It’s Fall….Really and truly FALL!

Ok…so I am a little excited

cause it is A LOT cool and fresh and fallish…this week

So I think I may even decorate for Christmas.

You think I kid?

I do not kid…

This will only last for a few days

then back to the heat

Gotta grab it while I can.

Hot cocoa anyone?

End Of Month View ~ October 2010.

My good intentions to join in with Patient Gardener's 'End of Month View' seem to have gone off the rails. I have not posted since August. I was away from home at the end of September and then again in October so this post is late. I holding head down in shame also have to report that that the border has been in suspended animation since August. At the moment it is limping along, as I have been doing this last couple of months. In the middle of September my left knee suddenly gave way, made a dreadful crunching noise and has subsequently been the cause of some considerable pain. After hopping along with a walking stick for a week when we were away at the end of September, I made a doctor's appointment as soon as we got home. The outcome of this was a prescription for some 112 paracetemol (cheaper to buy over the counter) and a referral to a physiotherapist. I swallowed the odd paracetemol but did my best to manage without them. As the weeks have gone the pain has slowly but surely lessened, so much so that by the time I saw the physiotherapist earlier this week I felt a bit of a fraud. After various manipulations involving much undignified waving of the legs, the verdict was that there is nothing seriously wrong with the said joint.  However the ligament in the left knee is apparently not as taut as in the right. I now have exercises to do regularly to strengthen it and perhaps hopefully avoid future problems.

Whilst this has been going on not only have I been most grumpy and miserable but I have been approaching physical tasks with caution and rather gingerly, not wanting to aggravate the knee further. So I have neglected both the garden and the lottie which is most annoying. The autumn clean up is going to be one frantic rush. I still have to clean out the greenhouse, lift up the dahlias, plant bulbs, sweep up never the seemingly never ending leaf fall, mulch and generally tidy up. I am quite breathless just thinking about it and as for what needs doing at the lottie ...............

So I am putting the end of month border to bed for this year - you would not really want to see it just now - like my knee it's not a pretty sight. Instead a view of what I was glimpsing at with some degree of iwantitiness at the end of October. The garden is my parent's garden and the plant is a clematis that I bought for them some time ago - label long gone but I think it is clematis cirrhosa - which one though I don't know for sure but possibly 'Wisley Cream'. Whichever it is it is flourishing and the fence behind provides shelter from the bitter winds that blow in from Russia to East Anglia. My mother observed that it's in flower earlier than usual this year - apparently it usually it comes into flower in December with them when I imagine it would be even more welcome. Many thanks to Patient Gardener for hosting the end of month view and hopefully my postings will resume in the new year.

New camera technology? Who cares?

Photography is and always will be first and foremost about creating memories! Years from now that great new wonder camera will be forgotten, but the memories that remain in print will be passed on from generation to generation. One day you will forget what resolution that Japanese techno-wiz ultra spec had or how sharp that German wunder kamera was, but you will always be able to step back in time and recall those memories from yesteryear just by looking at the photos you once took, regardless of the quality of the camera or lens.

Here is one of my late Grandpa, (who I loved very much) taken with my first camera, a Box Brownie. Who cares if it is out of focus, or the colours are not quite right? Who bothers to remember what the specs were of the camera? This is my enduring memory of Grandpa, a cheerful, loving grandfather with slightly wild eyebrows!

How about that first day off to school? I don't even remember how ugly the cars were back then except by this photo! And boy, was I ever a cute kid! ;-)

And finally, here are my great-grandparents that I never even met!

After all these years the memories remain!

So here are the lessons to be learnt from this little walk down memory lane:

1.) Always have a camera with you.
2.) Take lots of photos of your family, you never know how long they will be with you.
3.) Worry less about how sharp your pics are in the corners wide open, it really doesn't make for better memories!
4.) Your ancestors were probably better looking than you. ;-)

(If you are doing paid work for clients the advice above doesn't count, give them the best you possibly can.)

Add some of your own benefits below:

"Give Peace A Chance"

P IS FOR?

PEACE!

Promenading through one of Liverpool's pleasant parks on a perfect autumn afternoon, we were pleased to come across a new sculpture which is to have permanent pride of place. It is a tribute to the late John Lennon, who if still alive would have celebrated his 70th birthday last month. It was created by a 19 year old artist Lauren Voiers who is from the United States. Taking photos was rather problematic because of the sun. I pondered over popping back later but it was already late pm so maybe I will persist and press the click button another day.

Perambulate over to ABC Wednesday now for more pithy pointers on the letter P.

Politics weary? Check this out…

Pennsylvania rep Chris Ross puts his money where his mouth is…

or is it mouth where his money is...ugh. Germy.

The environmental Commitee advisory member bought an old 1970’s house and barn and

worked to get it off the electrical grid…with a sustainable house and garden.

…Which is also beautiful.

house before

after…incorporating local stone.

Inside and out uses all manner of modern green technology.

Green roof, solar panels…they even sell excess energy back to the grid!

outside the pool was removed, and the concrete used for paths and walkways…

Instead of water needing lawn…they used natural grasses and sedges to lead up to their home

The garden is now a meadow resplendent with native plants

and birds and butterflies…

Politics…who knew?

Images: Garden Design Magazine

Pecan Pie Day

Photo courtesy of Lane Southern Orchards, Ft. Valley, Georgia

Today was a pecan pie day though I didn't actually eat pecan pie.  Truthfully I didn't even see pecan pie, but it was still 

a pecan pie day.   

When I was growing up my favorite dessert was pecan pie.  We only had it once a year at Thanksgiving so I always looked forward to November.   When I was in second grade it just so happened that my elementary school had several large pecan trees on the grounds near where I waited for the school bus.  In October the pecans began to fall so while I waited for the bus I would pick up pecans.  My mother would get home from work and I would beg for a pecan pie.  She finally made a deal with me that if I could bring home enough pecans, crack and shell them, she would make a pie.   The next day the school bell rang and we were dismissed so I ran straight for the school yard to start picking up nuts.   It happened to be a cool and blustery day with overcast skies but no rain.  I won't ever forget it.  It was on that gray and windy day I was scrambling to fill my pockets with as many pecans as possible.  I wanted that pie.  Once home from school I squeezed a pair of the nuts together with all my might to crack one open in order to get to the nuts.  By the time my mother got home, my tiny hands had managed to shell enough pecans for a pie, plus some.   

So when the day is cloudy, windy and the temperatures start to fall like it was today, for me, it's just another pecan pie day.   Guess we'll be having pecan pie this week.

Gritty Portrait