September Morning

It was foggy again this morning, and when I went outside the air was heavy, warm and still, with the undulating thrum of insects in surround-sound. I flashed-back to when I was a little girl, visiting my grandparents' farm in late summer in southwest Minnesota. I am sure that is where my life-long farm-yearning originated.

Foggy sunrise over the garden, birds on the wires.

Last night I weeded the former garlic bed, hand-tilled it and planted rows of mesclun and beets for fall. So dismaying that it now gets dark at 8:30.  I love gardening in the cool of the evening and could get so much more accomplished if there were a couple more hours of light...

Took a little walk around the farm in the fog before letting out the  demanding poultry from the coop.  They follow me everywhere like the pied piper. I love that, but they are always underfoot. Here is how the front of the barn looks now that the commercial kitchen project is complete. Still have to paint a bunch of doors, put up some window boxes, and install some exterior lights.

The big head planter now covers the well so no cars drive over it. Rog noticed he is facing toward Mecca.

The fairy garden has been totally neglected the past busy month but it still seemed rather magical this morning.

The wild chickens came running down to the fairy garden to fetch me to get them some breakfast and cows were waiting impatiently at the gate, so had to end my walk and tackle chores.

Wordless Wednesday: Good Mornings

Eggs A La Pinterest & Other Scrambled Ramblings

 Sunrise through the  suncatcher.

Sunday morning, we started the day out with farm eggs,  fried in sweet red pepper rings (a clever idea I discovered on Pinterest.)

A a little parmesan and some fresh basil...

Yum!

The ground is still covered in snow, but it has receded by well over a foot and is now hard and crunchy. The little Garden of Good and Evil sculpture’s head has emerged from the snow. A week ago you couldn’t even tell she was under there.

We walked to the Heller farm to check out the new lambs -especially Bucky, the darling lamb with badger markings.  Round trip, we walked over 3 miles - if we do this a few times a week we just might get back in shape after the long, cold, inactive winter.

How Cold Is It?

Just how cold was it doing chores this morning?  I don’t know -- the thermometer bottomed out!  I wish I had noticed this thermometer only went to -20F when I bought it, but then why would they sell such a limited thermometer in Minnesota?
I just now checked weather.com and it said we are up to -15F, with a -38F windchill factor.

I am a bit surprised about that windchill factor - it is quite calm compared to last night when the wind was absolutely blasting, creating whiteout conditions.  It blew a little snowdrift precisely where my shoveled chore path was. At least the snow is so hard-packed from the fierce wind that you barely sink in.

I  dressed warmly enough in so many layers that I did not get cold except for my fingers and eyebrows.

The sun is flanked by brilliant sun dogs this morning - this is the  one to the north of the sun just after sunrise.

Here is the sunrise, taken at the same time. I need a much wider-angle lens to fit the sun and sundogs all in the same frame.

Face peeking through the snow on the wood-fired oven.

Despite the cold, the dogs took off on their  daily rabbit hunt this morning and were rewarded with a warm breakfast. I think Zinnie is probably the one who actually catches the rabbit, she is SO fast and agile, but Nutmeg must be the alpha dog --she eats first, then Zinnie.

Cocoa gets the leftovers.

This wintery weather has put me in the mood to dive into my treasure trove of shrunken wool sweaters and sew more mittens.  I am sure the restaurant will be closed today due to the cold, so I plan to stay home and sew more mittens, then paint!  The mittens will now all be on sale - $5 off.  The way this winter is going, I am sure everyone will get plenty of use out of them before spring!

Sunrise with Sundog

It is a cold  December morning, but the day is getting off to a beautiful start.  Saw the sunrise through the  dining room window and  had to go outside for a couple more photos.

We just passed the winter solstice, so this about as far south as the sun rises.

My dog Cocoa facing into the sunrise...

and a sunrise sundog facing back toward us.
It was so, so cold taking  these few photos! But then I pulled on the hand-me-down Carhartt overalls my little sister just sent me and I was snug and warm doing chores afterward! Thanks, Rita!

Morning Moonset

This morning, I got up a bit earlier than usual, but not as early as Rog  - he had an early morning meeting. I was just settling in to sip my coffee before chores when Rog called me up from his cell phone on his way into town - he said, “Go out and look at the moon!”  I  bundled up and grabbed my camera - and found it glowing above the horizon as I came around to the north side of the  house - it is now almost as far north as it gets.

The December full moon is called the Full Cold Moon or the Full Long Night’s Moon.  Long nights is right. Four more days until winter solstice, and then the days start getting longer!

The moon setting above Douglas.

I quickly did the chores, then came in just in time to see the sun rising through the dining room window. 

These Frosty Mornings

This morning’s sky was so dramatic with the sunrise and contrails, I had to go outside take a few photos.

The sun rises so much further south now, just 6 weeks after the fall equinox, when it appears at the end of 75th Street. Pretty soon we won’t be able to see the sunrise from the house because it will be behind the garage.

The pasture was silver with frost.

In the vegetable garden, colors are  muted and textures accentuated.

Purple cabbage glows golden in the sunrise.

These radishes are almost ready to harvest, but not quite. Hope the ground doesn't freeze for a couple weeks yet.

Lacinato kale can withstand the frost. I intend to transplant  some of the kale and Swiss chard into the high tunnel today.

Zinnia remains.

More dried, frosted zinnias.

A cabbage leaf on the grass.

Weeds along the lettuce.

Cocoa waiting for Zinnie and Nutmeg to burst out of the pampas grass - a favorite place for dog hide-and-seek.

A new post light (made from an old 1970’s lamp with a solar light inside) for the driveway fence, etched in frost.

My windshield message to Rog melted away as his truck warmed up before heading off to work.