Thurs. Nov. 25, 2021: Happy Thanksgiving!

image courtesy of Timo Miroshnichenco via pexels.com

I wish you a beatuiful, peaceful day.

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Nov. 18, 2021: Bare Trees

image courtesy of Chanita Sykes via pexels.com

Thursday, November 18, 2021

Second Quarter Waxing Moon in Taurus

Neptune, Chiron, Uranus Retrograde

Cloudy and cold

We’re moving steadily toward winter. The foliage colors have peaked, and there are many bare trees now. The wind has picked up most days, so the leaves still hanging on dance around once they let go. There are a lot of evergreen varieties, so the contrast between the evergreens and the deciduous trees is interesting. And the scent of pine is beautiful.

We had a few snow flurries on Tuesday morning, but nothing stuck. The frost on the car windows is thick enough to need scraping off in the mornings. The heat kicks on earlier and stays on longer.

We’re moving plants into the apartment from the front porch, because it’s getting to cold to leave them out there, even though the windows are closed. The porch isn’t insulated. My lemon plant, in particular, was shivering. I put it in the reading corner of my office, where there’s a lot of natural light and it’s near the heater.

Thanksgiving is next Thursday. I can hardly believe it. I’m looking forward to tucking in for the winter. And planning a small container garden for next spring.

How are things where you’re going?

Nov. 11, 2021: November Energy

photo by Anna Rye, courtesy of pexels.com

Thursday, November 11, 2021

Second Quarter Waxing Moon in Aquarius

Neptune, Chiron, Uranus Retrograde

Celtic Tree Month of Reed

Sunny and cool

In spite of the predictions we’d have our first snow this week, the weather has been glorious. Cold at night, down into the twenties, with a need to scrape frost off the car in the morning.

But during the day, it’s up into the fifties. It’s been sunny most days, a little bit of rain here and there.

I’ll enjoy every beautiful day I can.

This will be my first winter in the Berkshires, and I keep hearing how harsh they are, so I’m ready.

Last Friday, we drove about an hour and a half east, and it was just hitting peak foliage and gorgeous.

There are still some wonderful colors here, but many of the trees have shed their leaves, and they’re getting into the stark, tree-and-branch that has its own loveliness.

The pumpkin my friend carved on Halloween lasted until yesterday, and it started caving in, so we had to throw it out.

I’m hoping the weather will hold for the next few days, so we can spend some time up at the lake, and walking around The Spruces.

They have the trees up and decorated on the Main Street of town. The tree lighting is supposed to happen the Wednesday before Thanksgiving (or the Friday after, if it rains). I might meander the few blocks down for it. I bet it will look pretty.

The porch is still warm enough to keep plants out there. Tessa is out there as many hours as possible, every day. It’s her porch, and she will miss it if/when we have to close it off for the winter. I admit, I sit there as often as I can in the afternoons, reading and soaking up the sun!

One of the many good things about this place is the large windows with lots of natural light. On any sunny winter day, we will enjoy sunshine.

How are things in your neck of the woods this November?

Thurs. Nov. 4, 2021: First Frost

photo by Devon Ellington

Thursday, November 4, 2021

New Moon in Scorpio

Neptune, Chiron, Uranus Retrograde

Cloudy and cold

We had our first frost last night. Or, at least, I think we did. The temperature was down to 28 degrees last night. The roofs look white, and the grass crunchy, although I didn’t see actual frost on grass or trees.

I’m glad we took the plants in earlier this week. The photograph above shows the plants we pulled in from the back balcony, which has a roof, but is open, to the screened-in front porch. Some of the plants may have to be moved further into the apartment if the porch gets too cold, but, for now, they seem happy there. The porch has a Southern exposure, so when there’s sunlight, it’s still reasonably warm and quite light.

I’ll have to learn how it works here.

I had my first houseguest since pre-pandemic, the close friend who found us this apartment. It was raining most of the weekend, so we couldn’t go out and about as much as I’d hoped.

Thistle at The Spruces. Photo by Devon Ellington

But I did take her to The Spruces, where we found these wonderful thistles, and I felt very Scottish.

Golden Maple at WindsorLake. Photo by Devon Ellington

And we also went to Windsor Lake, which is close by. The golden maple is glorious, and I loved the way the trees on the mountainside reflected on the lake. And the birch trees there are magnificent.

The golden maple behind the house is beautifully yellow, even as the leaves fall. I think this area peaked, foliage-wise, last weekend.

As of Monday, all the porches have buckets of ice melt and shovels at the ready. We are supposed to get the first snowfall next Monday. I’ve heard so many negative things about winter here that I have no idea what to expect. We’ve been told not to expect to go anywhere from November 1 until sometime in March.

I’m still attempting a run over to Hadley and Holyoke this weekend; it’s supposed to be sunny, albeit cold.

I’m excited to see what winter is really like, here in the mountains!

Mountainside reflected in Windsor Lake. Photo by Devon Ellington