couple days ago.  To me, the leaves look like those of  a pumpkin plant which was interesting to me since I don't remember planting any pumpkin seeds last year. While noticing all this, Dale was taking off up the alley for a bike ride and our neighbor Steve was complimenting his gams saying they looked as good as Lance Armstrong's (and without the steroids!). I called Steve over asking him if he knew what a pumpkin plant looks like.  He said he did. He looked at the plant and said that if it wasn't pumpkin it was some other kind of squash. I told him it had to be pumpkin since I had some small pumpkins in the planters that were on this side of the house last fall. The squirrels had eaten the pumpkins and a seed must've dropped over the planter's edge.

Steve said that the actual pumpkin would grow where you see the bud in the top photo and the flower blooming  in the bottom picture. I'm excited! We've got our own little pumpkin patch! Now - how to keep those rascally squirrels away?!

Ferns

I don't remember the ferns lasting this long into July.  They look great.  Late spring really makes a difference, huh?

Deb's Hydrangeas

They're beautiful.  

Marigolds

Bought some orange marigolds today at Bachman's and planted them in the front yard planter.  The top left photo shows yellow marigolds from the backyard planter.  Illustration is by Mary Cicely Barker.

Full Buck Moon 2013

According to the Old Farmer's Almanac:

"July is normally the month when the new antlers of buck deer push out of their foreheads in coating of velvety fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, for the reason that thunderstorms are most frequent during this time. Another name for this month's Moon was the Full Hay Moon."

Raspberries

The raspberries in the garden are starting to ripen.

Mark Goes After the Stump

Mark was over at Deb's this morning to work on getting the tree stump up.

Lupine

The lupines were past their peak during my last visit to Madeline Island but many were still looking pretty good.

Photo taken July 2013.

Trip to Bachman's

I'm so late getting started with planting this year.  Things are starting to brighten up just a bit.  Whatever the purple stuff is, it sure looks pretty. 

Hot Bunny

This heat is making these critters positively droopy!

Tiger Lilies

Of all the gardens on our block, I think our tiger lilies are blooming last.

Top photo: Neighbor's blooming boulevard.
Bottom photo: Our buds.

Little Bird

This little one flew into the garage the other day just as I was about to close the door and didn't seem too anxious to leave as I approached to take a picture.  She flew out the next day.