more.... good bye october

 View across the driveway.  The remains of the greenhouse, which Hubby uses for veggie gardening every year.  He starts out with cool weather crops , lettuce, broccoli, green beans and  spinach.  have had no animals getting in and dining on those crops (so far).  As the cool weather crops are finishing up, there is a raised bed  in the open (fenced of course) that gets  tomatoes, a few strawberries, eggplant and sweet peppers and usually more green beans.    Hubby replants in the greenhouse with whatever we need the space for.  Cantalope this year (two), and of course zucchini (too many). a few self started tomato plants. Also the green house is the year round home for a few Herbs. (my herbs) a very pretty  4 year old sage plant. a few rosemary bushes. yes parsley and thyme....(how could i have one with out the other???)  Surround the green house on 3 sides are flower beds. I prefer the flowers to the veggies, but i do work in the veggie garden too.

Center of photo:  this is the strangest tree we have. a choke cherry, with all the fall colors on one tree!
red,orange, green and yellow.

such a different sight... after years of gazing at sidewalks, garages, houses and paved streets.

Good bye October, view of the back yard

The end of friday....

It's Friday evening,. The house is closed up against the chill. dogs are walked and snoozing after their dinner.

The People Dinner this Friday is from Primo's Italian deli.  Andrews' (oldest son) responsibility to feed us on Friday.  He takes this  job very seriously.   I have been getting  the  'Nonna', (which is the Italian form of 'Nana', term of endearment for  a grandmother. Now as i have said to friends, "..... Nana?? isn't that the dog from peter pan???)  any way... Nonna is an eggplant sub on wonderful crusty bread , spinach and roasted peppers. This is one of my favorite Friday dinners. a close second to the tuna salad from subway with all the salad fixings. love it.

Just a few minutes to reflect on the last 2 days then i turn computer over to hubby for awhile......
This past Thursday was marathon cleaning day. Once every 2 weeks i spend the day doing a stellar, over the top, as much as i can cleaning.  Since i couldn't sleep I finally got up early Thursday morning and started chores... top of the list, KKK  (Kitchen Klutter Kontrol). Once the kitchen is under control, the reward is to  get the coffee going. what a wonderful smell. makes my heart glad just to smell the coffee. Simple pleasures.
Once hubby and sons have left for work, i can get  both dish and clothes washer going.  

After a few trips outside for recycling and trash, i pronounced it breezy but a warm breeze.   Walking around the house, throwing open the windows.  a great day to let the outside in.  Taking advantage of the weather, the nice warm days will soon be over.  with every in and out.... i don;t know what was better... the smell of coffee or the smell of the outside, now in.

it was a relief to have the  windows open after the humidity of the past few days and taking advantage of  a good house airing.    By 2p.m.  i was beat. a few errands, lunch, bills to pay. doing wash went on and on into the evening.  After Every trip out and  back, i was aware of how good it is to come in from outside and know the house looks and smells clean and fresh (except for 3 smelly dogs that need baths desperately).  the lack of sleep caught up with me over  Thursday night  which turned into a good sleeping night.

No matter how tired you can be, dogs still need to be walked and fed.   in and out early...  I noticed the driveway is evenly coated  with tiny Fraser fir (tree) needles. looks like the driveway has grown a coat of fur! Definitely much cooler. mid 50's as the high today.  it was a sunny cloudy day.. and i must admit to sleeping most of it away. not so unusual after a few nights of no sleep then a day of  marathon cleaning.

Friday night  is usually a relaxing evening. Used to be movie night and i must get back into that again.
for now... scifi channel, NO wrestling please!!,  movie on tv, reading and  taking it easy.
 Saturday is almost here. the last Saturday in October.

Have a warm cozy country evening.
city girl

early thursday morning....

Fog
The fog comes on little cat feet. It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches and then moves on. Carl Sandburg

Today, party day...

"October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came-
The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
And leaves of every name.
The Sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand,
Miss Weather led the dancing,
Professor Wind the band."
-   George Cooper, October's Party

right on time...

The rain arrived right on schedule.  At 2 a.m. Thursday morning.  I heard the first drops hitting what is left of the leaves still on trees.  Even the weathermen have to be right once in a while.
 
Before it gets too wet, it's a good time to take the dogs out for a late night constitutional.  2 a.m., another night of being awake at an odd time.  On this walk, we scared up several some things that went crashing through the brush.  A few deer close to the house I imagine.  I hate to hear and not see... well, I hate to see the reflection of the flashlight in many eyes too. 

Last fall...  we had several bear sightings.   9 a.m. on a Saturday morning.  Just across the road headed this way as a matter of fact. Good thing we have dogs that bark.  The local neighbors love to tease me about the wildlife.  I love it but from a distance, and bears....not at all. 
 
This morning... still very warm and wet, I see we have lost more leaves.  The carpet is deeper (and will be harder to mow).  The trees  look as if they are packing it in for the winter.  During the dog walking, I noted several turkey vultures floating overhead.  If I had not seen one land in a tree I would not have noticed the other 6 all looking down at me.  They sure are ugly.  Probably checking out the area around the neighbors pond,  a good place to set up residence for the winter.

 Driving through town, the trees are looking bare but the colorful mums distract the eye from the season to come.  This is the first year i  planted  mums and pansy's to take the place of the faded summer flowers in the bed along the garage.  It was a good idea.

city girl

the last week of october continues

Wednesday morning dog walking in the light of day.   In between keeping an eye on dogs and watching where i step, i like to stop periodically to admire the variety of trees here.  The shape, the size and now the color of leaves, even the bare bark is interesting.  Many trees have lost leaves.  The Tulip poplar, one of the tall trees here still have leaves at the top, catching all the sun available.  The big Ash trees are bare.. and the naked black walnuts growing between the maples almost look dead in comparison. 

It has been unseasonably warm here the last few days. The high humidity makes it feel warmer still.  With the pleasant weather, I take frequent breaks in the day to walk out onto the back porch, just to absorbe the sight before it is gone.   Photographs just don;t do justice to the color and the calm..

city girl

part ll......... the search for the country home continues.....

As i mentioned,  we had a second chance to look over the old Victorian farm house that first brought us to Upper Bucks County.  Walking around outside and in, this second time, made it easier to notice all the problems that would require bucketfuls of money.  The milk house had fallen down, unusable and filled with junk and debris.  Dead animals in the barn. The eight acres had shrunk to 4, not to mention the growing dump of major appliances  (inside and out).  Trash piles every place.(talk about 'hoarders' the show should come to upper bucks!)  the well was contaminated, The septic condemned...the house needed major repairs. and that was just the outside!  still...... we wanted to think about it.  Later that week i called the township to inquire about the state of the property. Township wanted it cleaned up and very possibly the new owners would be required to deal with it post haste. Moving in fall, securing the house against unknown winter......commuting to city and suburban jobs. after some discussion... we said no.

Next we saw  a former Inn.   Fabulous, huge and mostly restored to a large gracious home. how do i explain....on the expansive second floor landing  there was indoor plumbing.  a small room... a bathroom build in the middle of the big hall!  walls build to enclose the bathroom... (an outhouse still outside....).  there were 3 families living there as it was the only way to afford to heat the place!

The search continued.  It was a very depressing search. One house was worse than the last.   The lovely stone house with one large second floor room divided into 4 bedrooms, accessible each through the other. a change of ugly carpeting to announce you were in a different room.  The rancher with 8 acres of gully which was filled with years of trash.  The list of unacceptable went on and on.  Nothing resembled a proper house.  Imagine...  no closets, floors that sloped and made me dizzy,  jacks in basements holding up first floor rooms. Walking on boards through side yards to avoid the mud.  Deliverance!  Each weekend i wondered which of the unacceptable homes we would be buying. 

Just about the time we were resigned to putting off our search, we happened across a little cape cod on our way to an upper bucks Clinic.  A call to the real estate agent.  The house was tiny. 4 rooms and bath on the main floor. Full cellar & large a dry attic (dry till we moved in) to be converted in the future.  The house needed to be repainted inside and out.  It was cozy (another word for small).  Heck, it was livable!  the property was a shock too.   On a major highway, but it had been a nursery, with the remains of a greenhouse, a little store, a storage building with a sign that announced "INDIAN RELICS" (and to this day we call it the Indian relic building) everything overgrown, but like walking through a tiny piece of  Fairmount park (Our city parks system). Trees and flowering shrub all over. Discussion. Visits. Offer accepted..... more drama...(for example...the owner died just before closing) and 30 years later we are still here in the Country
and loving almost every moment of it!

city girl

Weather.. we like it or not.....

The moon was bright  in the cloudless sky .  Dog walking  after midnight was accomplished without a flashlight.  First frost this morning????  I didn't see it.  I usually  check the hill across the road first thing in the morning.   The neighbors front lawn is the perfect place to see the frosty white.  This mornings view was still the pleasant faded green scattered with fallen leaves.

It's been a long time, and i was so much younger when i lived in the city, almost half a life time away. i don't remember the main topic of conversation day in and out.  Although, if you held down a job outside the home, you had to travel to that job.  Public transportation, in Philly, is widely available.  Also, there are many who still drive to the office.  I am thinking Traffic reports are on the tip of everyone's tongue every day, early and late.  No matter how you get to work, you still had to get there.  Anything and Everything  that could happen often did and it all affected the trip to work.

Here in the country the first conversation of the day is related to the Weather.  traffic is certainly a major concern. Everyone who can, drives and drives to work. While you still have to 'get there', the weather and even the season plays the major roll in the commute.  Most everything that happens on the road morning or evening to slow a commute  is weather and season related.  In my opinion, The weather plays the major roll in every day life here in the country. 

It's another beautiful fall Saturday morning in the country.   The weather is cooperating and i plan to spend some time outside today, crunching through the leaves.  To everyone who can... get out in the sun and enjoy the day.  Bring a few leaves in side with you to admire.  Before you know it, fall is gone and so are those colorful leaves.

city girl

Sunny chilly Friday, part 1 the search for the country home

We are still waiting for the first frost of the fall 2010 season!  Every day, weather actors  say  ".... tomorrow morning...."  but frost has not materialized as yet.  Mother nature is in charge.  The frost will get here when it does.

This morning, the birds at the feeders are all puffed up against the cooler air. purple finch look fat and sassy in their purplie pink hue. Large flock of chickadees and tufted titmouse, like little acrobats, flitting here and there in quick jerky motion.  White breasted nuthatches are collecting sunflower seeds and secreting them in crevices on big old trees.  What a hoot to watch! after a seed is fitted into a space.... another bird removes it and places it some place else. then a third and even a fourth  watcher  performs more rearranging.. This goes on for hours. collecting, secreting, moving.   One red breasted nut hatch, smaller than it's cousin is busy collecting seeds also.   There only seems to be one  each year and i only see him/her in the fall.  During the winter i have seen just one across the road at the neighbors. guess he/she likes that location better.

When we first started to look for a home, here in the country some 30+ years ago, we happened across an old farm that was being divided and sold for development. Interesting Victorian farmhouse in need of some work.   Big barn, milk house, corn cribs, eight acres and the largest collection (dump) of major appliances i had ever seen.  The house had seen better days. Had been rented out for quite awhile while the owners farmed the 100 acres of land.  The renters all did what they wanted to make the house comfortable.  They also let the space they didn't need  fall into disrepair.... (which is putting it mildly). It was not a huge house but a gracious one none the less. Two front doors, living room, family room, dining room, kitchen.  Beyond that were 4 more rooms. Mudroom, laundry room,  room with an array of non working appliances, and maybe an small (but generous sized) office.  5 bedrooms, 2 baths 1 1/2 bath. Full cellar with stream running through it...(how often do you see that in the city?!)  This was our first foray into the possibility of living in the country.  Unfortunately there were a number of people interested. We made an offer but did not get the house. 

A few months later we got the call that the house was back on the market.  made an appointment with the agency and the nice lady who was helping us  ferried us out to the location again.  In the interim, we had done some reading and were more aware of buying country property  (which was the title of one of the books).   It was fall when we visited the second time. The wind whistled through the weeds in the yard and fields......
sort of like today.
city girl

It's raining leaves

Some of you may have reached that time in your life where a full, uninterrupted nights sleep eludes you. While this is more problematic if you have a full time job away from home, working from home or not at all allows you plenty of wiggle room for sleeping and being awake.

It has never bothered me to wake at 2 or 3, toss & turn for awhile, then get up and do something.... get a head start on the day.   Sometimes i feel the urge to sew, watch tv, read, or even have a cup of tea.  Clutter control in the kitchen is always a possibility.   One thing is certain, once i get up, so do the dogs  which necessitates a walk in the dark. 

I was surprised, overnight,  that it was not as cold as i thought it was supposed to be.  The back porch thermometer said it was cool, but i think the humidity was up, making it feel warmer than it was.  Listening to the night sounds i thought perhaps it was starting to rain. i walked and waited  for the droplets to make their way through the canopy of trees but those drops just never materialized.  back to bed and at 8 when i awoke for the day, i realized it had been raining leaves!   Our back yard  Lawn is not totally covered... but  the next door neighbors side yard is.  Several  inches deep.  A beautiful carpet  in shades of red from light to dark with some yellow scattered in.

Partly sunny, breezy day....it rained leaves off and on. Mostly black walnut and hickory. The Maple leaves will hang on for awhile.  The black walnuts are the last to get leaves in the spring and the first to drop them in the fall. if it weren't for the nuts that create such a mess, i could look at the black walnut trees as the  perfect tree for summer shade and then for allowing the sun to warm the house in fall.

I spent a few hours outside today.  Picking up branches, and hauling them to a pile out of the way. I got to audition, then moved  a huge piece of wood to use as a feeding station for birds that prefer to eat closer to the ground.  Much cooler tonight... maybe frost?   Then....  Indian summer!  Anything to extend the previous season, to give me a little more time outside in the sunlight, in the not so cold.

I  Love fall in the country .
city girl. 

early to late wednesday

When i lived in the city, i had bird feeding stations in our postage stamp sized back yard. I spent hours leaning on the counter top and gazing at the few birds who visited continually. Along with the usual suspects, the house finches, house sparrows and occasional chickadee & tufted titmouse, there were some really great birds... the best for a tiny city yard was a indigo bunting.  the 'little bue bird' that started my interest in birding.

Here in the country i  have an array of feeding stations outside my kitchen window.  I can watch while i do kitchen clutter control. Just  like in the city, i often stand by the window  and check out the action at the feeder.  The Big difference here,  i can also watch the birds  at feeders from the comfort of the living room sofa. A favorite place to read and watch on any kind of day.

I  do bird inventory off and on. what birds visit at any given time. Comparing one year to another.  Always interesting to see when birds pass through the yard,  looking for water and a free meal on their way to some place else. Summer birds nesting, winter birds sticking around if there is enough food, (which i make sure there is).  Just last week two pheasants passed through the yard,  about the same time of year for many years now. Handsome him, plain Jane her.

For a long time, i have noted the last bird at the feeder, just before it gets too dark to see, is the Cardinal.  We have a huge summer  population with many babies raised right outside the kitchen window. Migration actually starts  Mid to late August, when food is plentiful.   Summer residents go south and birds that nested further north, fly in to take their place.  Seeing the cardinals at their evening feeding, i realized i had no knowledge of which birds were the first  to arrive in the chilly fall morning.  Mystery  finally solved!  The early birds and the late birds are one and the same  the cardinal!

Since Hubby now leaves for work at the unheard of hour of 6:30 a.m.  i often walk the dogs early and exchange a few early morning pleasantries before heading back to bed. Wednesday morning, while make  small talk, i heard the unmistakable sound that signals the arrival of the cardinal. Light from the kitchen illuminated the feeder, and there he was.. eating  all alone, One male cardinal.

Country life....
for the city girl.

tuesday sooo late....

The Rain started Tuesday night. just polka dots on the sidewalk in the door yard. It took several hours for enough rain to fall to darken the driveway.  Dogs in, recycling out. everyone settled for the evening.

I did not hear more rain overnight but during my early morning dog walk, i got wet.   To be honest.... i don't think i was awake enough to be sure it was raining or that i was just being dripped upon by the trees .  
Early morning chat with hubby and back to bed.   chilly, damp, dark morning.  mid 40's.  nice sleeping in weather. Even the dogs agreed.

by 8,  wild dark clouds boiled in the sky.  tiny breaks of white and  blue. by noon the promise of sun was realized but  the sun was shy about being out all day.  The Temperatures tell the story, summer is definitely over. moderate temperatures might continue for awhile, but there will be no more summer warmth. no more leaving the door open during the day to listen to the birds.  the air smells of fall leaves.  fallen but not decayed.

 Running errands.  In and out. driving over a carpet of yellow and gold.  mashing up the pine needles.
this would be the perfect  day for cinnamon and pumpkin spices.....Soon.
Project with friend today. sharing the dark and light of the day. 

By  5p.m. it's time to switch gears again .  dinner. arrival home of  hubby and sons. dogs walked and fed, house closed up against the dark and chill.
reading.  watching tv. working on day time project. time passes too quickly.

Good Night Tuesday.

October 18th 2010. a new week is under way

I'm from the city. "which city?", some one recently asked me.
"...Philly", (could there be any other? not for me!)
i was surprised to hear the question. of course Philly is not like other cities.
it is a city of neighborhoods.  Philly pales by comparison to New York City. but Philly is still my city.

I have lived in Bucks county for 30 years now. I still call myself a city girl.  The city was hard in many ways.    The Country presents it's own unique set of living conditions for the ordinary person, which i am. 

I am OK with being an Outlander, (rather makes me feel like a gypsy).  i have adjusted, adopted. I finally stopped screaming when i see a big toad, or snake.  I have learned to make small talk with the man who comes to pump out the septic tank.  "you can make a good living with a Sh*t truck! " they all tell me.


30 years later i still equate what i see with what it would be, if i lived in the city. (i still mistake Deer for BIG dogs),  my first Wild turkey siting translated into 'ostrich?!' (they are quite different from what you see at the grocery store). and i still get such a charge from seeing cows!

For me, 'city girl' living in "the country"  has been an experience i hope to share and hope you will enjoy.
city girl