all hallow's eve

number of tootsie pops: 30.
number of trick-or-treaters: 0.
more leftovers.
happy halloween.

nibble nibble...

...like a mouse. or a chipmunk. or a squirrel. someone's been eating the ornamental kale by the door and they finally finished it off!

autumn hour

i just got in from an afternoon out, just turned my watch back the hour that it didnt get turned back last night. i took a ride, saw raging rivers from the storm and even a little snow. i found two great rural communities with wonderful old architecture and had a nice conversation with an amazing old couple. i bought some cider at a local orchard. now thats a good way to spend an extra hour - or two, or three...

eastern standard time

i am up, doing some work for a meeting this week. my internal timeclock tells me its after 2am - but my computer just automatically adjusted for the end of daylight savings time. one minute it was 1:59, the next it was 1:00. ill not adjust my watch. ill do it sometime tomorrow - when im having fun - when i really want that extra hour.

waxing crescent

observed this evening on my way home. in this phase, the moon closely follows the sun across the sky and sets shortly after its predecessor. the almanac says the moon tonight was 30% illuminated. i read somewhere once that there are groups of people who make a point of seeking out this moon each month when it is earlier in its waxing state - when it is 10% or even 5% illuminated - because its so hard to spot and so quick to leave the sky. i have glimpsed it, though, hanging like a thin fingernail in sunset's glow.

morning light

these mornings its been so dark that ive resorted to lighting the kitchen candle when i get up. this coming weekend we "fall back" and daylight savings time comes to an end. it'll get darker sooner in the afternoon - but at least i'll be able to locate socks that match without lighting the whole place up.

three bears

i worked all day and i came home and worked all night. and these guys just sat there and watched me and never said a word.

gray day

a few nights ago, a cold front blew in with heavy rain and gusty winds. it was the kind of dark and stormy night that starts off a bad piece of writing. it blew most of the remaining leaves from the trees and brought foliage season to a close. this is what we're left with. although its not really cold yet, today reminds me of the kind of day we have just before snow comes.

grapes

behind the house, the grapevine stands twisted and bare. the grapes that covered it this summer have shriveled and fallen off or been eaten by some critter. this is all that's left of this season's fruit. too late to make jam, i guess.

fill 'er up

what a difference a few months make. today i filled the gas tank for twenty bucks. it was just like old times.

leftovers

from the wedding, we have food leftovers. we have decoration leftovers and program leftovers. and we have candle leftovers. lots and lots of candle leftovers. perhaps we could use them to make jackolanterns for halloween with the pumpkin leftovers.

a favor

homemade granola from the wedding. the weekend is coming to a close. the wedding breakfast was this morning and this evening most guests are back at their homes. s&s are off on a brief honeymoon. it was a glorious weekend. sigh.

wedding II

the wedding was amazing. beautiful weather, lots of family and friends, a great party and a blissfully happy bride and groom. i am sorry it's over. here are the wreaths as centerpieces. they looked beautiful.

wedding

today is the wedding. i hope it will be everything our very special bride and groom have dreamed of. here are the wreaths for the centerpieces. we decimated all the end-of-season herbs to construct them. thyme and rosemary, geranium and mint, sage and rosehips - and so much more. they'll go around white pillar candles in hurricanes and they'll look beautiful. and smell even better.

ghost pumpkins

in a few more days, we have a wedding. a very important wedding. we're doing all the decorating so we've been planning for it forever. last spring, at the request of the bride, we planted white pumpkins. twice, because it was a rainy spring. here's the crop. there were more seeds in the package than there are pumpkins. anyone with ideas about how we can decorate a huge tent with two teeny tiny pumpkins, let me know.

transparency

beans are pretty much gone by now. these remaining pods will supply the seed for next year's plants. see them inside the pod?

regarding yesterday's post - i heard and saw the geese this morning. two different flocks, both headed south.

columbus day

beauteous weekend. warm sun. full moon nights. glorious foliage. three days off. the only thing that would have made it complete would be geese on the wing - but i bet it's not time yet. i shot this at the cove of a nearby river. im curious to see what it would look like if i rotated it. but i won't.

iris pod

in the garden tonight, i found seeds in pods. lupine and iris and milkweed on the perimeter. seeds all lined up nice and straight in their little cases.

mile high

a neighbor down the street has this big party every year. he always does one of these balloon displays. although it's hard to see in the picture, this one was way up there. i wonder how long it takes to create it? i also wonder what happens to it after the party's over and it's time to call it a day. i sure hope it doesn't just float away.