The Years To Remember

 11/23 Sunday It's snowing again! I'm glad I took advantage of yesterday's upper 40's temps to get in another bike ride. I couldn't entice any of my friends to go - they thought it was too cold. Ha! I did use toe warmers in my shoes and that kept me very comfortable for the 19 mile trip. Biking does make me happy! So dismayed to see this display of over-consumerism. Most cars were of this design and it was a   very long train. A much nicer train at the depot park, marking the far end of the bike path.  There were plenty of other bikers out there, though they were going faster than me! My top split speed was 17mph and I did that for two of the miles - going down slope and with the wind. Average speed for the whole ride was 11 mph as there was a head wind for the first half. I am going to try to ride all winter, even though that means it will likely be a solo endeavor.  I'm going to spend Thanksgiving with my sister's family in Corning. I'm sure we'll...

A frigid scene on my walk today. The bird and I seemed to be the only ones out on this blustery day. 11/17 - Monday.   I keep having to remind myself that we are smack in the middle of Autumn,  since the weather continues to look like the dead of winter. This morning I woke up to the remnants of an ice storm which jolted me into my winter driving mindset, as I nearly slid through the first stop sign at the bottom of my hill. As I waited for my car to be serviced, the TV weather reported "cold and blustery weather that feels like 26°F" , even though it was a balmy 33°F. Brrrr. Since I was out and about for medical and car service appts, I ran a few other errands. I realized I hadn't planted a single spring bulb this fall, so I decided to stop by Home Depot to see what was left. Perfect timing for me! They had just put out three shopping carts full of bulbs FOR FREE! Here is my haul: I added up the value and it's $220 worth of crocus, tulip, and allium bulbs - well wor...

 I seem to have picked the right time to get all snug in the house - it's been freezing and snowing for three days, though not much accumulation. There are still leaves on some of the trees, but not for long. The fall has been so warm and temperate, that this cold spell is quite a big shift. My mind was just not ready for this, though we often have a first snow in November. These marigolds had been going strong thanks to their location near the house and the brick path. I'm guessing this is their end! The Aurora Borealis made an appearance in the area Tuesday night, as seen from my front porch. They definitely weren't as dynamic as the time I saw them in Iceland, but nice to capture! Geri invited AJ, Peggy and me to see Elizabeth Strout ( Olive Kitteridge ) speak at Proctors Theater in Schenectady. We met at Tara first and had some lovely Moroccan tagines for dinner with a bottle of wine. Elizabeth was charming and open about her books and characters and she has a delightfu...

 I'm trying to make it a habit to go out in the garden for at least 10 minutes each morning for some sunshine. I always find a chore or two which keeps me out much longer. I was thrilled to see a couple of the lavender plants put out a second bloom. Is this the last of my cut flowers for the season? Wednesday's 10 minutes turned into 2+ hours with an impromptu mowing session. My intention was to pick up downed sticks - it's been very windy. Then I decided to mulch the leaves on top of the sticks, which just lead to the whole lawn getting mowed/mulched. That will hopefully cause any further falling leaves to just blow on down the hill.  The election results finally show a glimmer of hope. That eagle was a good omen! Yesterday I missed out on what looked like a great hike because I had an appointment to get my eyebrows microbladed - a less permanent tattoo. So now I have very aggressive eyebrows until they heal over to reveal more natural looking brows. It's been 2.5 year...

 The (almost too) large book club was held in the meeting room of a library. It worked out well as we were able to thoroughly discuss two books in our allotted time. The point of changing the venue was that meetings were becoming too food/social focused and too light on book discussion. Wrapping up a successful book club meeting on a rainy night. The faction pushing for more food and drink are also the ones bringing +1’s and not actually reading the books. This venue change is helping. If they want a social gathering, then why not just host one, rather than co-opting book group? All these flowers and butterflies were crafted out of felted wool to make this pretty wall art at the library. In homesteading news, Home Depot was giving away pie pumpkins on Halloween, so I drove over and made a bit of a haul. I see many pumpkin pies, breads, and muffins in my future. Nine pumpkins - luckily they are small ones. I found that none of my knives were up to the task of cutting through these p...