October

October 1st, 2018

October, dear October.....

who raises our spirits with it's blue, blue skies and flamboyant colours, so that when melancholy November arrives we are well girded to bear its gloomy, foggy ways.

 A little drive through the Valley to waken one's eyes to October's beauty....

One leaves the gardens 

 Along the fence a riotous

scarlet scarf tops

the fence line, while in the

distance the neighbour

add his cornstalks to

Autumn's festive costume.

 The last of the roses bloom, - just as if it is still June

 Up on the hillside a grove of Aspen falls into the rills where the small streams trickle

 and down here, below, the curly willow driveway that Charles created from little stubs of willow sticks grows larger and provides more shade

 long shadows, a lone sunflower that has served the birds gladly....

 poplars glow in the sunshine

and the sky burns blue through the branches of the pine

along the Similkameen the gold skips the gravelly beach

and is reflected in the still, quiet river

 Oh look, - what is this below??

If once I knew

I have forgotten..

but what a lovely contrast

The river ripples round the bend

watched over by surrounding hills

and off in the distance Apex Mountain

Here above the far bank is an irrigated meadow,

long since harvested, and lying

at the foot of the sloping hills

closer to civilization a little black cat keeps a wary eye on us...

We come to Ginty's pond, - alas, now covered in scum

but still a favourite haunt of ducks

and other animals, - far back in the darker, wooded reaches

the colours of fall dot the hills

and the bull rush grows mightily

the water wends through the trees and grasses, glinting in the sunlight

that finds its way through the trees

the hills, dotted with golden globes

and the fences, festooned with wine and white

and here and there a touch of gold

and fuzzy wild clematis

Feast your eyes on the glorious season

and be full of thanks and praise

for October!!

It behooves one to remember

that November looms...

fortify your soul!!!!!

Monday, September 24th

The night of the Harvest Moon......

Leon Redbone's version...

with Cornet

If you enjoy his Harvest Moon

try listening to

Up a Lazy River

A unigue and gravelly voice

somewhat like an old trombone!!

September

"The breezes taste of apple peel

The air is full of smells to feel -

Ripe fruit, old footballs, burning brush

New books, erasers, chalk and such

.................

Like plates washed clean with suds, the days

Are polished with a morning haze."

John Updike

I have always loved September.

When I was young it was the first day of school

and one never knew what the year would bring.....

excitement, and challenges,

learning and expansion of life.

When I was middling young,

Mum to a family,

the start of the school year

held a whole new concept..

the children off to school,

and Mum looking for ways 

to fill her days...

Well, now I am oldish,

and the words of

Autumn Leaves mist my eyes

(I miss you most of all,my darling

when autumn leaves start to fall)

I am still looking for ways

to fill my days.

Grateful for the looms...

I was taken with the idea of a collapsible scarf

and so I wound the warp

and here are the results

driven to see what the magic

of water would do to this warp

I spent far too many hours

for an ancient lady

and so today I resolved 

to make it a day of rest, more or less!

Callie and I went wandering in the garden

(Bruce is too restless to wander)

and we found lovely evidences of autumn

about to descend upon us....

The autumn crocus, and the asters

The lovely orange lanterns that follow us from garden to garden

and the Sedum, which promises to lighten up

the corner of the garden

where it lives.

I found this sweet Hellebore, just starting to bloom

and evidence of the fall crop of raspberries

to store away in the freezer

to make winter breakfasts

reminiscent of summer mornings

the peony leaves speak of autumn colours

as does the mountain ash, liberally burdened

with glowing berries

the last of the honeysuckle, the bee balm and the phlox

but look, the cleome has bloomed this year...

and the nicotiana lends its beautiful fragrance to

September evenings

like the occasional small violets that spring up, thinking

April has arrived

the quince bush shares its fruit

with a small twig of that beautiful blossom

that makes it such a delight in the spring.

A sweet morning to welcome September,

but now I see it is lunchtime.

A tomato sandwich

and a bowl of peaches and cream!!

Will you join me......

Gratitude and Satisfaction

Monday, August 27th, 2018

WOW!

What a day!

I woke this morning at six-o-three 

after a fabulous sleep,

and sprang* out of bed

to accommodate the little dog!

What a surprise......

Instead of smoke

I saw blue skies, white clouds, and

the sun just glimmering through

as it rose on the day.

Fresh air flowed through the open window...

The rain bucket was full!

Albeit a small one....

As you can see from the debris floating on top

it has been some time since that

bucket has seen rain water....

June, I think.

Wll it last?

Are we just enjoying the whim of passing air currents?

The fires close by are still burning ferociously...

the smoke is going somewhere?

How lovely not to have it here,

even for a morning!!!

....and I have a warp to beam on

All's right with the world

and the morning's at seven!

*sprang 

definition of this word changes with the years..

definitely it is dependent upon the age of the "sprangee"

I can remember springing out of bed

with the greatest alactricity  (my word)

in the younger years.

Now it is merely a way of expressing oneself

with  delight for the morning, or the greater

need which rouses one to 'spring'.

Light Show

Tuesday, August 21st, 2018

K Mountain - Keremeos, British Columbia

August in the Similkameen has always been a welcome month.

The first two weeks are usually hot, - 

the dog days of August when it would be nice to just lie around in the shade

 if there just weren't so many other things to do.....

The last two weeks were always a gentle preparation for autumn, - 

mostly this was when the summer storms tapered off

 into a quiet few days of rain that re-invigorated the garden 

and brought some relief from the summer heat.

This year has been quite different -
f it weren't for the thirty degree thermometer reading
one would think they were getting by in foggy November,
busy with Christmas preparations.

The smoke has been so bad.

The wildfires in British Columbia have been so horrid and prolific.

In the last few days we have laid claim to our own local excitement
 as the Snowy Mountain fire made its way up from the lower valley
 and crested K Mountain, (which overlooks Keremeos) 

 adding to the dismal curtain of smoke.

But, making up for it by lifting the curtain
 and for a few hours last night
enchanting us with this glittering light show.

Debbie Marten - photographer

This morning, when Callie and Bruce and I rose early,
the curtain had fallen again,
 and the surrounding hills were just a faint shadow,
their outline barely visible.

  

No doubt there were firemen working the flames,
 somewhere behind the smoke,
 but we were once again in the gloom,
confined to in-doors. 

 The garden, crying for attention, but definitely out-of-bounds.

I can't complain, - both looms are busy clacking away as I go from one to the other.......!!!

We are not in any danger, - there is a river and an irrigated meadow

between the town and the flames and K Mountain

is a pretty rocky affair.

 Joe Labeau Hashtag Photography

August

A smokey evening in August

Even as I indulge myself enthusiastically in 'living'

I keep amongst the contemplative books I dip into

(Chris Arthur, John O'Donahue, Thomas Merton)

a book of "Lasting Words" by Claire B. Willis

and in it I came across this poem by Mary Chivers, 

 "Late August"

It's as if we're always preparing

for something, the endless roll of the earth

opening us.

Even on the most tranquil

late August afternoon when heavy heads

of phlox bow in the garden

and the hummingbird sits still for a moment

on the branch of an apple tree -

even on such a day,

evening approaches sooner

than yesterday, and we cannot help

noticing whole families of birds

arrive together in the enclosure,

young blue birds molted a misty grey,

colored through no will of their own

for a journey.

On such an evening

I ache for what I cannot keep - the birds,

the phlox, the late flying bees-

though I would not forbid the frost,

even if I could.  There will be more to love

and lose in what's to come and this too:  desire

to see it clear before it's gone.

And it reminded me that yes, of course,  all life is a preparation

for what's to come next.... and most importantly,

each day, each moment....

the "desire to see it clear before it's gone".

In other words, "Carpe Diem"!!!!

Of peaches and memories....

Monday morning
August 13th, 2018

Here's to the time warp that dwells in the peach,

breathing sweetness and nostalgia in equal parts

as I peel, quarter and dice

at the kitchen sink.

The fragrance of the peach surrounds me,
and the wand of memory emerges....

Suddenly, magically, I am no longer a lady in her nineties!

I am a young wife and mother,

making peach pie for those I love

perhaps a chocolate cake  to go

with a bowl of Red Havens

and a spoonful of ice cream

or canning jars of lusciousness

for winter suppers

while yummy peach jam

bubbles on the stove

or perhaps I am taking the steps of a ladder

up amidst the green leaves of the peach tree

while my hand reaches out  for

a bit of globular heaven

Or I am a mother

coming in from the orchard

hot, and covered in peach fuzz

-- inclined to be a little sharp with the young ones

who impede my way to the shower!!!!

and then we are retired!

regretting the loss of our peach block

but haunting the fruit stands

for a tree-ripened peach

to take home to my loved one

all these lovely memories evoked

by the fragrance of the fruit I hold in my hand.

the magic of time disappears

and I am alone with my peach and my paring knife

and my memories.

grateful for the days that inspire them.

Life is good

The magic of memory 

bewitches me!!