Saturday we went to daughter Betsy's house for our third family Christmas gathering and we got all the traditional holiday treats. First there was a toy needing assembly. In this case a very simple cat Rolling Rocker. Rory and Tynan are going to the animal shelter this week to choose two kittens and all they wanted was everything about cats. They got a calendar (365 kittens!), two books about cats, kitten napkins, kitten toys and the rolling rocker.…
Alerted by Michelle over on Garden Rant, I read the NYTimes op-ed piece by Oliver Morton about the strength of living systems on the earth. It is a beautiful piece, science and poetry combined, that is appropriate to the season of miraculous birth and new beginnings.
Heath is famous for its winds. The Montreal Express comes racing down our hill creating wind ripples that are properly known as sastrugi. I learned this word last year when my husband gave me Home Ground: Language for an American Landscape edited by Barry Lopez for Christmas. "A snowfield covered with sastrugi can look like the top of a lemon meringue pie, or like a desert sandscape, sculpted by wind into curvaceous dunes. The word comes from the…
As a lover of roses, I longed to plant a Christmas rose, although I could not imagine how, in Heath, it would bloom at Christmas. When my garden knowledge grew I realized that while I may be able to plant a Christmas rose and have it bloom, it is no rose, and will probably not bloom for me at Christmas. The Christmas rose is, in fact, a member of the buttercup (Ranunculaceae) family. Its…
Flowers are a part of the festive holiday decorations. Some are even named for the holidays. Thanksgiving and Christmas cactus bloom in shades of white, pink and red all through the holidays. They are hardy plants needing very little care, but it is important to remember that even though we call them cactus, they are not desert plants. Thanksgiving and Christmas cactus are actually a part of the Schlumbergera family, natives of moist tropical…
Winter is officially here. Last week my daughter said she was tired of winter, and it hadn't even started yet. Krishna is knee deep in snow, but he prefers it to the ice that left many people in our town without power or phones for eight days.We had substantial snow Friday but yesterday it just flurried. Early this morning it began again and is falling, falling falling.
Coming home from working at Heath's Emergency Shelter yesterday, I had to come the long way home because of power trucks still working on our road. I had to pass this spot on Rowe Road where the landowners had cleared a large field providing a magnificent view west to Mount Greylock. No matter the season or hour, the view of field, mountain and sky is always breathtaking. This major limb on our ancient apple tree didn't come down…
Even the workers from Verizon and National grid must have seen some of the beauty through the damage that the heavy ice caused. We were fortunate that there was no wind, even though it was very cold, or even more damage would have been caused and the workers would have had much more trouble.This yellow birch is a tree I love and I have often photographed it. It was so beautiful in the rosy light, but it was…
The cyclamen that I carried over from last year is looking a bit leggy, but the color is so beautiful and it is the one thing around here that is looking a little Christmas-y. I am very happy to have it.The Abutilon or parlor maple is ever dependable. It hasn't minded the 42 degree temperatures in our bedroom during the ice storm power outage.Holdiday cactus are really wonderful carefree plants. The Thanksgiving cactus is still in bloom and…
All day Thursday the ice and rain fell out of the sky. The dirt road seemed impassable. Henry telecommuted. A first. By the time the blue hour arrived the radio told us that the ice storm was intensifying. Henry, always expecting the worst, filled the bathtub with water, as well as a couple of large stock pots. I brought in more firewood.At 9:30 the power went out, shortly followed by the telephone. Fortunately, we are experienced with Heath…