color

 

This isn't exactly the view I wake up to, because I wake up hours before daylight.

But it is the view from my bed, where I usually bundle back up and have breakfast after coming in from morning chores. Most days I have to bribe Della with treats to get my spot back; she appears out of nowhere and occupies the central location before I'm even out of the room.

Here's a closer look at the trees behind my workshop:

And here's how they look on a rainy day:

I love the richness and depth of colors on a gloomy day.

The rain is returning, so I must get out there and make sure everyone is set for the night.  Here's a little more color to peruse while I'm gone:

And...we're back to rain.

~~~~~

wordless wednesday

 

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wordless wednesday

 

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view from a chaise

Mox keeping a sharp eye on ground-level activity.

While I tilt back.

(Note: in case of interest, roofline at bottom provides scale.)

I hope you are having a lovely Tuesday.

Almost said "weekend."

Right on top of things, me.

~~~~~

extremely green

We've reached the point where most of the trees' leaves are past the soft stage, and many are now deeper shades of green than they were even a week ago. Every window in my house looks into a sea of greens. And outside, my main chaise view is up into layer after layer of beech, maple, oak, and hemlock branches. Very many very greens.

It's a nice way to start the month of June. Gazing into green.

~~~~~

the calm

I'm sorry I've been out of touch. The power has been out since a storm Wednesday night, and just came back at noon today, Sunday. No power, no phone, no water. And just to make things interesting: no vehicle. My Highlander went onto the shop on Tuesday, and there it sits. I think the garage got their power back yesterday afternoon.

My road loses power with some regularity, so I had no idea how widespread and severe the damage was (see no phone, etc, above) until Friday, when my Occasional Helper came by as fortunately prearranged and gave me the bigger picture.

Bit of a storm.

So my power is back, which is a huge relief in regards to the freezer, which I have spent four days and nights practicing not worrying about. Long story short: I think the frozen food is okay! Having water again is rather nice, also. The contents of my little fridge were greatly reduced, but now the fridge itself is sparkly clean and extremely tidy, so let's enjoy that while it lasts.

On the down side, there is still a fallen tree pinning two power lines - from house to workshop and from workshop to stilt barn - at 52 inches from the ground. That is the height of the paddock fence the bole is now resting on. It's not a large-diameter tree, but is about 35 feet from root mass to crown, so it caught both lines before resting neatly on the fence. I checked with the power company about the safety of using power in the house while these lines are so compromised (even with that circuit switched off, of course) and was advised that I should treat it a a dangerous situation, stay away, and use no high-draw appliances until a National Grid tree person can get here. Which may not be for a couple of days (I'm guessing) so I ran down the list of my appliances and got the "okay" on the dishwasher which made me very happy indeed. It will probably take a couple of days just to get all the dishes washed.

I'll leave you with a couple of pictures taken the day before the storm.

We are having a stunning foliage season this year, and surprisingly, despite the storm, vast quantities of leaves are still on the trees today! Lots of leaves are on the ground, of course, and there are small branches everywhere, so the goats are enjoying an extended picnic.

This is my east view from the barnyard:

I sometimes forget to provide a sense of the size of the forests I keep showing you,

so here is the east view from my back door, with Adirondack chair for scale:

Now off to the barns.

With no power out there yet, I need to get the chores done while I can still see.

But I wanted to touch base after my latest post,

with a heartfelt thank you for all the kind thoughts.

Much appreciated.

~~~~~

wordless wednesday

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sunday snap

Don't read too much into this.

It's only August!

~~~~~

shortlist

• Have you entered the amazing bookstore giveaway yet? Entries close on the 31st, and since the shop is in England, their timezone is several hours ahead of all the US timezones. Do it! Do it now!

• Exciting local news: the kittens caught their first mouse!

"Aw, shucks, t'weren't nuthin'!"

• Equally exciting: the mouse was completely dead and fully intact when I saw it and quickly disposed of it. 'Nuff said.

"You're welcome! But I can't talk now - flying mice!"

• Piper recently acquired another spa neckerchief. She usually has two professional baths each year: Spring and Autumn. This year, thanks to her lightening-quick ability to find and roll in stinky stuff while I'm distracted for two minutes, she has had four baths. Or maybe five. Or was it six? I'm not going to look at my checkbook to count the appointments. I don't like cursing at bedtime.

"Go ahead, turn away for 2 minutes. Make my day."
(She's not really cross, here; just waiting for a treat.)  

• It has rained a cold, dank, gloomy drizzle for four days, off and on. But tonight feels relatively balmy, so I'm hopeful there is better weather ahead. We still have some very colorful foliage, but much has fallen. Here's another "Before And After" scene for you, this time with images taken about a week apart. This is the end of my driveway as seen from the road:

Before

After

I hope all is well in your neck of the woods.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

~~~~~

one windy day

~~~

~~~~~

frost

Saturday was downright balmy.

For much of the day, I worked in shirtsleeves.

Shirtsleeves!

Saturday night the temperature plummeted again.

Sunday morning was nose-bitingly cold,

but sunny and still.

Very pleasant. Very beautiful.

I took these pictures en route to the barn.

As the rising sun reached each plant, the frost melted.

Plants two feet apart looked completely different.

I had to work fast.

This meant chores were postponed for ten minutes.

Background music for these images was provided by

a cacophony of outraged goatsong,

courtesy of the Cloud Harvest gang.

I will not be uploading the audio.

You're welcome. 

The shrill voices of Tansy and Fern rose above the entire herd.

Ceaselessly.

Shriekingly.

You would not believe how indignant two tiny goats can be.

As if those two fuzzy little pudgeballs are lacking for grub!

I think they didn't want to set a precedent.

"Photography before breakfast?

Not on our watch!"

 

And now November ends as a new week begins.

And it's time to head for the barn.

I hope you have a wonder-full Monday.

~~~~~

saturday snap

~~~~~