Pickled…
…beets. Twelve quarts and five pints. Not the greatest amount ever, but not bad; enough to provide basic sustenance throughout the winter (when combined with cottage cheese).
Another beautiful fall day.
Poetry Quiz
A rather uneventful day of gray skies and cool temperatures, but capped off by a bright sunset.
Two big events: the trimming of the rosemary bush (now at least 3 years old) in advance of its being brought indoors, and the making (and enjoying of) Green Texas Chili.
But then, in the poetry department, the poem below is, in my opinion, a fine piece of work, worth reading and thinking about. And here is the question: What are the 5 swords?
The Guitar
Federico García Lorca
translated by Cola Franzen
The weeping of the guitar
begins.
The goblets of dawn
are smashed.
The weeping of the guitar
begins.
Useless
to silence it.
Impossible
to silence it.
It weeps monotonously
as water weeps
as the wind weeps
over snowfields.
Impossible
to silence it.
It weeps for distant
things.
Hot southern sands
yearning for white camellias.
Weeps arrow without target
evening without morning
and the first dead bird
on the branch.
Oh, guitar!
Heart mortally wounded
by five swords.
Backyard Kind of Day
Mowing and trimming. Planting 36 tulip bulbs. Harvesting a decent crop of beets. Dinner on the Green Egg.
Cool and breezy, with a mix of sun and cloud.
Idyllic. Reluctant to go back inside.
Sidewalk Fish
Rock River still flooded.
Early shower, then warm and windy. Grass still growing vigorously and needing a trim. Then Ellie to riding lesson.
Eleven Gallons…
…or close to 200 cups of pure, un-clorinated spring-water coffee, from the well that’s been flowing continually for the past 125 years.
Of course, it’s not coffee that comes out of the well but highly purified water right out of the Kettle Moraine.
Numb Fingers…
…caused by garden cleanup. Beet harvest postponed for warmer conditions.
Dinner across the street—catching up with our friendly neighbors.
Storm…
…windows, plus yard work. But though no actual storm, violent wind gusts. And, last night’s freeze warning was all wet.
Deadwood pruned from apple tree, and then, along with other brush, donated to the chiminea. All part of getting ready for winter.
Freeze Warning
All day rain followed by steep drop in temperature—creating a need to bring in the tomatoes remaining after a summer of neglect and considerable neighbor harvest. Normal first frost for this region is/has been October 15.
This and That
Sue at Fox Point all day with me there only in the afternoon and evening.
From early sun, to clouds at noon, to rain tonight.
Fun Day In Fox Point…
…while Abby and Tony in Colorado.
Bike riding. Lunch at the Bay. Katy to dance; Will to soccer.
Bri in the neighborhood, too, for a bit, while his new car was being prepped at a nearby dealer.
Settling Back In…
…and catching back up with the grandkids. Bike ride with Bri to school and then back, but on the way back with Becca, Maddie, and Ellie. How great to be able to ride your bike to school.
Furthermore, the boys recognized us, and called us by name.
Very Long Grass…
…good crop of beets, just a few big squash.
House still standing and basement dry.
On The Nose
Westerly gale all the way from Little Current to St. Ignace. But we made it anyway. Thanks to Sue for photos. Murray helped with waterline and winterizing.
Overtime
Day and a half of end-of-season chores shoehorned into today…in spite of all the advance preparation.
Sapsucker
The second-to-last day of the season, along with the last day, should be avoided at all cost.
Calm Waters, Bright Sun, Good Fun
Some end of season work and then hikes and explorations.
All Of One Mind
Canada thanksgiving, with Karen, Irene, Murray, and Elaine.
Nor’Easter…
…along with high water, making for a scary situation.
And guests have arrived.
Who’s Soggy Now?
Barrels and buckets for hours and hours. It quit for a while, but then about 5 in the a.m., a mighty cell moved from west to east, to the north. Radar had it moving across the mainland some 20 miles away, but even from this vantage point it appeared as an incandescent nebula of incessant electrical discharge, accompanied, muted by distance, by a continuous roar. Glad it missed us. On the other hand, more moisture is not what Michigan/Huron needs right now.
Garden Reset…
…followed by serious a duck-drownder. Extended downpour mixed with plenty of lightning and the heavy, rolling thunder that is only possible over wide expanses of water. For some reason, though flickering, the power stayed on (so far). Huge amount of unneeded moisture—ground saturated, water in the swales.
Following the Max Burt advice, tilling in the fall, so that come spring all that is needed is “a rake and a hoe.”
My leisurely pace with the shovel was accelerated by distant rumbles of thunder, and I finished up just as the first drops came down.
Heartwood and sapwood?
Sumac
Laundry Day…
…and grass cut day, and cycle on trailer day, and prepare the porch-wrap day, etc.
Not ours; we don’t have such colorful sheets.
Cloudy, chilly, and windy. Blowing like stink right now. Fire in the stove tonight.
And, things are getting crowded at the Falls.(Video by Sue)