It actually snowed yesterday! Around lunchtime - we were at work, it was overcast, with rain predicted. Then it turned to snow for about an hour. Later, the sun came out, which wasn't expected any more than the snow was.
Like somebody flipped a switch when November arrived.
This morning the ground was very frosty.
And very pretty.
Okay. While getting ready for work, I heard my brother, Come 'ere, come here, hurry!
I thought it must be a bear in the backyard or something. I came out of my room.
He was in the bathroom, and there was Daisy, sitting on the toilet tank, the Kleenex box on her head. Vertically. I mean her head was in the box. She sat quietly so I ran to get the camera. Took a (lousy) photo and removed the box from her head.
She didn't cry, or struggle. I suppose if we'd been at work, she would have figured it out herself.*
Oh, you should have been there.
*now I'm starting to wonder what really goes on all day with those two
"Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction. Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
*this was in Plough magazine, Autumn 2023
A few nights ago it got down into the thirties. Now, we're having summer again, with four days in a row of the seventies and up to eighty. I'm trying to finish washing the windows while it's nice.
I went outside to put more cardboard in a raised bed, and somebody was at the door when I came back.
Well, two somebodies.
Is the leaf trying to get a point across? The weather is supposed to turn warm for a few days....
Jesus says to those who seek him,
I will never pass you by;
Raise the stone and you will find me;
Cleave the wood, and there am I.
Where the many work together,
They with Christ himself abide,
But the lonely workers also
Find him ever at their side.
- Geoffrey Dearmer
Another weekend with rain; it's a sure thing, every weekend there seems to be a tropical storm in the Atlantic that passes by (not too close, though!) and we get wet.
I noticed over the whole summer that our rabbit friend comes out in light rain or afterward, when the grass is cool and wet. And today, I saw one near the hedge out my window this morning, and again in late afternoon, just sitting there quietly. They like it. Or, I should say that this one likes it.
It was raining here.
A moment later, and he was gone. Which was just as well, for one of Dianne's cats came by, sniffing around. He may be getting too old to chase rabbits, and just wants to snoop around; I hope. I like seeing these little neighbors.
I suppose the local cats are also our neighbors, but in a different way - they have a home.
There is a very interesting quote today on the Trappist monks' blog, something from Robert Louis Stevenson. But even though I've linked it, I want to put it here:
"the Trappist world appeals to me as a model of wisdom...so infinitesimally is the day divided among different occupations. The man who keeps rabbits, for example, hurries from his hutches to the chapel, or the chapter-room, or the refectory, all day long: every hour he has an office to sing, a duty to perform; from two, when he rises in the dark, till eight, when he returns to receive the comforting gift of sleep, he is upon his feet and occupied with manifold and changing business. I know many persons, worth several thousands in the year, who are not so fortunate in the disposal of their lives...We speak of hardships, but the true hardship is to be a dull fool, and permitted to mismanage life in our own dull and foolish manner."
My apologies to the monks for stealing their blogpost on the day they posted it.
Meanwhile, I am trying to get away from regular wheat flour, and am re-doing some favorite recipes with gluten-free mix, einkorn flour, spelt, buckwheat, rye, or mixtures of these. It's interesting and unpredictable.
I think it's peak foliage days around here. It was sunny, and then overcast, back and forth all day. I finally got outside in late afternoon to put my other raised bed together; everything was so brilliant.
I loved the first raised bed - it was well made, with perfectly cut sections. I put it together and went back to Amazon to order another - no longer available. I found another one which looked exactly the same, but with different wood. It came with poorly-cut pieces that were splintering. My brother showed me that it could be used, because I was getting ready to return it. So, I managed and it's almost together now, but not as nice as the first. But I was glad of the fresh air; too often I get mired in the household affairs, which are never done anyway.
Often just when I'm getting in bed, one of the cats will be there and then the other one comes - then they must wrestle. On my bed. Fortunately, after a minute, one takes off and the other flies after. They wrestle at mealtimes, rather than wait patiently - I suppose they figure why not do something while we wait?
"Beautiful, dramatic October! I wish it could last for a year."
- Gladys Taber
Well, I couldn't finish the H.G. Wells story, but I couldn't put down Out of the Silent Planet. What a contrast in the way the two authors approached their stories! When I first heard that C.S. Lewis wrote a "Planet Trilogy", I couldn't imagine - I never thought I'd actually like it. It was fantastic. Both are telling almost the same tale, but it's all in where the authors are coming from. One, a socialist, the other, a Christian. One, negative, the other, positive. So of course I'll read the other two sequels, but not right away.
I also picked up a biography of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., written last year. I've never been a fan of the Kennedy's, but he is running for president.
"It struck me... that every nation, like every individual, has a dark side and a lighter side. I became fascinated by populism, a democratic impulse that was often perverted by demagogues. The easiest thing for a politician to do is appeal to our greed, bigotry, racism, xenophobia and crude self-interest. My father had endeavored to do something different - to appeal to the hero in each of us - to persuade us to transcend narrow self-interest and act on behalf of the community."
We've had two more morning glory blooms since the first one; it's a hardier plant than I thought it would be.
The last time I was at Goodwill I found a task lamp there. It's taller than the usual and has got a heavy base; it's dark brown, with a plastic, rather than glass, shade. I like task lamps - they can be great in the right places. I was thinking of the spare room, but ended up finding a space for it on the kitchen counter. It was very helpful when I made the pie the other day! We have three lights in the kitchen but to have something right there, where the work happens is very welcome. But I can't seem to get a nice photo of it.
All creatures of our God and King,
Life up your voice and with us sing
Alleluia, alleluia!
Thou burning sun with golden beam,
Thou silver moon with softer gleam,
O praise Him, O praise Him!
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Thou rushing wind that art so strong,
Ye clouds that sail in heav'n along,
O praise Him, alleluia!
Thou rising morn, in praise rejoice,
Ye lights of evening, find a voice,
O praise Him, O praise Him,
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
And all ye men of tender heart,
Forgiving others, take your part
O sing ye, Alleluia!
Ye who long pain and sorrow bear,
Praise God and on Him cast your care,
O praise Him, O praise Him,
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Let all things their Creator bless,
And worship Him in humbleness,
O praise Him alleluia!
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son,
And praise the Spirit, Three in One,
O praise Him, O praise Him,
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
- words by St. Francis of Assisi
They just played the October poem on the radio - if you missed my post about it last year,
I went outside first thing to put more cardboard in the garden area, and there were so many diamonds in the lawn!
I planted these morning glory seeds very late - probably in July, but I was determined to do it anyway. I told myself to not expect a bloom. But, here we are! These little plants didn't seem to suffer from the cold we had last week, so we'll see how long they can hold out.
After posting the fabric and pattern yesterday, I started to think that I could make a whole cloth quilt top from that check. It's more than long enough; I'd have to widen it with something but it would look nice, colorwise. So that's where I've been much of the day, trying to decide between making the dress or a quilt. I really need a new quilt, since the cats have torn up the old one. Basically, I don't feel like making a quilt, and I really would like to make a dress for myself. I never finished that blouse last spring, and the summer v-neck dress was turning out so different from the way it was portrayed on the package. Those sketches always look more flowy than the reality, but this one had a photo - and the photo didn't show how full it is. I abandoned it. I would like to make something to completion.
I am now reading Out of the Silent Planet, by C.S. Lewis, with the podcast group. I ended up abandoning the H.G. Wells, as I wasn't finding time to finish, and didn't like the intensity of it. I've since learned that the story by Lewis was intended to be a sort of re-telling of the Wells novel. Of course, I like this one much better; his tone is quieter and he is coming from a different place, mentally and spiritually, which is going to be evident in all his work.
I watch the sugar maple for its daily changes because it can get so brilliant in October. But capturing it is so hard - I'm sure I don't understand my camera well enough.
And I often take the photos from a window, as I'll notice something while busy in the house.
"The day of the home dressmaker seems to have gone in most places. This is a pity for the town dressmaker was a grand institution. When ours came, it was a gala day. The sound of the sewing machine humming all day and the laughter from the sewing room as Mama and Alma chattered away was a pleasant thing. The smell of chicken simmering on the gas range was fine, and I was usually in a dither over whether my dark-blue corduroy trimmed with fur would get done for the Saturday night football dance.
Alma never used a pattern. She would riffle the pages of a fashion book and say I think I'll make the neck like this - and the skirt like this - and how about raglan sleeves?
Then her long slim shining scissors went snip, snip - and the material divided like the Red Sea when the Israelites crossed."
- Gladys Taber, Stillmeadow Daybook
Speaking of singing, we sang At the Name of Jesus in church yesterday:
At the Name of Jesus
I put on my little wellies and sloshed outside to throw more cardboard into the raised bed. It rained all day yesterday with a lighter rain today - but still rain. I walked onto the bridge to take a look at the roaring brook, but it seems fine. It has more water than usual, but nothing crazy. But it's very dreary out, and I'm sure never got up to sixty degrees yesterday.
But, up to the seventies next week! Meanwhile, I get out my fall clothes, a little at a time, and put some things away, a little at a time. And that's how it goes in New England; we have way more than two or four clothing seasons.
But in the background the mockingbird is singing, which is a welcome accompaniment to fall.
I've read that is one has lots of debt in several places, it's best to pay off the smallest, then the next, and so on. Well, I've been on so many book tangents this summer, I told myself to just go back and finish something that's been dangling for too long. So, I'm trying to finish up with From Laurel Hill to Siler's Bog, which is after all very well written, but I just kept drifting away from it. I am also poking in and out of Gladys Taber for the appropriate month, since her books almost always are chaptered for each month. And then there's the H. G. Wells, where our two "heroes" are now on the moon and running into difficulties. I wonder how that will end.
I haven't touched anything for two months or more. Anyway, I don't want to try and pull up the weeds: too much work, and if I just cover them over, they'll decompose and add nutrients to the soil. I am so glad to have raised beds now; do you see the standing water there? Such a wet summer.
I first laid out some paper of various kinds and set up the bed on top of it very easily. I've been saving cardboard and I put some of it in, but will continue another day. Now that I know it's a nice design I can order another bed. Did I say it smells heavenly? Spruce wood.
I enjoyed the warm sun, and there were goldenrod and asters everywhere.
I cut some asters, remembering that tomorrow is Michaelmas. I arranged them and really wanted to set up a little vignette on the table, but - we know that's impossible.
"For me, September is a nostalgic month. I always think back to the football games and the late picnics when I was growing up. In the little college town, the ivy on the gray stone buildings was tinged with red, the sun shone on the campus, woodsmoke drifted in the air. The professors hurried along the crosswalk with their lecture notes under their arms and dreamy smiles on their academic faces."
- Gladys Taber
Hurricane Ophelia has been passing by at a distance, and so there's been a couple of rainy days here. I spent some time today switching out some paintings and other knick-knacky things for the season. I can finish another day.
We drove out a way for lunch at some friends' house - my brother was their best man, years ago. They have a lovely home, and I forgot to take my camera along. The closet space in these newer homes is astounding! - but a very nice visit in an old-fashioned and picturesque part of their town. They prayed such a nice grace before the meal, with Bob saying the prayer, but Darlene frequently mm-hmming in agreement; it was so heartfelt.
They have a collection of colored glass bottles here and there - some of them older but not worth much, some in the dark brownish-green, and from around the Revolutionary War period. I've always liked colored glass. We knew an elderly woman when I was a child; she owned a Victorian-era house and had knick knacks on every end table. I loved going there. It wasn't until much later that I began to appreciate having fewer things to deal with when dusting. But Bob and Darlene didn't have too much, but a good balance.
"The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control."
- Galatians 5:22-23
"Come to me, all you that yearn for me, and be filled with my fruits; you will remember me as sweeter than honey, better to have than the honeycomb. He who obeys me will not be put to shame, he who serves me will never fail."
- Sirach 24:18-19,21
A true September day - the stillness of it. I can hear insects repeating themselves in the way they do, but otherwise, it's quiet. No breeze, bright sun. It's beginning to feel like fall. There were asters growing inside the hydrangea and I left them too long; now, instead of rooting them out, all I could do was cut, but at least I was outside for a while.
The online book group is going to discuss H.G. Wells' The First Men in the Moon, and a strange story it is. At this early stage, it seems like a cautionary tale: don't let an over-excited person suck you into their schemes. But I'll reserve judgment in case it takes a turn in another direction.
I made the honey spice cake today for my Jewish friend, and was looking for a container to put the cut-up pieces in, when I remembered these -
I know I've mentioned it before. What she has started doing is to chew on any tissues which stick out of the box. That means stuffing it all back inside after pulling one out. What next?
I first posted about this nine years ago! Well, it's still excellent. I'm talking about the chocolate avocado pudding:
Heat up 1/2 cup of dark chocolate pieces along with 1/2 cup of coconut milk, until the chocolate is melted. Meanwhile, into your food processor, put four ripe avocadoes, 1/2 cup honey, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon of vanilla, 1 tablespoon of raw sugar, 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, a pinch of salt and the melted mixture. Mix thoroughly.
This is a very delicious recipe. Alternatively, Giada de Laurentiis has a version which uses agave nectar instead of honey, no coconut milk and semisweet chips for the chocolate. No pepper. So you see that it's flexible, but really a nice treat.
I picked this one up today - so cute!
I couldn't get the chick photos off my tablet for some reason, so I'll have to take some more tomorrow. They grow fast.
I made the pear sauce in the crockpot today, with some ginger and vanilla; it's in the freezer now, for Thanksgiving, maybe. It might be nice over ice cream or gingerbread, too. And four of the avocados got turned into chocolate mousse pudding. I was glad to discover the recipe in my box, because the link on my Pinterest board goes nowhere - the original site is gone.
I rarely see rabbits anymore, but my brother seems to see them after dark, in the front yard. It rained today, a gentle on-and-off rain and before it got too dark I saw one, almost camouflaged against the hedge. They seem to like it when it's wet out.
He wasn't moving, just resting, I suppose. I really wanted to wash this north window in my room, but the kitchen detail kept me busy. When you buy almost ripe or overripe produce, you have to put other things aside. Although I'm sure I could be more efficient with my time. But I have pear sauce in the freezer and some nice healthy-ish chocolate pudding for snacks, if I need one. And dirty windows and bathroom wallpaper I want to finish removing.
"I will cleanse them of all the guilt they incurred by sinning against me; all their offenses by which they sinned and rebelled against me, I will forgive. Then Jerusalem shall be my joy, my praise, my glory, before all the nations of the earth, as they hear of all the good I will do among them. They shall be in fear and trembling over all the peaceful benefits I will give her."
- Jeremiah 33: 8-9
We're having some nice weather, but it still feels like summer, just late summer. I can hear the katydids outside now.
A customer gave my brother three beautiful eggplants the other day, but they are hard. It threw me to feel them; they never feel hard from the supermarket. I asked somebody who's grown them and who loves eggplant. She said they're not ripe if they're hard, and they may not soften up. But I'll give them a little time and see if anything happens. I hope we can use them! She said maybe I could slice them up, salt 'em and roast. If they aren't too bitter.
I saw a license plate today that said AWSUM.
They had bags of pears on sale at Stop & Shop. I think I'll make some pear sauce in the crockpot when they get softer. And there was a bag of six avocadoes on the reduced produce shelf for two dollars. I am not crazy about them, but maybe I can make a batch of chocolate avocado pudding.
My Panasonic iron finally gave up the ghost after fourteen years of ironing two or three times a week. I bought an Electrolux from Amazon - terrible. It doesn't glide! How can you iron with something that doesn't glide well? And the dial is underneath the handle and hard to move. It's just a terrible design, and I need a good iron! Back to the reviews.
I like the way people hang up their fresh herbs to dry from hooks in the kitchen. I bought a bunch of parsley and ties up some small bunches, hanging them in four places above the sink. You-know-who was watching me; she may jump on the counter overnight and try to reach them. She was even chewing on some of it that fell out. Annie, on the other hand, seemed repelled by it. She's the sensitive one. I remember the time she gagged after sniffing a banana. (sorry, Annie, but I thought that was funny)
Today was dry and beautiful. Which is saying something, because it's been so humid and un-September-like. But at the beginning of the month, we had some of those foggy mornings of mystery.
At the library, four of the chicks hatched; the photos are on my tablet - I'll have to get them off. Two never developed, the other one just wasn't strong enough to complete the hatching process. So sad.
I finally ordered a raised bed and have been saving up cardboard and papers. It's a mess out there but I want to set it up as soon as I can. I've recently discovered Huw Richards on youtube, and what a marvelous gardener that young fellow is! I bought two of his books already and also one by Liz Zorab.
Hers is not only advice, but her story of ill health and how she came to permaculture - very interesting. She and Huw are both Welsh and in a milder climate, but that isn't going to be a problem.
I finished reading The Man Who Was Thursday, and Gretchen wanted me to say a bit more about it. I liked it very well, it's quite a short book, it was unexpected at every turn, and I'm not sure I understood it completely. Basically, it's about anarchy. I'm not good at book reviewing, and it had me surprised all along the way. It was good! Read it, it won't take you long. :)
I bought a bag of clementines really cheap at the supermarket, and would like to try a freezer jam; but I've got to figure it out first.
