The porch lights are up. It actually takes no time at all, about 15 minutes or so. (I’m not even going to bother with cleaning the railings until spring.) The lights were such a cheery and welcoming sight as we arrived back home last night from Rick and Doug’s. As we drove up to Don’s parking space near the shed, we saw the buck again. And he stayed there, very still, until the car lights were off and we walked toward the house. Two sightings now of that beautiful animal.
While I was outside yesterday, I grabbed my camera. I like to remind myself that there is beauty in the bleak landscape. It just takes seeing the landscape through the lens of my camera to realize that every season has its beauty.
The milkweed pods have burst open to release their silk parachutes.
Here’s one that still has seeds. Soon they will be transported by winds, or simply drop right where they are, guaranteeing that more milkweed plants will grow next spring.
I think they’re beautiful.
The burning bush has finally lost its red leaves leaving these beautiful berries behind. The berries are toxic in large quantities to humans and animals, but they are food for the birds. I’ve never read that they are toxic for birds. I’ll trust the birds, who know, to make that decision.
I’ll be finishing Susan Hill’s latest sometime today. Then the question is: do I read another James Lee Burke or start the Louise Penny? Penny is the only author I do this with: I often postpone starting the book because I know it will be such an exquisite pleasure to read and that, once it’s done, I’ll have to wait another year for a new book in the series. So I hold off.
Delayed gratification.
I have a feeling I’ll be holding off. We’ll see.
I’m going to work on the mini trees today, as it’s foggy out there with rain coming later in the day.
Happy Saturday.
I have the new Louise Penny – but – same as you, haven’t started it yet. I’ve actually gone back and am reading some of her older ones in anticipation of starting the newest. They’re so very good – such a pleasure.
I may re-read them all some day. You have a good idea!
I love the photos. I agree about the beauty of winter. Enjoy your day. It is raining here so staying in to finish decorating. I have a wagon full of things for the thrift shop (yay me). I’ll see the Grands later while we watch our UGA Bulldogs play some football on TV! Of course there will be much ‘playing’ of the Grands and Grammy at the same time! Hugs!
Have fun with the Grands1
I am just getting into the new Louise Penny. Her books are so much more than mysteries. She is one of the few authors that when a new book comes out I put it on my Kindle immediately. Can’t wait for the library to get it! Now I have to check out Susan Hill. Have not read any of hers.
They are really novels with a mysterious subplot, aren’t they? If you read Susan Hill, read them in order. It’s a series like Penny’s where the characters develop over the course of the series.
I think milkweeds are beautiful, too. I remember that in grade school, one teacher had made balls of the “silk”, sort of like big pompoms, tied at the center, then dried for a big fluffy poof ball hung from a string! Until recently, I had a vase full of the dried, burst-open pods that was spectacularly sculptural and beautiful in its own right. Your photos are wonderful, too.
I should do that sometime – bring some inside and put them in a vase. Thanks, Shanna.
Have fun playing with your trees, Claudia. I love holiday lights. We play a game when we drive at night and each of us guess how many holiday lights and lit trees we’ll see between leaving and destination. Unlit trees or lights don’t count. We’ve been playing that game since before I had the children.
I love that. I was surprised last night at how many house already had their lights up!
When it comes to Louise Penny…yes…must savor the reading experience! ;)
Absolutely!
How lucky you were to see that beautiful buck again so soon!…The milkweed pods so pretty…I remember as a child how I would find one…I loved the silky feel…I would pick a seed off and send it flying outto where ever…if I caught one that happened to be flying past me…I would make a wish on it and send it back to flying away on a breeze!…Thank you for bringing back a happy memory Claudia!
What a lovely memory, Nancy!
a favorite plant for me … thanks for the pretty photos.
did you find anything in your browsing yesterday? if you were on a mission, hppe you found what you were looking for!
hope you are in the middle of a great weekend.
kathy in iowa
Yes I did find some things – see Sunday’s post!
Such pretty photos today! Our Burning Bush is filled w berries, too. The milkweed is beautiful and seeing all the pretty lights as we drive is such a treat. We had just horrible weather today. COLD and rain. It never stopped. The only good thing is it wasn’t snow. That might come over night, but I am hoping not.
Hope you had a good Saturday!!
We have that cold and rain today. Yuck!
The milkweed photos are lovely! Something I’d like framed to have hung in the house all the time, such great shapes and tones. Winter here does seem to be pretty bleak, but like you we have some woods around our house and if I take the time to look there is always some tiny tableaux or spot that is a shock of beauty. You definitely have an eye for that! So glad you are putting up the doll house trees. That’s a good way to get a start on decorations before you do the big house. I love outdoor Christmas lights. I remember growing up in Southern California what a treat it was to do a night time drive around our small town to see the lights. And then there was the energy crisis in the 70s and about 75% of folks stopped putting up lights. I don’t think the tradition ever came back to what it had been. Now it seems people either have those gaudy national lampoon extravaganzas which are kind of fun but too many is like eating too much candy or nothing at all. I miss the houses of my youth, where the rooflines, windows and doorframes were outlined in (usually) colored lights. When I moved to New England, it was all white lights, which of course are beautiful against the snow, or single candles in the windows which are fabulously simple and lovely in the colonial and Victorian houses in Newport. However, as luck would have it, our neighbors whom I have never met, have a small farmhouse, it might have been the original house for what is now our property, with a smallish squat pine and they keep it lit with colored lights each holiday season. We see it in bits thru our bare trees. It kind of stands in a bare patch of its own in what was a pasture. Its a bright little solitary beauty, comforting and bright and for me it seems to exemplify something about the season. Thanks for listening to me ramble! Looking forward to seeing the trees’ transformation!
I love the outdoor lights as well. When I was a kid, there were extravagant light displays all over town and we invariably took a ride one evening before Christmas to see them all. You’re right, it’s not quite the same now.
We always went to a neighbor’s house to see their display. He had worked in window decoration for a department store, so one of their windows was always a crowd pleaser, with animated figures and snow and all sorts of wonders!