Winter

The previous post of November 16, 2025, said winter had arrived. Well then winter disappeared. Almost spring like or more like fall temperatures have been prevailing as of late. Midday temperatures are reaching well into the high 70's. 

However, the trees and shrubs are without their leaves

In foreground: Chilopsis linearis (Desert willow)

    and in background: Cercis occindentalis (Western redbud)

The view along the western side of the house is mostly in the shade this time of the year. The strawberry plants are "dormant" and the Aristolochia californica (California pipevine) is without leaves.

         Chilopsis linearis (Desert willow)

When the early spring arrives this tree is in splendor with  lovely flowers. I do believe it is my all time favorite trees. While living in Santa Fe we often traveled to Albuquerque, New Mexico. where this tree was in abundance. In the spring the splendor was "luscious"! Stay tuned, as the saying goes, for pictures when the Desert willow is in bloom.

This past weekend a friend who lived just down the road from us when we lived on Hessel Avenue south of Sebastopol about 8 miles, came with a tarp. With a ladder of course, he placed said tarp atop the shed.

I then carried the stored bricks so he could position them on the roof. When I raked off the leaves into the green bin from the neighbor's tree, a number of the wooden shingles accompanied the leaves. Relief, I am feeling nothing but relief to have the shed covered! 

I can relax with comfort and ease that the shed is protected no matter when or whether rain FINALLY arrives here in Northern California. For those unfamiliar with this part of the world or United States, usually by December a number of drenching rains have provided much needed moisture for the trees, bushes and shrubs. 

Shasta asleep in crate.

Each of you reading this post are invited to

 

Arrival of Winter

Clearly winter has arrived as the temperatures have markedly decreased for both the night time as well as during the day. Last evening before settling in, a garden blanket was taken out to cover the jade plant at the western corner of house. The plants that sit just outside of the east most part of the dining room's double doors was also covered with a garden blanket. When both covers were removed this morning, the plants had all survived the cold snap. My belief winter has arrived and the temperatures match the season.

Jade plant covered

Most of the leaves have fallen from the maple tree. Once they are all on the ground they will be raked up and discarded into the green bin.

The Western redbud along the west side of the house has had all of its leaves removed and are in the green bin. The "bumps" along the branches closest to the house are flowers.

I am not sure how each of you reading this post deal with all the bummer happenings like the defeat of a rational candidate to lead our country forward.  Instead an "unhinged" one was elected and will soon once again live in our national White House. Please share how you are coping with this.

This is how Shasta girl deals: sound to sleep in her crate. Her sleeping so much has been worrisome for me until I realized that this is how she is coping with all the craziness that abounds in our country. For us humans my suggestion is a frequent 

Shasta

It has long been my practice to make Shasta's food. Today is the day for that to happen. 

Using this book: 

a finding on page 93 the recipe for "Boneless beef with liver and heart for DOGS" which was modified. From a local grocery store purchased 

8.52# ground lamb, 

slightly more than 1# of liver that was frozen (of course, thawed) and 0.42# of lamb heart (which was delivered to the local grocery store)

The liver and heart were ground. 

Using the above,
the liver and heart
are "ground up"

Then all of the ingredients were put into a very large crockery bowl and mixed well with my hands.

The pint jars in which the 1 cup of Shasta's food will be measured and placed are lined up next to the food bowl.

"Implements" to accomplish
the task

The filled jars are set
on a tray

1 cup each were placed in 20 jars total.  Some of the filled jars will be placed in the freezer section of the refrigerator. 

The others will stored in the freezer located in the garage.

Each jar provides two meals: breakfast and dinner. She get a cup of chicken necks for her lunch

All the while Shasta sits nearby knowing she gets to clean up the bowl.

Shasta's water bowl that sits outside the dining room double doors going to the backyard. It is a mystery to me that she prefers the water in this bowl to the bowl in her kitchen feeding table. All of the water comes from the same source: the kitchen facet.

Finally

The last of the zinnias
that were planted
in the holes of
the two planting beds
in the backyard.

Finally Fall, 2024, has arrived here in Northern California. Summer just did not want to let go with her grip on hot weather. Those without air conditioning have been mostly miserable during the day time and cooling during the nighttime was minimal.

Bodega Bay, especially along the water, is markedly cooler. When Leigh was visiting recently from Seattle, Washington, we took a spin, so to speak, to enjoy the cooler temperatures.

We had lunch after visiting the Ren Brown Collection, an art gallery in Bodega Bay, California. This destination had often been one when my late husband was alive. Now I do not often drive there accompanied by Shasta, but do when there is visitor with whom to enjoy this wonderful place. 

Shasta lying in her
favorite spot on
the back patio.
The slate is cool
and out of the sun.

Previously, some zealous individual believing roundabouts would cause "floods" of people to "overtake" this small burg, put an initiative on to ban roundabouts. Finally, perhaps Cotati can create roundabouts, as it is on the 2024 ballot allowing people to decide. 

Signs, like the one in pictured here,  are going up in many of the yards Shasta and I walk by in the morning. They are also evident when driving about our fine, small town.

Also noticeable are pumpkins &/or cornstalks on quite a few porches, steps, patios. Unfortunately if it is windy the cornstalks are blown over,

but easily remedied when Shasta and I exit our front door for our morning walk.

While native flowering plants are the best source of nectar for hummingbirds, supplementing with sugar water can provide additional sustenance. Every three or four days (daily if it is really hot!) the sugar water is changed in the two hummingbirds feeders. Letting it set longer, especially in the sunshine, causes it to ferment, ie. bacteria and mold grows. YIKES . . . then one is doing more harm than good.

One of the feeders is in 
the back.

The other one
is attached between 
the front two "kitchen" windows.

This one is strategically hanging so hummingbirds visiting this feeder can be seen while humans eating a meal can observe them.

Epolibium canum
(California fuchsia 'Calistoga')

Tubular flowers are magnets for the hummingbirds. And, no surprise,It is so delightful to see a hummingbird with its long bill ravenously seeking food from the flowers pictured above. It goes from flower to flower. Luckily there are three of these all planted together in the front yard. They were positioned along the path leading to the gate on the west side of the house. 

As hummers are seeking their nourishment, it is delightful time to

Actual

Tanacetum vulgare (Tansy)

Today, September 22, 2024, is the actual day that begins Fall, aka Autumn. Below is what I read early this morning in Earth Prayers from around the World: 365 Prayers, Poems, and Invocations for the Honoring the Earth, edited by Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon.

O sacred season of Autumn, be my teacher,

for I wish to learn the virtue of contentment.

As I gaze upon your full-colored beauty,

I sense all about you

an at-homeness with your amber riches.

You are the season of retirement,

of full barns and harvested fields.

At the cycle of growth has ceased,

and the busy work of giving life

is now completed.

I sense in you no regrets:

you’ve lived a full life.

I live in a society that if ever-restless,

always eager for more mountains to climb,

seeing happiness through more and more possessions.

As a child of my culture,

I am seldom truly at peace with what I have.

Teach me to take stock of what I have given and received,

may I now that it’s enough,

that my striving can cease

in the abundance of God’s grace.

May I know the contentment

that allows the totality of my energies

to come to full flower.

May I know that like you I am rich beyond measure.

As you, O Autumn, take pleasure in your great bounty,

let me also take delight

in the abundance of the simple things in life

which are the true source of joy.

With the golden glow of peaceful contentment

may I truly appreciate this autumn day.

EDWARD HAYS

Fall, 2024

This picture was taken 
Saturday when Shasta and I took
our morning walk.

Twice a year, in March and again in September, Earth reaches a point in "her" orbit that the sun shines directly on the Equator. Thus, the Spring and Fall equinoxes occur as a "result of Earth's spinning on an axis that is tilted 23.5 degrees from the plane of its orbit." Day light dwindles . . . have you noticed? Since Shasta and I are early risers, we are certainly aware that day light comes later than a short month ago.

The yellow leaf Japanese maple
in the front yard.

Visitors have commented on the changing color of the leaves as they walk through the front garden. These will soon make their way to the ground where they will remain and feed what grows in the area.

This Fushsia flower gooseberry
(Ribes specious) is stunning
no matter the season.

Roger's red grape
(Vita californica)
is so beautiful as the leaves 
turn their usual bright red
at this time of the year.

Recently a ladder allowed me to remove all the clusters of grapes. Since more than two of these vines are unwanted, about this time of the year the clusters are cut and deposited into the green bin which is then emptied by the local pick up company on Mondays. As Shasta ages it is a reminder to each and every one of us that with each passing day we grow older.

As Shasta ages it is a reminder to each and every one of us that with each passing day we grow older. 

Each and every afternoon she loves to play ball . . . in the house this ball is thrown into the air and she catches it. She is NOT interested in retrieving the ball if one throws it across the room as her Auntie T has done.

Perhaps, as we grapple with our aging,  each and every day the remedy is to have a frequent 

Abundance

Mother, Father, God, Universal Power

Remind us daily of the sanctity of all life.

Touch our hearts wit the glories oneness

of all creation,

As we strive to respect all the living beings

on this plant.

Penetrate our souls with the beauty of this

earth,

As we attune ourselves to the rhythm and

flow of the seasons.

Awaken our minds with the knowledge to

achieve a world in perfect harmony

  And grant us the wisdom to realize that we

can have heaven on earth.

JO POORE

Seems that the hummingbirds are migrating as their two feeders need replenishing almost daily.  Usually these feeders are washed and new "nectar" added twice a week.

This is the feeder hanging
from the kitchen window
where the hummingbirds
are visible from the kitchen table.

And this feeder hangs
in the backyard.

The hummingbirds were flying about waiting for the refill of their nectar as I went to hang both of these. I believe that the hummingbirds are migrating so they "tank up" so to speak where they can. I also observe some hummers visiting the tubular flowers of the three Penstemon eatonii that are planted in the front yard.

Penstemon eatonii
('Firecracker' beardtongue)

Another magnet for flying insects, in this case bees, are the two garlic chives plants also in the front yard. Occasionally hummers have been seen on these flowers as well.

Allium tuberosum

(Garlic chives or Chinese chives)

If one searches the bees are visible. These particular chives are grown for their stronger garlicky flavor tasting rather like a super spicy garlic. 

The weather here in the mornings is definitely not to my liking. I am reminded of the reason Santa Fe, New Mexico, was. There, where the elevation is higher, I recall fog was a rare occasion. 

Below you can observe Shasta enjoying the sunshine. As I note her proclivity for sleeping more thought-out the day, the realization that she is considered an elderly dog occurs to me. Her records show she was born on February 25, 2012. I do so treasure each day with her. AND she is just so ready for our morning walk ... trotting along at a quick pace which in no way matches our pace of a few years ago. Growing old is not for the faint of heart a very wise person once said.

If you look closely at the grape vines (Vita californica [Roger's red grape]) on either side of her, you can see the ripe grapes. 

For reasons I thought were my inadequacy I was unable to write this post. However, speaking with a computer savvy person told me it was that the iMac was not operating as it should. I just quit blogger.com. Yeah, today the posting was easy peasy as the saying goes. And I had a good