in my yard

Fall is Yellow.

though I do feel compelled to rake up all the leaves from the Elms, Walnut & Oak tree in my yard (compelled from an idea of "good homeownership"). I think I may skip it this year.

I raked leaves into the flowerbeds as extra winter protection. And that, was quite enough, for me.

old stars

another shot from the hometown photoproject.

am fairly sure the "stars" are functional/practical, maybe bolts of some kind? I don't fully know. But I love how they seem to be scattered about.

fall harvesting

milo waiting for harvest.

november is here.
my nephew turned two last weekend. and he had a fun & sunny Saturday, with a lot of love, attention and presents from his adoring fans.

this is a busy month for birthdays. my brother's. and many friend's--in Lawrence, KC, Portland, L.A. & Istanbul.

am collecting sewing projects for to-do over the winter months. am also trying to convince myself that more trips to the gym would be good for the mind, body & soul.

am considering adding these to the menu for the annual Feastival in December. (this ever-growing menu will definitely have to be pared down, by the time 12/26 rolls around.)

have also become recently obsessed with the idea of having these. and there are so many to choose from, I don't know if I'd ever actually decide on which to have.

all hallow's eve

it is windy & chilly today. and cloudy, so the night will be dark. seems perfect weather for a witchy, spirited day.

a friend helped carve the jack o'lantern last night. we think it is a happy pumpkin. but maybe also, just a drunk one.

so, Fall is really here.

over-wintering

all the plants have come inside. as the temps are going below 40 at night. they live crowded around the few south-facing windows in the house. I brought some basil in, though I know it won't last long. as well as rosemary, parsley, oregano & thyme.

the porches are bare. and the leaves are beginning to fall--which is good, as I'm planning to rake them over the beds for the winter.

my old house is cold. as they all are. and suddenly, it has become time to shuffle around in slippers and sweaters. (dreaming of a wood-burning stove.)

and fight the constant desire to bake warm (& sweet) things.

pumpkin c. chip muffins

as soon as a friend had mentioned she'd recently been baked some amazingly good pumpkin chocolate chip muffins...I put in a request that she get the recipe for me from the baker herself.

and as I had a wine-drinking get-together to attend last night, I made up a batch. and the few I'd left at home, were eaten up today by my nephew & brother during a visit.

so, they were a hit. and I've since passed the recipe on to another.
I love that about recipes. how they get handed from person-to-person, over time and over distance.

thanks C.-in-Chicago for the recipe. quite yummy.

space patrol

more flannel pants for the almost two-year old.

with a big space patrol pocket.

which, I may wait to give him as a part of his b-day present. since I still haven't decided what to really give him.

photo project

one of my new goals is to carry my little Elf digital camera with me where-ever I go. I'm constantly "seeing" pictures around me. Mostly, around my little town.

so a new project is to photograph this place. the nooks & crannies. the building details. places we don't always see. most of these will show up on my Flickr page.

making things for give-away

I was inspired by these little owls made by Moonstitches. And adapted her tutorial directions to create a more baby-friendly-soft owl. (no cardboard, no buttons, bigger, fatter and flannel instead of wool)
As, I have a baby shower to attend this weekend. The 2465115 th baby shower I've attended in my life. (I keep telling myself that Karma will bring me many cute, handmade gifts. when the day finally comes I have my own shower. It is how I sit through them, and keep smiling. Until I escape to the kitchen to have a glass of wine, while all the mothers move to the "joy", oh the joys, "you can't understand until you have your own" part of the conversation)

But I like this fat little owl so much, I sort of want to keep her on a shelf in my studio. To watch over things. She's wise. She's pretty. Maybe I can make another one soon.















Since I've also gotten these made, I wouldn't be going empty-handed. If, the little owl were to stay here with me. The bibs are the new, easy shower gift in my life. The pattern came from Angry Chicken's book, Bend the Rules Sewing.

fall buckeye

I have a Buckeye tree in front yard. I've been told by an aging neighbor (who wears dark blue suspenders and shuffles about) that the tree was planted in 1897, before the house was even built.

It was hurt by a late freeze in the Spring, and therefore, lost all of its leaves this summer while
producing the Buckeye nuts. (The Walnut & Oak trees didn't even bother to put out fruit)

It is skeletal now. And the squirrels sit atop branches. Cracking those nuts. Letting the shells fall to the ground. Scattering along the sidewalks and lawn. And the neighbor cats just perch in the grass. Watching the squirrels.










Sometimes, a shell or two, end up on my porch stoop. I think they must land there, after falling from the treetop & bouncing up from the sidewalk.

fall planting

planting daffodils, scilla siberica & muscari. oh, & crocus. but those bulbs were already planted when this pic was taken. some around the apricot tree in the back. others around the buckeye tree in the front. some along my fence.

I like the idea that these bulbs, hibernate away in the ground all winter. and then will pop out in spring.

















also, Mums. these are planted in the back. where the "2007 Hosta Experiment" failed to thrive. (I'm so over hostas)

I just recieved note that my gardening place is having a sale this weekend. in which, I may buy even more of these things.

annual funtimes

 

every September, since I was 7, my father has packed up the car and taken my brother and I to the Walnut Valley Festival, in southeastern Kansas. My father and stepmother can still be described as giddy during this time of year.
and it is, for my brother and I, an annual no-miss event.

it involves bluegrass and flatpicking. campfires and walnut trees. coffee in the morning and beer all afternoon. indian tacos. baked potatoes & corn-on-the-cob from a stand. meals from a camp stove. fireside chats & long walks around the campgrounds. afternoons listening to the sleepy sounds of guitars, mandolins & banjos being played all around.

the oh-be-joyfulness of these times is hard to describe. but the friends that I've brought along from time-to-time, have become instant lifetime fans.

but I'm back now. after a week of funtimes. and I've caught up on my sleep. and I'm back in the real world. on to enjoying Fall.

driveway shot

the farm sits on what used to be an old country road. that over the years has become more of a county highway, linking smaller cities to a larger one.
so, the old mailbox, gets beat up a lot. every so often a large truck roars by, and slams the mailbox around. or, just knocks it right off into the ditch.

spent some time out a mom's place this weekend. had grand thoughts of digging up some daylilies for transplant in my yard. and possibly catching some pics of the rusty red milo in the fields. a color quite amazing, when up against Kansas blue.

but, laziness was queen. and instead just walked around a bit. ignoring shovels. and without energy to walk out to the back field.

this photo was taken at the end of the driveway. as I was leaving.

50cent watermelon & blackberry jam

it is true that I may have bought this little watermelon with the curly-q top, simply because of the cute factor. (similar to why I bought a little purple & white striped eggplant last weekend--even though, I don't even like eggplant)
but it is also far less overwhelming, the idea of eating this little thing vs. one of the huge ones.

I've been converted to the blackberry (or apricot) jams & jellies of a elderly woman (who always is under a wide-brimmed straw hat) at the farmer's market. she picks the blackberries. and turns them into delicious-ness.

mom mentioned once, how long the winter seemed at a point, when she realised how much longer she had to wait to taste this blackberry jam again.

so, I've stocked up. 3 in the fridge.

soon it will all smell like fall

the farmer's market is still full of tomatoes and obnoxiously-large zucchini. but the green beans are long gone, and the cucumbers harder to find.
and soon all the cantaloupe, with a perfume slightly rotten, which permeates the outdoor market, will be replaced by pumpkins.
right before the sun goes down, the cicada songs burst overhead. the insect hum so loud, you have to raise your voice to be heard, when talking with a neighbor on the sidewalk.

read this in Updike's "Marry Me" last night,
"She was still in the kitchen when he came in the back door; the cry of cicadas, the dry football smell of summer's end, followed him in."

fading

as we have reached the hottest part of summer, it also begins to fade. all those vibrant colors from June have dimmed a shade.
my neighbor has sunflowers next door. in the backyard, they tower 10ft high in a cluster.

all now with heavy heads, they droop.
from over my fence, it looks like a band of tired giants. waiting out the sun.




one grows in the front, next to my driveway.

weary

since this was the first time for a garden in this yard. I knew there was a chance that something would go awry.
and though I had added in some new soil/compost, there must still be something wrong here.

my once beautiful tomato plants are withering. (still producing fruit, though)


I'll have to investigate and come up with a prevention plan for next year.

for now, I still happily have far too many cherry toms to eat.

pink

though I don't remember doing this. apparently I decided, back in those early days of hopeful spring-to-come, to only plant pink & green zinnias.

they are quite pretty. (I like this misfit, not quite blooming as the others do)

but, I now miss, all the usual oranges, reds & yellows. so, next year.

evening

in july.

riches

moments like this. will help me get out of bed in the dark, cold misery of February days.