Sky Watch w/a Side of Change...

Seasonal beauty abounds!
Look at the difference 6 weeks makes here!

xoabb

expect anything!

~

Sky Watch Friday

Do join us!

xoabb

expect anything!

Stormy Sky

Wish I could paint what
My mind tells my fingers to...
There's just no ~connect~.

(sigh)

~~~

xoabb
expect wishful thinking at times

Photo: Stormy Sunset on Lake Champlain, May 2008

Beehive

This tree, that happens to be in front of the school I work in has just been incredibly spectacular this year. This is the third year I've worked here and Maple Tree has never ever been more beautiful! (No it's not the first pic you've seen of Maple Tree.)
Must tell you, though I've proclaimed loud and long that this Autumn isn't near as lovely as last Autumn...the last day or two has been absolutely magnificent! If only there was sunlight to back up all this crimson beauty!

Community Garden Clean-Up's Begun!

Well, I began the cleanup.
But I just couldn't bear to pull up the nasturtiums.
They're still so beautiful!

Or the habanero (I think) peppers.
They might not ever turn yellow or orange,
but I'm keeping them on the vine until the very
last day we can have plants in our plots.
And that's this coming Sunday, Nov. 1st.

Above taken as I was walking to our plot this past Sunday.
Embiggen the photo and you can see how
huge the nasturtiums have gotten!
(Our plot is the one behind the wooden frame.)
The eggplant and pepper plants still look beautiful,
but they're not producing like they did.

After the removal of the tomato plants and cages,
and the now non-producing bean plants.
I tried to save as much of the nasturtiums as
I could, and couldn't bear to take the other
healthy plants out.
Alas, next Sunday all will be gone.

It's been fun!

~~~

xoabb
expect anything!

Sunday Serenity

Beauty is not a luxury;
it is a means of lifting the human spirit
and of giving richness to everyday life.
~
~Alice Waters

~~~

xoabb
expect anything!

SWF: Autumn

I still say last Autumn was more beautiful than this Autumn.
However, there are individual trees - above one of them -
that are simply gorgeous and much more beautiful than last year.

Hmmm...that's what it is...
Last Autumn, the entire season was spectacular
This Autumn, single trees are spectacular...

I'll take either!
Gladly!

~~~

xoabb
expect anything!

Sky Watch Friday
Do join us!

Morning Glory. Going Going Gone...

Well, at least until next summer...

The Community

Garden Morning Glories

Just gorgeous, aren't they?

Remy, Kat & I

Explored the upper garden

And found these strange plants

Just know I've seen them

But have no clue what they are!

The pod! It's a clue!

(click on photos to make larger.)

~~~

xoabb

expect questions at times!

It Was Sunday (Serenity) on our MO Pond

No, today obviously isn't Sunday, but that's when this photo was taken by my mom.
Click here to see above photo in all its glory!

That's Rem, Tim and Cody-dog floating and fishing (well, at least Remy was fishing) on the magnificent pond just outside the living room windows of my parents MO home this past Sunday. Heaven? You could say that, but would still be missing out on how very wonderful this paradise really is.
My girl and her beau have been visiting my parents (her grandparents...duh!) this past week, and I can, without any doubt, tell you it's been a most excellent adventure for all participants! The four of them - along with a good amount of extended family - have cooked, gamed, hiked, eaten, explored, talked, played, and made many many unforgettable memories together!

Isn't that what family is all about?

Just wish I'd been there as well.

(sigh)

~~~

xoabb
expect anything!

Photo courtesy of Mum Bum - wonderful pic, as always, mom!

Last Harvest

Behold the glory of the very last of our Community Garden harvest for the year. Those peppers are all ours - grown in our community garden plot - and now becoming part of a wonderful stir-fry! (There are onions & garlic in there as well, but, alas, they are from the grocery store.)
We were supposed to have a CG clean-up day/pot luck lunch Saturday, but the weather forecast was so very very rotten, the whole thing was canceled. Guess what? Didn't rain much at all! Cold? Yes! But we could have gathered together. Weathermen called for a 90% chance of rain. on Saturday. HA! Wrong again! Today? We were supposed to have spotty showers...and it's rained all day. POOH!

I know there are peppers still clinging on, but they're not what they once were, what with all the cold weather we've had, and I'm not really sure they'll be harvestable by the time I can get to the CG plot. The weather's supposed (relative word there) to become warmer and dryer by Wednesday so I hope to be able to pull any last peppers, clear everything out and put my garden baby to bed.

It's been a very good first year, if I don't say so myself!

OOOOOPS! Though I used the proper ~we~ in the first part of the post, I didn't in that last paragraph. I certainly didn't mean to exclude my daughter Remy and her beau Timmy! They did as much work as I did getting this CG plot up and running! (Hey, I'm old, I forget, whadya want from me?!?!) A community effort in our community garden!

~~~

xoabb

expect anything!

Sunday Serenity

Fathers be good to your daughters,
Daughters will love like you do...

(Thank you, John Mayer for the words,
and Heather for the picture!)

~~~

xoabb
expect anything!

What a Difference a Month Makes!

09/25/09

10/10/09

xoabb
expect anything!

Sky Watch Friday
Do join us!

Night Night...

My Stella has had her pink bear, ~Baby~, for about three years now and besides an occasional, always necessary cleaning (in the washing machine, certainly not by hand), Baby is in the same shape she was when Stella decided she couldn't possibly live without her! Can't imagine why Ms. Stella has never even attempted to tear Baby to shreds, as there have been many toy deaths over the years that can be directly attributed to, ahem, her, but this baby is safe and very well loved....by my dog....

And yes, as you can see, (Darn it! Wanted to keep that a secret!),
Stella is allowed to sleep on the couch...with (or without) her Baby.

Sleep Tight!

~~~

xoabb
expect anything!

Above photos taken by my son
(who thinks he's Stella's human, but he's not, I am),
from his cell phone.
Glad he finally captured this moment, tho!

Little Miss Magic...

...Has found the perfect pumpkin!

See???
(BTW? Every girl, no matter what age, should have red polka-dot shoes!)

~~~

xoabb
expect cuteness overload at times!

Photos of LMM courtesy of her mommy...

Eating Crow - What I'll be Doing...

I carried on and on a short time ago (go here) about how this fall wouldn't be nearly as colorful as last year. It is becoming painfully apparent, and more so every single day, I am going to have to eat a very large plate of crow.

Excuse me while I go get a fork.

~~~

xoabb
expect anything!

That's My World Tuesday
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Kate Bag Harvest - 10/10/09

So Remy and I have been asking ourselves what in the HELL we were thinking planting all those pepper plants last spring. We must have planted at least 10 different ones. For GOD'S sake! Do you realize how many peppers we've already frozen??? And there's still more coming on. We're supposed to ~put the garden to bed~ by November 1st, but if there's still peppers clinging on, we're not doin' it! (By the way? They've been delicious, every one of those we've consumed!)

xoabb

expect anything!

Glory in the Morning

Where flowers bloom so does hope.
~Lady Bird Johnson

~~~

xoabb
expect anything!

Sun Dog...

Rainbow colors of fall...

~~~

xoabb
expect autumnal changes!

Sky Watch Friday
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Curses! Foiled Again!

Was on my merry little way, minding my own business, taking my usual shortcuts through town when I came upon this! Ahem...no one bothered to tell me my shortcut would be blocked! Mother Nature is soooo uncooperative - and it always seems to be precisely at the wrong time. How dare her to block my route when the dang bank was closing in exactly 4 minutes and 21 seconds??? All was certainly not well in my neighborhood yesterday afternoon! (pooh!)

~~~

xoabb
expect irritation at times!
What? You think you're immune???
Ha!

P. S. Just in case you're wondering, we had a major wind event blow through lower Fairfield County yesterday afternoon - gale force winds, the works - thus the tree limbs down all over the place. Wasn't as bad as some winds we've encountered, but it certainly was an irritation to me yesterday!

P. P. S. Major accolades to whomever can name the cartoon character that repeatedly said: "Curses! Foiled Again!" It has completely and totally escaped me. (And yes, I'm feeling very very old. In more ways than one.)

Why a 20' Fence is a very Good Thing...

Just kept walking toward my furry little friend and he just stayed where he was. Never flinched, let alone fled in fear from me or the two others in the lower garden. As I was leaving, I saw a guy on the other side of the fence about 3 feet from our deer friend. He'd hold out a handful of grass and Mr. Scrawny Antlers would come close and eat it. Eventually Mr. SA got tired of that action and began to meander my way.

I was still on the inside of our wonderful, glorious, deer-free fenced in garden..BUT...I held the goods! The green bean goods! Held one out to Mr. SA. He spent a good amount of time sniffing it before he decided it was ok to eat. And then he couldn't get enough! I couldn't pull them out of my Kate Bag fast enough to satisfy him! (Thank God for that fence - our summer bean harvest would have been devoured!)

He ate just about all I'd harvested, and when the supply was finally depleted, I really thought he was going to get his antlers stuck in our fence. Whoda thunk?!?! Deer can throw a most excellent tantrum!

He was not at all happy!

~~~

xoabb
expect anything!

P. S. - It will soon be deer season here in CT. I really do hope this fella is safe from bow hunting (know he's at least safe from gun hunting within Norwalk's city limits). He's tame and that is certainly the result of the area he lives in and the people that have fed him over the years (guilty myself of that a day ago). Deer are a problem in our area, but I still hate to see an animal who has been taught to trust humans be hurt and/or killed. Off my podium now. G'night!

CG Kat Bag Harvest 10/5/9...Lookin' Sparse...

The nasturtiums have taken over our Community Garden plot! Mom and dad tell me this is typical of these plants this time of year. Guess they know frost is just around the corner so it time for a real beauty show. They have certainly succeeded!

As you can see, the CG harvest is becoming very limited. The peppers are still going strong, but the tomatoes are no more, and the beans that are left are far from ideal. The eggplant foliage and flowers are both gorgeous, but not an eggplant to be found.
The weekend of the 17th, Fodor Farm's Community Garden is hosting our annual CG start-the-garden-plot-clean-up day at 1:00 pm, with a pot-luck to follow under our brand new pavilion. Can't believe how much progress has been made this year! Not only the new pavilion with new picnic tables, there's also a new lower garden shed that's fully equipped with all sorts of garden tools, one of three greenhouses has already been erected, an orchard is being planted, a post and beam barn is going to be added and the old farm house that's in front of the garden and is falling apart to the point that it's unsafe to go into, has been given a grant, thus a new lease on life, and is going to be completely refurbished! There's also a third clearing now - can't remember what that's going to be used for. It's been a wonderful first year for us, and we're certainly looking forward to next spring.

Now I just have to figure out the proper way to put the garden to bed for the winter months...and all must be done by November 1st. Do I fertilize, cover the plot in black plastic, till it now, etc., etc.? O dear...

~~~

xoabb
expect anything!

Spirits Dancing at Dawn

Nature rises, dancing,
With spirits of the gone.
They come to dance again.

~~~

xoabb
expect anything!

The Beginnings of BumHot

I do believe my entire families', and I mean every single one of us, obsession with all things culinarily hot 'n spicy began with the wonderful times we've spent, either all of us together or in smaller family groups, on Grand Cayman (pre Ivan ~sigh~). Perhaps I'm wrong about the beginnings, but the bottom line is, out of our past came our family obsession with the heat of the glorious hot pepper.
For quite a few years now my parents have been growing many varieties of hot peppers and then at the end of the growing season, preparing, dehydrating and pulverizing them into glorious BumHot.
This entire process is certainly not for the faint of heart (or tastebuds) and takes a very dedicated, hot pepper-adoring individual or two. You must wear gloves to prepare the peppers or your fingers will burn for days. God FORBID you make the mistake of rubbing your eyes or nose. Or worse. Then the peppers must be dehydrated. It is impossible to walk into a house with dehydrating hot peppers without immediately bursting into tears. Hard to breath too. And the final step is to Cuisinart all the dried peppers into a suitable sprinkle-size pepper flake shake. This step makes sneezing take on an entirely new definition...as in never-ending.
But the end result? Simply glorious! All the different levels of hotness and intensity make for wonderful and ever-changing delightful bites of food. Just magical!

O brother Biilllllll?? Read on Twitter you've just dried your first batch of BumHot...um, a post with many photos are in order, yes? (Tweets will get you in trouble!)

~~~

xoabb
expect anything!

BTW - We call it BumHot because our family name is BUMgarner...
Oh, and my nickname was Bummer during college.
Isn't that just wonderful??

SWF: I'm Lookin' Up! (on 9/12/09)

Did this ~Looking Up Weekly~ photo thingy last Spring into Summer, taking a photo from the exact same spot week (or two) to week, so thought I'd repeat the series this Fall into Winter. We're still green green green here in the Northeast (even though this was taken on the 12th of September). I think the Fall isn't going to be half as good as last year's, but am being routinely shot down by my friends who believe because of the Spring/Summer weather, this is going to be the most spectacular Fall EVER! Nurse Nancy says while last Fall was full of oranges and yellows, this Fall, because of ~the weather~ all the red are going to come brilliantly to life.

Hope I'm wrong and the
"It'll be a beautiful 2009 Fall!" folks
are absolutely correct!

~~~

xoabb
expect anything!

SkyWatch Friday
Do join us!

Tomatillo on the Vine

I have to admit...I've never known exactly what tomatillos were.
Fruit? Vegetable?
What did I know!

Well! I've now tasted their goodness - wonderful!
And I love their Japanese lantern looks.
Must declare this a wonderful eating experience!