A New Season

Sunrise: 7:17 am
Sunset: 4:35 pm

The winter solstice hasn't come yet, but with so many bare branches it feels like it. This has been a very mild fall on the West Coast. Daytime temps have rarely dipped below the mid-50's, and many have been in the 60's.

My maples are mere branches now.


I'm off to Southern California for Thanksgiving. See you back in two weeks.

Nature's balancing act

It's not the change in temperature, but the shorter days that make the leaves turn colors and fall. Has to do with photosynthesis.

I've been creating piles and piles of leaves all around my yard.


I load them into the wheel barrel and then unload them onto a tarp in front of the shredder. I don't have a collection bag, but just let the output spray onto "receiving tarps".


My process is not "carbon neutral" but much less toxic than if I were using chemical fertilizer. I just roll up the output tarps and funnel the shredded leaves into my compost.

This addition is about 4 wheel barrel-fulls of leaves.


My compost is hot! It's so exciting to lift it with a pitch fork and see steam come out. It's warm to the touch. It should be alternating layers of "green" and "brown" --- but I have an overabundance of brown.


It's only November, but when the leaves are raked away, I find sprouts already budding.


Turn, turn, turn. It never stops.

After the storm

Sunrise: 7:07 am
Sunset: 4:43 pm

Yesterday marked the first hard, all-day rain of the season. It was soggy! But today we have really bright sunshine and blue skies.

My mystery "front yard tree" (dwarf camphor?) is barely giving up its leaves.


After my French Canadian guests left, it was laundry time. I rarely need to use my dryer. Indoors or out, this little $20 rack from Target does the job. (I still need a real clothes line for sheets.)



While finishing my morning crossword puzzle I spied this poor fellow limping slowly past.


Possums are pathetic looking even in good health. I don't know how his hind leg was paralyzed. He (or she) didn't look any too happy.

Couch Surfer Guests

I hosted my first Couch Surfers. They were a couple from Canada, Pierrette and Yvon. We had a thoroughly delightful time together. They were originally from Quebec and now reside in Vancouver, BC. It was a treat to hear French being spoken.



My sister Nancy joined us for homemade pizza pie and salad. You'll note in the picture that each wineglass is different. I moved here with 2 of each kind and have managed to break 1 of each kind. *sigh*

Pizza Dough recipe:
1 1/3 cup warm water
1 tbsp yeast
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cups flour (you'll be adding at least another 1/2 cup as you kneed the dough)
Let rise twice when time allows.

I searched on the web and played around. I'm still working on it.

Bureaucracy!

You might think it's no biggie to discontinue your license in the state you moved from. NOT!!

I wrote letters,sent photocopies and listened to countless auto-phone teller options and scoured the web site. Nada! California does not make it easy to leave.

But today I got lucky. At the tail end of a lengthy array of options I finally heard the option for a "technical agent". Eureka! After 15 minutes of being on hold, a tiny human voice squeaked out of my cell phone speaker.

It's so easy to do, it's laughable -- just not obvious at all. From the California DMV site, select Forms and then Commonly Used Forms (good so far -- didn't need advice for this).


The form you want is under the Vehicle section, "Statement of Facts" (who knew?). It's very user-friendly. You can type in it and even save what you've written. You only need to fill out section G, stating when you left the state and that you do not want to register your car any longer.

Only glitch -- no mailing address. The helpful Technical Agent gave me an address to use.

Photography 101

Well, this wasn't what I had planned for the morning. But my friend Ron called to give me a few pointers in basic photography -- like aperture and shutter speed.

This was taken at 1/15; F8. A stool and phone book served as my tripod and I used 2 second delay. I reduced the size in Photoshop -- thanks to a great video tutorial by Darrel Priebe on YouTube.

Remember, the theme was raindrops looking like Christmas lights. This little sucker's right outside my kitchen window, so it's what I'm looking at while doing dishes or cooking.

(click on image to enlarge)

The new face of Fall ...

Sunrise: 6:57 am
Sunset: 4:51 pm (I can attest that it is pitch black at 5pm)

As Fall progresses, there's a new face in my garden. Fluffy, lush growth is being replace by transparent, veiny outlines of nude branches.

This Japanese maple got some help with leaf removal. The dead leaves tend to get tangled in clotted masses and rot "on the vine" as it were. I just swept my hand through the branches and the leaves fell off without protest.


I am continually struck by how this seasonal transformation resembles Christmas ornaments. These raindrops look for all the world like a string of lights. (click on image to enlarge)


I haven't figured out how to broaden the depth of field on my camera. Where I see the entire plant in focus, my camera wants a narrower target. Taking pictures sure makes you appreciate what our eyes can do!

It was a good day!

November 4th, that is! I watched the election results with the Vancouver chapter of Drinking Liberally. It felt so good to whoop and holler for our guy. It's been a long time coming. I was so touched that the entire bar was cheering -- not just our group.

Did you notice it was unseasonably warm and sunny in most of the country? We had bright sunshine all day.


I spent the day raking leaves, and even mowed the lawn. Each tree is different. Some lose them all in a swoosh (like the dogwood and birch). Others, like this maple, are slow and meticulous.


My fava bean yeild is closer to 90% -- they're just taking their time. The daytime temps have moved from the 60's to the 50's. But the "rainy weather" is only at night (so far).

25 days after planting: