Dancing Leaves Day!

There is something so fairy tale about watching the leaves dance on a crisp, fall day. The shower of yellow, orange, red and amber drifts down, frolicing in the autumn air and happy to let go of their summer's hold on skyward branches. Each of them seems to have their own spirit...the energy that trusts what is on the agenda for the day....they happily float on the currents of the season....with no argument. It is pure delight watching....standing in the misty shower....letting the brilliant leaves fall on your shoulders in the midst of shrouded ghostly clouds bumping up against the solid deep green forested mountains. Just before I went to join the leaf dance, I put a turkey in the oven stuffed with seasoned cubes ofwheat bread, chunks of apple, onion, celery and lots of sage seasoning.....made a sturdy stock with the gizzard, liver, heart and neck with carrot, onion and celery......the prerequisite to a steaming bowlful of gravy.

In between rainy spurts, I'll get the rake and begin adding to the mound of leaves piled in the street. The city of Beaverton is so kind as to come along with a machine with a big mouth, chew up all the pine needles and leaves and spit them into a companion truck and carry them away for us. I'll miss them....the dance, the drifts of color beneath the trees, the bursts of brilliant color against the blue sky. Psssst! They'll be back!

Have a colorful day....the leaves are beautiful!

The day began with quilted color,

My mood was dull to even duller.

But how could I remain so drab,

As morning’s rays shone on this crab.

I hit the floor with bounding grace,

Smiled in the mirror and washed my face.

How blessed I am to have this day.

To garden, love and learn to play.

I shut the door and turn the key,

The clouds were dancing there for me.

Mountains tall that rimmed the hills,

Heard birds that sang in joyful trills,

So who am I to grump and groan..

Or drag my feet or whine or moan?

Life is sweet and there is choice.

To hum sad song or just rejoice.

Always there are peaceful sounds,

As leaves are falling, life abounds.

With each day I learn to see,

God’s gifts of grace surrounding me.

Sharing bounty, gardener’s gift,

The dance that gives that pleasant lift.

Quote of the Day...

" Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves." ~John Muir

Of rocks and water......

From my watercolor sketch book.....

When does rock surrender to water,

I need to know, to teach my daughter.

Does constant flow of rippling streams,

Convince the stone to open seams,

Until the seams become a crack,

And then a chasm back to back.

So which is stronger would you say,

The canyon walls or waterway,

That curves and carves its way to sea.

The solid rock gives quietly.

The years of constant wearing drip,

Swirling current on rocky ship,

Where solid bow and stern must shift.

Against the frothy churn neath cliff.

I bow to water’s liquid ways,

The sparkling wave of sunny days,

That catch the light and sing their song,

Smooth stones beneath in polished throng.

The elements of brook and stone,

Each have a strength to call their own.

Majestic jut of basalt walls,

Are only there when river calls.

Repeated rush round river’s bend,

Becomes the crash of currents blend…

Of froth and foam that’s dashing wild,

Creating cliffs that so beguile.

We cannot choose that which is the best,

The stream with fish, the cliff with nest.

We simply marvel at the scene,

The canyon’s peace, the water’s gleam.

Quote of the Day...

"Gardening is a kind of disease. It infects you, you cannot escape it. When you go visiting, your eyes rove about the garden; you interrupt the serious cocktail drinking because of an irresistible impulse to get up and pull a weed." ~Lewis Gannit

It's true.....pulling a weed in a restaurant flower box, reaching to eliminate a weed at a friends house while the invitation was only for tea.....a sickness I admit to. Most of my companions and friends understand this and try not to pay too much attention to my addiction for weed pulling and dead heading wherever I am.

First Things First!

Wherever I move, one of the first things I find is a great nursery...the hunt begins! A few of my very favorite nurseries are noteworthy.

Edward's in Boise, Idaho
Greenhurst Nursery, Nampa, Idaho
Farmington Gardens, Beaverton, Oregon
Paulino's in Denver, Colorado