A Halloween Night

Red sky at night, a witch's delight

The curved walk beside the covered bridge beckoned...

In the air not flying,
Nor on the earth walking,
Nor in a boat riding
Still cross without doubting
They will uphold you
If you say boldly:
Bridge be strong
From end to end
And let me pass
From land to land.*

“From Witches and Wizards and long-tailedBuzzards,
And creeping things that run in the hedge-bottoms,
Good Lord, Deliver us!

—Celtic Litany

Knit your fingers,
Hold your breath
Say to yourself
This verse for death:

Keeper of bones
I know thy face,
But I shall yet
Outstrip thy pace.*

From Ghoulies and Ghosties
And long leggity Beasties
And things that go bump in the Night
Good Lord, Deliver Us!”

—Celtic Litany

By the pricking of my thumbs
Something wicked this way comes.

—William Shakespeare, Macbeth

Ancient tree
I offer thee
This mortal coin
Of gift and sign:
Guard my fate
Both soon and late,
And let my rust
Grow green at last.*

*The chants and charms come from Valerie Worth's little tome,
Crone's Book of Magical Words

Bad News

Instead of leaving readers in a lurch...I decided to let everyone know that my computer took a major hit last week. I'm currently writing this post on my brother's computer and this may be the last post until my machine is fixed or announced DOA. Finding someone to work on PC's that can do it in a timely manner is an achievement. Soooo.....adieu good fairies everywhere for now, but I hope to be back soon.

Meanwhile...think of me resting in an arbor surrounded by flowers, herbs, bird song, and nibbling on fresh strawberries and cream...

Yeah...right...

The Fall Color Project: An October Walk

Dave at The Home Garden began the Fall Color Project in 2008. Bloggers are invited to post links to their photos of autumn color at its peak. Last Sunday, I believe northwest Ohio reached the apex of autumn color. I'm delighted to share what I found and viewed through Fuji, a most worthy camera for a novice photographer.

On Sunday Fuji and I went for a quiet walk. The fall color in northwest Ohio is reaching its peak and begging to be captured and held fast.
The first stop, Goll Woods, a 321 acre state nature preserve in Fulton County, offered a pleasant walk.
The deepness of tall stands of trees creates a sanctuary for wild things…birds, animals, plants, moss, fungi, and a humble walker.

The light filtering in...
made me ponder how much brighter the woods will be after the fall of leaves, but with light the dark mystery of a wooded area lessens. Often walks in the woods are quiet sojourns with plenty of time for reflection and introspection. The laughter of children, with adults tramping close behind, and the cries of blue jays punctuated the cool October day, yet there were times when stillness gathered round giving me moments of just being.

On any excursion finding treasures presents excitement and delight. In the fall nature tenders fists full of flaming red, burnished gold, nut brown, and glowing orange leaves collected and preserved by treasure hunters.
Gathered acorns with jaunty caps, buckeyes, and nuts retrieved and pocketed become a remembrance of the day. Then there are the feasts for the eyes that can only be captured through a camera lens…the rich browns of shelf fungi thriving on a fallen limb, tiny colorful, leaf canoes navigating the Tiffin River...
deep blue berries picked over by birds and overhead leaves in shimmering yellows and earthy browns creating a canopy of color against the soft blue October sky.

After traipsing about the paths in the woods, we headed for a picturesque setting in Williams County, George Bible Park. What we, Fuji and I, found were trees on fire...
and liquid reflections softened in a mirror of water.
The small park differs from the forest primeval of Goll Woods. Instead of ancient 400 year-old towering trees, a gentle idyllic setting invites visitors to rest for a spell, breathe in the crisp air, and soak up glorious vignettes awash with fall color.

The ephemeral beauty of fall passes by in the span of a deep sigh. The trees now clothed in ornate gowns will soon drop the colorful covering and stand naked to the world, but that’s another story for another day. Stop before the show is over and if only for a few minutes live the gift that nature presents each fall.

“It is only when we are aware of the earth and of the earth as poetry that we truly live.”—Henry Beston, Herbs and the Earth

All in all, I took nearly 200 photos on my walk. I've selected what I find to be the most interesting photos and if you're up for more fall color, take a look at the Flickr slide show.

A Legacy of Pink

My mother inspired me beyond any other person who walked the face of the earth. With a gentle spirit she taught me to cook with love, garden with beauty, and embrace family with jubilant wonder. Her mother taught her and it is the legacy of a grandmother I never knew that I ponder today.
My oldest sister remembers Grandma B as a wiry, spirited soul who scurried into the yard to grab a chicken, chop off it’s head and prepare it for supper the same night. I know through stories she planted a garden, but what she planted is lost. Many of the recipes that my family treasure came from Grandma B’s kitchen. Her soft, spicy gingerbread men visit every holiday. An old recipe for grape juice, written in her hand, is a recipe yet to be tried, but I imagine rows of purple grape juice lining a pantry shelf some day.
I know so little of this woman, who bore and raised my mother and aunt. A few years before I was born, Grandma B succumbed to breast cancer. She was only 48 years old. It was with great fear and trepidation that my mom approached her 48th birthday, but she breezed by it until cancer took her away from us at the age of 74.
I like to think of my mom in a beautiful garden, sitting in a rocking chair cuddling a baby, whispering softly to the fuzzy headed cherub while fragrance from pink roses waft around her. Close by my grandmother rests in a vegetable garden with chickens scratching at fertile earth.

These two women left me a legacy of pink…pink flowers, pink toes, pink ribbons, and so much more that reminds me that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I remember each, grandmother and mother, with a sprig of rosemary and a pink rose tied with a satiny pink ribbon.

Change of Climate Gardening: Blog Action Day

I love the tall spires of sky blue delphinium that create a soft background to lower growing plants. I can’t imagine not being able to grow them along a fence or in a flower garden. The impact of climate change on gardening may mean that delphiniums will no longer be a viable choice for my garden. Climate is changing and with it what can be grown in a specific area changes. Gardeners are well aware of their zone and what is feasible to grow within that area. Gardening in the desert 10b zone seems light years away from gardening in northwest Ohio, designated as part of zone 5b, but it’s changing and even the USDA can’t seem to grasp the fact that hardiness zones need to catch up to the increasing temperature of the Earth. So going forward you may want to start being more aware of what grows well and what does not, take notes, and adjust your planting.

What’s Going On?
Take a look at what climate change is doing to Ohio. According to the report, Economic Impact of Climate Change on Ohio, released in July 2008 by the Center for Integrative Environmental Research at the University of Maryland, the temperature in Ohio has risen over the last 100 years by 1.3 degrees F; precipitation has increased by 10% in the north and decreased by the same number in southern Ohio. The water level of Lake Erie has dropped 3.5 feet. “These trends are predicted to worsen if climate change progresses unchecked.”

The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly
As a gardener perhaps you’re jubilant that your zone will change from a 5 to a 6 giving you a longer growing season for your passion. Well, that’s not so bad, but what else happens?

Within every garden lie the good and the evil. I’m talking about pests. The change in climate doesn’t just affect your flowers and vegetables; it also affects the critters that munch on your prize roses and blue ribbon tomatoes. A longer period of warmth gives the munching, crunching invasive bugs more time for eating through the garden.

Invasive weeds that never knew Ohio soil may advance from the south and into your garden with gleeful exuberance at the expanding territory much to your exasperation and exhaustion.

Combat Climate Change
What can you do to make a difference? The first step is become informed and educated and then put what you learn into sound gardening practices. Start by following the recommended “green” garden changes:

1. Cut down on gas powered garden tools
   
2. Reduce the use of water by collecting water in barrels
   
3. Choose plants wisely; look for drought and heat resistant plants suitable for your area
   
4. Compost instead of tossing garbage and leaves into plastic bags
   
5. Live locavore, in other words plant a vegetable garden or buy locally grown vegetables and fruits
   
6. Hang clothes on a line outside in the summer, you will be rewarded in oh so many ways
   
7. Resist the urge to use chemicals in the garden; instead opt for natural remedies
   

Still not sure you believe all this nonsense about climate change? Think about this for a minute…we’re proud to be called Buckeyes, but what will we be called when the Buckeye state no longer can grow buckeye trees? Climate change will force us to change as gardeners, but it may also change our identity as residents of Ohio. I don’t know about you, but I’m proud to say I’m a Buckeye gardener. Take some time to read blogs from around the world that offer different perspectives on climate change through Blog Action Day.

Blog Frustration

Perhaps some of you have noticed that my blog keeps changing a bit. I said I was in the mood for a change, but change comes harder when I want what I want and what I want is a changeble header without frames or borders. I tried several background colors and decided black shows off photographs the best, so black it is. Now, I want the header to stretch from one margin to the next, not sit in the middle. I want a photograph, that I took, to rest to the right, not be front and center. I want the photograph to fade at the bottom and left. My perfect header would have the blog title beginning at the edge of the photo in a unique font. AND...I want to have the ability to change the photo with the season or when the mood strikes. So for the last week and a half, I've been trial and erroring it through a test blog I set up, changing the template, HTML, and using the preset Layout on Blogger. I'm spending too much time searching for tutorials, suggestions, and how-to's while my frustration level at not finding what I want climbs to the point that I post a blog about it.

So if anyone out there in the blogsphere has any idea how I can achieve what I want, feel free to add your two cents worth and I'll be happy to try your suggestion.

The photo I'm trying to get to the left of the header is of a home that I named, the story book house, many years ago. It sits on a small hill with a brook gurgling behind it. The little barn sports dove cotes and the yard has always intrigued me. I like to imagine a cottage garden gracing the front yard to the entrance.

The View Through My Window

A few days ago, I was fooling around with the camera and took a photo out the window I often stare at while pondering the white page before me and what words would paint a colorful story. While looking at the photo I thought, heck why not snap a shot every once in a while, just to see how a miniscule spot in the cosmic world changes? So from time-to-time expect a few photos of what’s going on outside my window.

Right now it’s all about the changing colors. One tree donned a dress of gold and soft orange for the big fall dance, while all around it, gently swaying limbs clothed in green stand ready to be the next centerpiece framed by my window.


I zoomed in on the tree trying to capture the subtle shades of color. It's probably a maple, but I'll let you know for sure.

Yesterday, I took a quick photo of what I actually see while sitting at my computer. No barky trunks or grass green, just a leafy outline against the sky

Today, the sky weeps for whatever it is that makes the clouds turn gray on a chilled October day. A view with the window closed casts a misty look with color barely showing through.

Throw the window open, and the world becomes a brighter, more vibrant place, even on a rainy day.

Wordless Wednesday

Blotanical Congratulations

Kylee's Garden in August


I joined Blotanical a while back, but haven't had a lot of time to look the site over or do much there. I heard about voting for the best garden blog and mosied on over. I voted in a few categories, but just didn't have the time to do all categories justice, so I only voted for the ones I knew and have been following.

The results are in and I wish a great, big congratulations to all the blogs that won. A hearty hug goes out to Kylee of Our Little Acre for winning best Ohio blog! I had the good fortune to visit Kylee's garden during the Van Wert Garden Walk. Her blog is as lovely as her garden.

I've been following a couple other blogs that won awards on Blotanical...

Idaho Small Goat Farm won for best Agrarian Blog, May Dreams Gardens for best blog writing, Gardening Gone Wild for best Landscaping Blog, and Faire Garden for best US Garden Blog.

I also discovered two new blogs that I found wildly fascinating and both won. An Artists Garden won for Best Garden Art Blog and Weed Wackin' Wenches for Best Blog Name.

To all the winners, congratulations! I look forward to spending more time perusing the blogs on Blotanical in the coming year.

When the Frost is On...

The frost is on....creeping thyme, the peppers still turning red on the vine, and yes on the pumpkins. A veil of white covered the grassy field across the way creating that tell-tale fall sign that winter smirks just behind the vibrant skirt of autumn. According to the Farmers' Almanac, this area should have had ten more days before the first frost, but after an abnormally cool summer who could be surprised at an early frost?

Every frosty morning in October has a colorful leafy lining. Soon, the world around those of us fortunate enough to live where vivid seasonal changes occur will be showered in colorful leaves. I checked out a couple sites that update when to expect nature's grand show to begin. Weather.com gives regional maps along with an explanation of why leaves change color. The map of the US on GORP's Fall Foliage Guide offers an approximate time when you can expect the leaves to change in your area. For northwest Ohio...sometime in mid-October, yellow, orange, russet, and red leaves reach the peak of color before cascading into a free fall to the ground.

Bring it on autumn! I'm ready for brisk walks down country roads, trees decked out in fancy fall frocks, crisp apples, grinning jack 0'lanterns, gourds, corn shocks, goblins and ghosts, hot apple cider laced with spices, succulent turkey, geese honking overhead, a harvest moon, "...O, it's then the time a feller is a-feelin' at his best...When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.*"

*From James Whitcomb Riley's poem, When the Frost is on the Punkin