Category Archives: Fall

A Day and A Degree of Difference

This morning Jane and I went for a beautiful walk with the dogs in the snow. We slipped and giggled, caught snow flakes on our tongues and came back soaking wet.

Tonight Clara and I slogged through the rain to visit Granny. We slipped and grumbled, squelched through mud puddles and came back soaking wet.

What a difference a day and a degree make.

Frosty Calm

This frosty leaf was on the orchard floor this morning. Gently touched by the rising sun it was a vision of stillness, fragility and ephemeral beauty.

And it has absolutely nothing in common with the wild chaos of my family’s life that exists around it.

In fact I’m pretty sure a dog ran it over at top speed as soon as I was done snapping these pictures.

While our life seems to be a whirlwind hovering just this side of insanity, it’s good to know I can always find an oasis of calm through the lens of a camera.

Rubber Boot Mornings

The cold air through the window at night smells of winter and frost has taken all the unprotected flowers.

Mornings are delightfully chilly and so long as I drain them well, the hoses still run during the day.

I love the winter but I’ll miss these in-between days of frosted leaves, rubber boots and running water.

Fall

Probably you’ve noticed by now. One word titles? Daily posts? Jessie must have committed to some sort of crazy “girl, don’t you know it’s spring and now is not the time” blogging challenge.

You are correct.  I have and I love it and today’s word, spring insanity be dammed, is Fall.  As in Autumn.

A perfect excuse to share a completely random picture I loved but never had cause to share, taken last fall while hunting in the giant wheat fields of Montana.

 

What can I say. I just can’t resist a good challenge!

The Satisfied “HA!”

You know the satisfied “Ha!” right?

Not a “Ha!” that’s funny but a “HA! You inanimate object, you thought you could best me, but I won anyway!”

Today I looked at my chicken coop and my duck house parked just where I wanted them for the winter and said, “HA!”

Have you ever backed up a hay wagon using a lawn tractor that’s articulated in the middle through an orchard into a small clearing at the edge of a woods?

No?

Well, backing it up I think works something like this…

…but I’m not super sure. Trying to keep track of all those moving parts while avoiding all the trees turned my brain into a puddle.

But, I still know how to say:

“HA!”

Got it done and checked it off the list. Those guys are parked till spring! 

Leave the Leaves!

One of my favorite things about the internet is that you can always find someone to back your crazy ideas.

For instance I hate shoes and due to the miracles of the the internet I have now been connected to people who not only also hate traditional footwear but have kindly provided me with obnoxious facts to share with anyone who asks about why I hate shoes.

The internet is truly an amazing place.

With fall upon us I turn to the internet again on the issue of lawn maintenance, specifically raking leaves. It’s no secret that I hate mowing the lawn. But I also really, really hate raking leaves. I suspect this hatred stems from hours of child labor while we attempted to clear every leaf from my parents lawn that’s approximately 789 acres of grass covered in 9,450 trees. And probably you don’t know about this deep seated hatred of mine because while I’ve been compelled to mow the lawn over the years so that I don’t lose small children and chickens in it (though there was that dead cat once…) my leaf raking habits are even more lax.

My leaf raking goes like this…

I should rake the leaves… nah, too wet.

I should rake the leaves…. oops, I broke the rake.

I should rake the leaves… but it’s bad for the tendinitis in my shoulder.

I should rake the leaves… Oh look! Bird hunting season!

I should rake the leaves… but I haven’t mopped the floor in the last two years and I really better do that first.

I should rake the leaves… Whups! It snowed! Too late now!

But, I have good news fellow yard care haters, the butterflies and bees need those leaves!

And they need them whole, not shredded.

And they’d prefer them to stay in a nice carpet over garden and lawn well into the spring.

Basically this is the best news ever.

I love the internet.

Go ahead, read this article, from the Xerces Society and then instead of raking leaves you can join me in relaxing with a warm cup of tea and a good book (because who are we kidding, that floor isn’t getting mopped unless I’m avoiding raking leaves).

https://xerces.org/2017/10/06/leave-the-leaves/

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Finding Beauty

Some times, when days are spent in the hospital ( Granny is recovering well from an unexpected surgery.) and nights are spent fixing plumbing (We have hot water again, even if new things are leaking and lets not even talk about the washing machine…) it’s hard to stop and find the beauty in the day.

But it’s always there, you just have to remember to breathe and look for it.