Barometric Changes.

The beauty of tonight's sunset wasn't viewed in the west, but in the East.  As there's Weather blowing in, the sky was was a mottled gray which contrasted spectacularly with the gold of the last of daylight and the bright green Norway buds.  How everything kept changing!

Dropped everything I needed to get done before darkness set in to just drink in the spectacle before it faded away.

Evening Light in the Norway Maples

To the East.

Watercolored sky and the Rolling Hills of Medford.

Tannenbaeume Take Many Forms.

Mine's my mother's ceramic tree with a few accessories from friends.

Enjoy your day, however you may be spending it.  Am wishing everyone a good, peaceful and happy move into 2015.

Cicadas.

Birds and bats don't buzz humans like the cicadas do, especially during daylight. It's unnerving, but nothing that one can't get used to.

Tonight, after dinner, had a little one buzz its way behind a screen on the back porch. I worked for a bit to get the poor confused, and probably immature thing dislodged. Finally just left it where it was, with enough room for it to figure out how to exit.

"I'd never be able to do that," housemate marveled.

"Do what?""Touch that insect like you did.""Oh, Pshaw. It's not venomous, so what's there to be afraid of? Besides, you do understand that I have a background in etymology."

Maintenance.

Did a number on my back yesterday while tackling the task of taking care of the grounds of the Spring Hill Grange.  Last night's hot bath helped, as did the Icy Hot treatment.  Sleep was still disturbed, though, since moving wrong in bed would wake me up.

Today, mostly confined myself to Indoors.  Dyed some wool, did a lot of laundry, cleaned.  Stretched.  Did what passes for me as meditation.

Hate feeling so tired.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better.  (Just heard some thunder; thought I saw lightning.  Maybe that will help things.  We really need rain.)

The weather's been very odd lately. Temperatures have been averaging about 12-15 degrees celsius (that'd be about 55-60ish f). The winds, though not as rough around the Channel, are still a bit wild. Black, black, really black storm clouds are quickly rolling in and out, bringing with them rainbows, cloudbursts and sometimes even hail.

We were treated to a double rainbow the other day while errand-running in Lower Suresnes.  Two minutes later, serious cloudburst.

Storm clouds gathering again over the Bois du Boulogne.

Naturally, with conditions like this, there're a lot of nasty bugs going around that would normally be killed by a good cold snap.  I unfortunately got waylaid by one (more on that later - I promise/threaten...) and ended up watching today's show from the sidelines.  Hopefully things'll be better tomorrow, as it's supposed to be glorious out.

First Day.

It dawned warm, damp and gray; not too bad, though, if you're accustomed to frigid Januaries. Enjoyed a bit more truffles and eggs, then decided to take a wander about the neighborhood.  Wanted to see the old sights with new eyes for the New Year.

A view of the American Cemetery from La Terrasse.  The trees in the foreground are planes, historic staples in French landscape architecture.  (If you've ever driven down a departmental route - the US equivalent would be a state or maybe county route - or wandered alongside a canal here,  these would most likely be the trees you'd see lining them.)

The Frenchie calls Paris a very 'mineral' city.  He's right about that, both for the living and the dead.  It was a little strange to see the well-kept lawns of this American (or garden-style) cemetery at first, to hear the carillon play the "Star Spangled-Banner" Sundays at noon and five p.m.  Now, it's become a comfort.  Often, when I'm finding myself a bit out of sorts, I'll go and walk around the soldiers' graves like what I used to do when I was child with my dad on Memorial Day.

A January Rose in the gardens along the Terrasse.   Have seen cherry trees and mimosas in bloom as well.

Some Suresnois red roofs.  As always, the skyscrapers of La Défense are looming almost sinister-like in the background.

Quiet Night In.
 

Just us with some mollusks & feet from the stomachs, a big crustacean, a bottle of Loire Valley bubbly and some Strauss on the radio.

Time for bed now, though it isn't quite midnight; have had enough of 2011.  Hopefully your New Year's a happy and safe one.  Best wishes for 2012.

Happy Halloween!

This year, the Frenchie really got into the spirit of things and carved the pumpkin.  Note the beret basque.

As we don't normally get a lot of trick-or-treaters where I'm currently living, we were hoping for somebody, anybody.  Happily, were visited by maybe half a dozen kids.  Still have some treats to deal with (we're not really sweet eaters), but not as much as we were fearing.

Pavel got the actual fruit. I supplied the fruit flavored stuff.

Thank heavens that the weather turned decent (positively balmy compared to this weekend). 

Happy Bright Lights this dark time of the year. 

Les Mains Vertes, I



Scabiosa - new to the garden this year. Am not too keen on the name, but it sure is a pretty flower. Hopefully these'll come back next year.

Here's hoping that folks had a great Memorial Day - the unofficial start of Summer in these parts. Myself? Spent a good bit of the weekend in the garden, rather than doing the Barbecue Thing, as have been feeling the need for more quiet than revelry lately.

Anyway, knocked the Forsythia back into nominal submission, got a whole bunch of pretty stuff planted as well. Transplanted and took a headcount of the beautiful seedlings from that Trader Joe's melon we schlepped home a few weeks ago*.



Picture's from a few days ago; these guys have grown like crazy since then.

The backyard's being left to 'devolve,' so to speak. Violets and milkweed are taking over where there used to be grass, greenbriar's taking the place of the old vegetable garden. Having a bit of a forest in the middle of the city's kind of a nice idea. I will have to prune the lilacs and cut back the ivy. That's not too big of a deal, though, especially since it's all in the shade.



One of the two columbines we planted last year. The other one didn't turn up. I wonder if the garden's self-selecting for purple and yellow only?

***

* Anyone want to try for cantaloupe this year? I have two dozen plants and absolutely not enough room for that many.

Heimweh.

Just got a postcard that the Frenchie painted for me.



The bridge spans the Seine. Home's in the green just below the fort at the crown of the hill. When I left, the apples and plums were in full bloom. Am told that, now, the hedgehogs (who we encourage) are out in full force. I really like hedgehogs; it's a pity they don't seem to be indigenous to this part of the world.

Surprise!

Had a rather unexpected visitor at the Awesome Yew Diner this afternoon:



Apologies for the poor image quality. The kitchen window works well for Kitty TV, but it's an awful place for photography. Shot this through a dirty window and screen. This time of day, whatever I want to photograph is generally pretty badly backlit. Buddy didn't want to wait around for me to open the screen and position my camera better, either.

Springtime, there's normally a peregrine nest in the Norway Maple a couple yards over. We've picked up the remains of pigeons all over the place here and have even seen blue jays mob these guys out of our yard. This is the closest, though, that I've been to one in a while. He looked like an immature male.

***

Update: Scared him/her away when I opened the screen, but noted that s/he was still keeping watch from a safe distance.



Keeping an eye out from the Norway Maple in our backyard.

S/he swooped down about a half an hour later, clearing the sparrows out of the yew and allowing us a better look. The topside was so gray as to be almost blue, the beak was hooked and we noted bold stripes on the tail. The lack of "mutton chops" on the face and the smaller size than what one normally sees in Peregrines around here led us to change our minds on what exactly the bird was. Perhaps our visitor was a wayward Sharp-shinned hawk.

Hopefully they'll come back again today so that we can get another look. (I'm thinking that they might be around, actually, as the seed and suet I put out yesterday haven't been touched. Normally the sparrows, finches and chickadees would have gone through at least half of it by now.)

Election Day.



(The 80s kid in me couldn't resist.)

For what it's worth, I voted for all that's considered "bigoted, racist, homophobe, etc, etc" by the self-appointed "sanity crowd." I don't have many illusions about how stuff's going to turn out, but might be happily surprised. (Who knows?)

Halloween.

Wasn't really in the mood for carving a jack o'lantern. This was just as well since Ampersand decided to pay a visit:



We had eight kids come for treats: not as many as I've had in past homes, but more than expected given last year's dismal numbers (just two). We still had boxes of raisins left over from last year and Pavel wanted to give them away. I wasn't about to let that happen, so (thank heavens), there was good candy (york patties and necco wafers).

Happy thing, too: a few friends came over for dinner. Nothing spectacular: just some (sadly overcooked) pork chops, a bit of squash soup, stuffing, cabbage and traditional baked beans:

Be's Maple Country Baked Beans

1 lb dried beans (I used 1/2 kidney, 1/2 navy)
1/2 lb salt pork (cut into strips and scored)
1/4 c maple syrup (I used grade B. Love the lower grades for their dark richness. This particular one was Trader Joe's brand. Very surprised to see that, to be honest.)
1/4 c brown sugar
1 t salt
4-5 t (depending on taste) dry mustard
a couple of squirts of ketchup (again: depends on taste.)

Soak beans overnight; boil until tender (skins split when you blow on them). In the cooking water, I normally like to add a couple bouillon cubes and 3-4 bay leaves. When the beans are ready, do not drain. Just mix the syrup, mustard, salt, brown sugar and ketchup in and transfer to a bean pot or oven-safe (covered) ceramic bowl. Press pork score-side-up and put everything in the oven at a low temp (I did 275 degrees) for 6-8 hours. Check every hour or so and add water if stuff starts looking dried out.

Serves 8+ as a nice little side dish.

***

It was really nice to catch up with folks, to cook, to be chatting in the kitchen. It brought to mind earlier Halloweens. I think I need to do this more often, if folks are willing to schlep out.

Days like what we are experiencing right now are gifts. I'm off to take advantage while I can. Enjoy your Saturday!



Fresh Pond, Cambridge looking surprisingly like a Hudson River School painting.

The weather's been glorious lately, so I've been taking in as much sun as possible. Really does wonders for the mood, the muscles, the joints. Am looking forward to a weekend of being outside, if possible.

Anyway, can try to catch up in one area of the life.

Bird Log:

Thursday, 21 October - Fresh Pond, Cambridge.

3-4 coots
+20 ring-necked ducks



A Flotilla. I'd say that this was probably 1/2 mallards, 1/2 ringnecks with a few coots thrown in for good measure.

3 nuthatches (heard)
1 downy woodpecker (heard)

Roughly two dozen cormorants perched in trees near the shore.



Just one guy. Branches made it hard to take a picture to the gaggle of these birds in the trees, too. Some had orange beaks, others had black ones. They were also vocalizing quite a bit, too. Pavel read later that they talked a lot when they were roosting. Funny, never saw these birds in trees before. Only on lower perches like rocks, buoys and rafts.

Saturday, 23 October - Plum Island, MA

Large quantities of three types of birds:

-Gulls (black-backed, herring, ring-billed, common terns)
-Sea-Ducks (mainly common eiders, but I think I saw a juvenile scoter.)
-Waders (Plovers: 1 black-bellied in Winter colors, several semipalmated. Two types of sandpipers.)



Sandpipers! Lots of em!

Monday, 25 October - Lexington, MA

Another trip out to Great Meadows. This was kind of a spur of the moment thing at the end of the day. We were grocery shopping in Arlington, so decided to get a quick walk in before sunset. When we got there, started chatting with an older gentleman who visited daily. Talked about birds and favorite places to look at birds of course; learned a fair bit as well (namely what the little black and yellow birds were that we saw darting around in proliferation. I thought they were winter-colored goldfinches or yellow warblers. He said that those had gone away since about September and that those we were seeing were actually yellow rumped warblers).

Anyway:

+-10 yellow rumps
1 great blue heron
1 hawk - smaller than a redtail, but not a harrier.
3-4 dozen swamp sparrows
Lots of mallards, lots of canadas.



Quite a few canada rumps, too.

3 red-winged blackbirds (males)
2-3 nuthatches (heard)
2+ downy woodpeckers (heard)

The fellow we were talking to mentioned that he saw a couple bluebirds that day. Sadly, we missed them.

Tuesday, 26 October - Somerville/Medford, MA

Wandered around the Mystic. Did not see much aside from a couple chickadees, several song sparrows and a whole lot of starlings. Was disappointed to see that my crabapple trees didn't bear fruit this year.

Wednesday, 27 October - Medford, MA

Visited another part of the Mystic. Paul was hoping to see the mergansers, but I think it was a bit too hot out for their liking.

Thursday, 28 October - Revere, MA

Large quantities of three types of gulls (black-backed, herring, ring-billed)
Two large trans-Atlantic migratory types (Think both were Airbus types? That's the Frenchie's department, not mine. One was an Alitalia bird, the other was British Airways.)

While I was away, the kitchen and bathroom were slated to be renovated. For whatever reasons, those two jobs didn't happen. (Bathroom may start in a month or so; Kitchen's been put until next Spring.) Instead, some more work on the top floor of the house was done and a new roof was put on. Though this all was pretty painful to live through, the results are spectacular.



This is the view to the north of us from the new balcony that replaced the poorly-designed, rotten and dangerous spare room that was out my bedroom door. Dreams of conservatories and pergolas gave way to a nice, un-roofed space suitable for container gardening and basking. I think we'll be putting up a couple more bird feeders and some flower baskets as well.



New roof, new shingles, a new door and window. Take a look at that roof: isn't it beautiful? It's aluminum. Don't think that there are many of those in my neighborhood. Some informal testing with an infrared thermometer has shown that, under the midday sun, the aluminum is around 40 degrees cooler than the neighbors' asphalt one...let's hear it for early adoption of neat technologies!

Since the wall was going to be exposed again, it was going to need new shingles. I love the cedar and wish they weren't so expensive/labor intensive to pose. A whole house covered in these would be pretty impressive. As it stands, Pavel wants to paint the house blue. (Personally, I think Falu Red would be really nice with the white roof.)

The door and window got switched around in all this. Take a look at the window. It's important. (Here's a better view:)



When I first saw a new window go in, it was clear and fixed. This kind of made me sad, as I was hoping for another opportunity for a cross breeze. Little did I know that, hiding under a pile of old shingles and masonite, was this new take on the old stained glass that you find in lots of these late-Victorian era houses.



(View from inside - I put my bed right under it.)

Pavel likes stained glass a lot, and often, we'll take evening walks around the neighborhood just to admire the backlit windows often seen here. He particularly liked this window because it reminded him both of a rose and sunrise, both equally important as this is an east window.

Bit by bit, the house is starting to take on the personality of its owner. I'm hoping that he's starting to appreciate it; it's got a lot of potential just waiting to be released.

Yesterday evening, my internal barometer felt the front coming in like gangbusters. Sure as anything, we had an entire night of fairly heavy rain. Today, it's dark, windy, cool and damp. Am wondering if we'll be getting more rain? Though I did manage some good sleep last night, am still tired and the brain still feels a bit flippy (as though some connections are wet). Don't like this feeling and I wish it'd go away.

Guess it's been a while since I've been 'round these parts. Have an excuse: was in France for a hair shy of three months and you can do things like that* there.

Came back to Boston and attendant mayhem. Am still trying to get out from under the (literal) rubble; loose-end tying-off is proceeding very slowly. Also have some major decision-making to do. The decision-making part is not a strong point. I like to generally let myself be pushed along The Way. Outside sources indicate, though, that that isn't always the best way to deal with life/treat myself.

Anyway - first major life-affecting decision for a Sunday afternoon: stuffed acorn squash or daube? I have a free evening and want to make myself something autumnal and a little special, I guess. Will be taking the walk in the direction of the grocery store and will probably be picking up the items necessary for both.

***

* "That," meaning, disappear for several months and say, "oh, I was away on vacation! What's your problem?" Yes, this is still possible.

Il faut cultiver son jardin.

Got out for a bit to tend to the gardens around the Somerville Estates. Though not as manic about this as I used to be on Winter Hill (partly because I don't have Raphaella around to guilt trip me anymore), am still managing to spruce things up a bit.

Out back, rounded up and transplanted the nasturtiums in pots up front. Thinned out the chives, radishes and dill. Decided to leave the greens to grow a bit more.*

Staked the peas.



Looks a bit like the camera had a hard time focusing in the low light. Sorry about that. Still, you get the idea.

Up front, dead-headed** everyone who needed it and where I found mature seeds, sprinkled them in blank spots. Worked on shoring up the little rock borders I'm making around plantings with ballast I find under the porch. Planted some more cheap annuals picked up on sale at K-mart.***

Also, moved outside and pruned the poor, half-eaten tropical thing an ex-coworker gave me when the office had a plant purge. Hopefully, the time outdoors in the sun, along with some plant food and a bit of respite from the cats will revive it a bit. I'm really fond of the thing (and of the person who unloaded it on me).

Around the ash tree this year, I planted marigolds.



Generally plant either them or alyssum, as both are pretty hardy and tend to lushness. Also like the smell. My main reason for planting here is to dissuade hospital clientele from using our (and the neighbors') yard as a trash receptacle. So far, so good; have only had to collect up remains from one lunch and a couple butts. No medical waste yet, anyway.



Inspired by the work of a friend in the old neighborhood, I decided to try planting morning glories around the tree. Started them from seed in Mid-April, and believe that, with luck, the little clumps of heart-shaped leaves will climb up the trunk and give us some purple flowers. We'll see.

Am pleased, as have already gotten positive feedback on the yard work from some hospital staff, a couple patients and neighbors a couple doors down I'd not met before. Pavel actually told me that another neighbor who puts a lot of work into her yard stopped him in the local garden store to talk plants and landcaping.

Tiny effort, small results that do grow with time. Kind of like what another dead European**** came up with the title once said - 'Se prendre du mal pour les petites choses est parvenir aux choses plus grandes.' (Taking pains with the small things leads to success with larger ones)*****

***

* This year it's going to be rocket, sorrel, kale, collards and mustard. I wanted tougher than lettuce and bitter/sour so the animals would leave some for us.

** Or, as Pavel put it - continued the plants' states of reproductive frustration. Kind of reminds me of what another guy friend once said about having the boy cats 'snipped.'

*** $1.89 for a package of six plants! This time around, we got some cute little fuzzy buttons in purple.

**** Not the guy who came up with the title to the post.

***** Just a rough citation from memory, so please pardon my inexactitude along with my French. Also, positive, but am pretty sure it was Samuel Beckett who said that.