Underdeveloped Benefit of Winter

This morning while enjoying the colors of sunrise, I realized an underdeveloped benefit of winter.  During winter, I can enjoy the beauty of sunrise and sunset on the same day without changing my sleeping pattern.

This photo is of the sunset on Christmas Day as I viewed it from the Eccles Community Art Center parking.

Adding Warmth to a Winter Day

Brrr!  I believe the canyon had a high temperature of 25 degrees today.  A cold canyon day.  While driving home, I notice that some kind soul had given the Smokey the Bear sign a warm woolen scarf and cap.

A Visit with Santa

We had Santa visit our Family Holiday Tradition begin at the Eccles Community Art Center Event.  He was a kind and caring Santa with a real beard and a great laugh.

December's Winter Lights

A full moon, tonight, peeks through the clouds and around the mountain tops.  The snow reflects its light, silver gray.  In the shadows the snow seem cool blue.  Stars shine brightly in the sky.  The neighbor has a brightly lit Christmas star on their house.    On our outside light fixture,  our solar LED moon and star change colors.  December's winter lights.

Thanksgiving morning

Over night the canyon received a dusting of snow.  Our house is filled with the scent of roasting turkey.  The table is set, ready for family and friends to head over the rivers and through the woods.  Best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving.

First Snow of the Season

Thursday morning,  I awoke to see a dusting of snow on the grass, the first snow of the season.  The TV weather reporter said that Salt Lake City, Filmore and other cities South received a significant amount of snow from the storm.  Here in Ogden Canyon, I received a dusting of snow.  The most significant event that this strom bought for us was our first hard freeze of the season.

The Full Super Moon

Last night, a full large moon peered over the upper canyon mountains, playing hide and seek with me.    A beautiful silver moon.

Later when I left the canyon, I spotted it again. It was seemingly trapped in black branches in the trees in the backyard of the house I was house sitting.  I watched off and on throughout the evening.  After a little Internet research,  this super moon appears to be the largest and brightest since 1948.

Then, this morning just after sunrise I saw it one more time in a turquoise and burnt orange western sky.

A Havest of Iceland Poppies

The November weather this week has been above average.  My mother must think that a cold change is expected soon.  Today, she harvested the Iceland poppies from the garden.  In the kitchen on the window sill by the sink is a vase of bright pink poppies with their curved fuzzy stems, wrinkled pink tissue paper petals, and bright yellow necklace of pollen stamens.

The vase in the bathroom is filled with more curved and twisted fuzzy stems, and fuzzy flower pods with just at touch of wrinkled tissue petals peeking out white, pink, orange.  This bouquet  has only one full blown white poppy commanding your attention.

Fall Back

Utah on Sunday switched back to standard time from daylight savings.  The sun is setting as we leave work which makes for some lovely muted orange light shining through the Art Center's beveled glass windows.  I love this glow and the rainbows the beloved glass and sunlight create.  It is however hard to assimulate to the darkness that come too soon to the canyon.  It seems like it is such as short twilight, you return home from work and it is dark.  A dark of night, witch very little light.  The moon seems reclutant to fight this dark.  I invariably find myself taking a nap from 7:30 to 8:15 pm.  The wonder where the time has gone.  Why am I unable to accomplish things?

Oh, sorry, I must have dozed off.  My bedroom light also seem reclutant to fight the dark.

November To Do list

It is the first Monday of November, and I have a moment to create a list of projects to complete.  Already on my November list:
Celebrate my mother's 90th Birthday -  done.  We took her out for dinner on her birthday, and then Pat, the director of the Eccles Community Art Center had a celebration for her on the First Friday Art Stroll with cake, balloons, flowers, and best wishes from all the patrons that attended.

My annual stint replacement surgery - done, I am feeling fine.

The November Art Stroll - done.

Vote. - done.  I mailed in my ballot.

The second annual portfolio review for high school students - done.
Done, done and done.
Still to complete:
Change my closet from Fall to Winter clothes.  Although the weather is still lovely, I know that we will be needing sweaters and coats soon.- done
Finish reading "Nemesis" by Catherine Coulter
Write and Mail my Thanksgiving correspondence-- done
Finish a watercolor painting- done

For work:
Create a paper bag turkey for the Toddler Art class.- done
Finish putting together the winter class schedule. - done

Look for more creative pursuits and take longer morning walks while the weather is so lovely.

What plans do you have for November.
Oh, it appears that I will be assisting with the making of Thanksgiving dinner this year.

Painted with Sunlight

Sunrise and morning rain clouds create a golden light that paints the ridges of the canyon's eastern mountains.  The eastern sky glows golden.

Getting My Hands Dirty

I spent the morning preparing my mother's garden ready for winter.  I harvested hosta leaves in shades of gold to pale lemon yellow.  Three bags full.  Digging in the garden, getting my hands dirty.

My brother stopped by.  He cleaned out the storm gutters on my mother's house.  My nephew moved her outdoor furniture undercover.  We are closer to being ready for winter weather.

Window Spooks and garlands

Today at The Eccles Community Art Center's Toddler's Art class, we created ghosts from interface fabric.  The children traced their hands and their caregiver's hands,  These became the ghost or window spooks.  The toddler'so worked on their scissor skills.  Then they were able to string foam pumpkins, ghosts, bats, and beads to create a Halloween window garland.

Lacewing

Tonight I watched a lace wing dance around my light fixture.  It's wings clear glistened with rainbow hues.  It's almost fluorescent green body suspended between the fluttering wing.  Childhood memories of stories of fairies dances rushed into my thoughts.  Might lacewing insect inspired our descriptions of fairies or do the dance in attendance at the fairies' bonfires?

I have notice that during the last few autumns that we often have a lace wing move into our house.  Does it come in on Mollie fur or on my jacket?

Lacewings in a larva state are like larval lady bugs. Mthey feast on aphids.  What do adult lacewings feed upon?
The Internet is so helpful.  Research indicates that adult lace wings feed on nectar, pollen and aphid honey dew.  This must be why I notice more lacewings in the autumn.

Lavender Rose

I trimmed the roses for winter.  The lavender rose had three partially open buds, which I cut to bring inside.  They  are a soft lavender with a pink blush on the curve of the outer petals.  I chose this rose for its lovely soft floral rose scent and as a remberance of my grandmother Bachman.  Grandma had a lavender rose in her back garden.  She often let me take blooms home to enjoy.

Yellow gold

The leaves of my mother's hosta  plants have turned a yellow gold as have the leaves of Box Elder and Cottonwood  trees along the river.  Today's rain had added intensity to the autumn shades of yellow gold as well as adding a foggy mist trapped in the dark evergreens higher up the canyon walls.  The oaks on the south facing canyon slopes have deepened into a rusty bronze.  The maple have dropped their leaves on the slopes, but a few leaves of orange still cling to the maples in my mother's garden.  And now, the sunny is breaking through the clouds.  Yellow gold.

Bewitching Night

As a staff member of the Eccles Community Art Center, I assisted in putting together a family arts and craft night activity,  We named it Bewitching night, and created Halloween themed projects.  We assisted the participant to create Halloween spinner, tissue tube bats, cats, pumpkins, and mummies.  They also created Popsicle stick spider webs and paper strip pumpkins.

Autumn Chores and Enjoyment

So I decided that I don't care for the term bucket list.  I was not sure if October or I was suppose to kick the bucket when the list was done?

I have worked on a few Autumn chores.  I took Mollie to the cabin this morning.  I mowed the lawn with the mulching mower.  It made confetti from the fallen autumn leaves.  We mowed until the gas ran out.  Thus preparing the mower for winter, and visiting the cabin one more time was on my October list.

For enjoyment, we took the long way home to view the golden cottonwood leaves on the trees which ring the dam.  The yellow, gold  leaves and blue water compliment each other creating seasonal beauty.

Later, I trimmed down the ferns in my mother's garden.  The garden feels a little sad this time of year.  So many of the plants have gone to seed.  The fern fronds have yellowed and browned.   The plants are becoming ready for winter.

Earlier,  I reorganized my closet, washing clothes.  I just heard the drier buzz.  Off to complete another chore.

October Bucket List

While reading the other day, I came across a Fall oriented bucket list.  It had a number of fun ideas for celebrating the Fall season.  I thought what if I created an October bucket list.  Here is a start:

Collect and press colorful autumn leaves

Catch the scent of apples, and acorns on the autumn breeze

Make my favorite applesauce cookies

Decorate my door with witches, spider webs and other Halloween decorations

See how many of my Halloween T-shirts, pins, scarves and ties that I can wear to work during the month.

Visit our cabin one more time before we need to winterize it.

Then I came across a zentangled spider web, so cool!  So I doodled a spider web, but decided to add

 another doodled or/and zentangled spider web to my bucket list.  One that I can create with better art supplies.

Send out Halloween correspondence - much more fun that a Christmas card in December.

Any ideas for other additions to my October bucket list?

Good bye Game Apps

So I have done it.  This evening, I used my finger to delete three game apps from my notebook.  Game apps  to which I have invested copious amounts of time.  I have felt unorganized lately, never getting chores, correspondence, or fun activities completed.  Now instead of exercising my index finger, my hand might pick up a pen,  paintbrush or grab the handle on the vacuum.  Stay tuned to see if this experiment works.

Autumn Reds

Golden glow

Clouds have moved in, filling the canyon's sky.  The golden evening sun is reflecting off the clouds and my neighbor's metal roof, creating a golden glow.

News: Extreme Weather

The TV News channels  are filled with stories of our extreme weather, rain, wind, hail, possible snow and a tornado.  Yes, a tornado touched down in the Ogden area, damaging house in Washinton Terrace, southwest of Ogden.  Hundreds of trees are down.  A roof blew off of a business in Layton.

Gray Skies

Trees are swaying.  Leaves are dancing.  A strong wind is blowing in gray skies.

Now, rain, lightening, thunder and a drop in temperature.

Squirrel Cache

Volunteer Sunflowers that have grown from a squirrel cache along the Ogden River.

Fall Color 2016

Fall Gifts

I created garlands to which I attached cut paper fall shapes, and a quote from this Cottage Magazine to send to friends.

Yaw!

A crack of lightening, a roar of thunder. Gray sky split open to drop a late summer downpour.  The scent of rain in the air after a long hot, dry summer.

Fall color

Wenesday evening, Thursday morning the temperatures cooled after a long summer of heat.  Later on Thursday, I noticed that the leaves on the trees further up the mountain have changed.  Some of the color may be due to the lack of rain,  but many of the higher altitude Maples have Fall color.

Zig Zag Watercolor Books

A Monarch Returns

Over the last few weeks, I have seen flashes of orange and black butterflies.  Friday in South Ogden, I enjoyed watch a Monarch butterfly visit the flowers in the garden  I was visiting.  It has been quite a while since Monarchs have been seen in Ogden during the summer.  Welcome back!  The ecological programs to save these butterflies must be working.  Let's keep them going.

Finally

Summer rain finally came to Ogden Canyon.  Yesterday, we had off and on showers with some thunder.

Heat!

Nine  days of 100 or hotter temperatures.  Way too hot!

Rain?

High level gray clouds a July rain would be appreciated.

Twilight Moon

Just stepped out to see the periwinkle blue sky of twilight.  Venus is shinning bright, and nearby the moon smiles like Alice's Chesshire cat.

Sunflower blooms

This week,  early July, I saw the first roadside blooms of sunflowers.

Moonlight

Bright moon, full mon!  I awoke early this morning bathed in a puddle of your light.

Garden Candy

Fresh green peas snapped from a garden vine, eaten fresh, sweet, better than candy.  This year, I have had the largest harvest, yet. Yum!

Canyon sounds

The clap of thunder and whispering of the wind settle with the setting of the sun.  The night brings the symphony of insects.

Dawn Song

It is 5am the sky has changed from dark to blue gray.  The birds have begun their warm up chirps in anticipation of the morning dawn song.  An aria to be enjoyed this and other mornings throughout Spring and Summer.

Hands

I noticed my father's hands yesterday, and held one.  At ninety-three his hands are slender, stiff.  Their skin thin, like parchment, his blood pooled just below making his hands appear bruised.  They are soft hands, rarely used now.  In my childhood, they were clean hands.  As a pharmacist my father rarely did any work that would make his hands dirty.  Before they were the hands of a pilot that flew corsairs in the Pacific theater, a subject rarely discussed, a time he is not particularly proud of what he was required to do.

My mother's hands are beaten and battered, still showing signs of their strength.  They are bent with arthritic knuckles.  These hands raised and played with children.  These hands build rock walls and patios, planted and still plant flowers in her garden.  They have cook and cleaned for years.  They have changed diapers, and cared for a daughter who died from lung cancer.  They are hands that tell the story of this mother's life.

With my hands, I work a relative clean job requiring mostly typing.  I am not afraid to get my hands dirty.  I tend to get paint or ink all over them when I do something creative beyond typing.  My life has not included the raising of children, unless you consider playing with a niece, nephew or one of my dogs.  I did notice yesterday a bump on my index finger knuckle, may be the start of arthritis.

Salt Lake Trib article about Ogden Canyon

This article has some historic photos of Ogden Canyon
http://www.sltrib.com/csp/mediapool/sites/sltrib/pages/gallery.csp?cid=2714243&pid=2591728

Play with watercolors

 A Facebook reminder popped up with this painting that  I painted last year while playing with watercolors.

A little longer

Some mornings,  the sheets are just the perfect softness and warmth that all you wish to do is snuggle in a little deeper and sleep a little longer.

Through my Window

Through my bedroom in the western sky a golden-orange moon shines through the dark branches of an evergreen tree.  Later, I watch as blue gray clouds obscure the moon before moving on.

Ogden Marathon

Today's marathoners are experiencing a windy, wet run through the canyon.

Canyon view

 A perfectly green Spring day!

Collection

We all have collections of things.  I have a collection of lapel pins.  Over the years when my parents traveled they brought home a pin, as they were small and easily packed in a suitcase.  I of course had added to the collection when I see one that I like.  I like to wear them to work, as my boss likes to notice them.  He has begun adding more pins to my collection.

Art Competition At Eccles Community Art Center

Artists, tomorrow, May 20 is the first day to register for participation in the Plein Air Competition to be exhibited at the ‪#‎ECAC‬ during June. for more information: http://ogden4arts.org/compet…/plein-air-competition-exhibit/ Please share! Thank you!

Morning Breeze

A beautiful morning walk.  The sunlight is dancing with the green leaves through a morning breeze.

A May Flower

A sweet scent in the air.  The flower of May is in bloom.  Perfect white bells with scalloped small curled petals on slight green stems curl out from square central stem.  Curved, broad, obate leaves protect the floral stem.  A lily of the valley grows, and bloom among other lilies of the valley under a canyon chokecherry in the side yard of my mother's garden.

A few picked stems with a leaf or two are arranged in a small glass vase filled with water.  A sweet scent fills the air in my room.

Where is the rainbow

This morning my sunrise came with a rainy down pour.  On our morning walk, Mollie and I used the trees for cover.  Sunlight shined through the sheets of rain.  I looked but could not find a rainbow.
Later, I viewed rainbows shared by others on TV during the local weather report.

May Showers bring Hay Fever

There is an old saying that April showers bring may flowers.  This year I have observed that May showers bring field of tall green June grass.  The vacant lots throughout  the city have grasses 8 to 12 inches in height.  They are grasses along the road ways.  These grass will soon bloom, and hay fever will abound.

Morning view

My bedroom window looks to the west.  So I do not see the sunrise, but I do see the sky change.  During the early morning, it is dark with pinpoint stars.  Later it is gray, and blue gray.  Then a little later still, a cloud glows golden.  Now the tree tops are catching the sunlight.  The day has begun.

Wind

Strong winds yesterday and last night brought down branches, trees,roof shingles, and fences.  My niece had  a large walnut tree blow over.  It snapped the roots.  The root ball that came up was about ten feet tall and twelve feet wide.  The tree covered the neighbors backyard, fortunately missing their house.

Spring Rain

A good soaking rain with its gray sky enhance the greens of spring.

Ah!

Ah, a warm Spring day.  Blue skies with puffy cumulus clouds.  Temperatures in the low eighties.  An afternoon off.  Fresh green grass between my toes!

Notes

I spent a portion of the day, writing notes.  I found a packet of card that say "Good-bye Winter! Hello Spring! ". Inside "Welcome, every lovely thing that makes this time of year so beautiful.  Enjoy!"   They were perfect for sending Spring wishes to friends.  I hope that you will also enjoy a similar Spring wish.  Enjoy!

View

Outside my window,  I have been watching the buds on the maple tree green and grow.  I anticipate they will soon burst into leaves and flowers.  The maple tree's blossoms are not as showy as those of the fruit trees, but still a sign of spring.

A Easter Surprise

I had an package arrive in the mail today.  It contained an Easter Surprise from a friend that has moved away from Ogden.  A gray felted bunny Easter basket an old fashion card comprised the surprise contents of the package.  Such a nice thought and fun gift from a friend.

The gray felt bunny is now holding a glass vast of lavender tulips from the grocery store, with the old fashion card featured nearby.

The best of Easter and Spring wishes to you, all!

Spring 2016

This weekend I was so excited to see apricot trees in bloom and to see my first butterflies of the season.  Violets, snow drops, daffodils, crocus and dandelions are in bloom.  I planted pansies for my doorstep.  A first peek at Spring 2016.

Sunset

A small sunset painting,  I finished.

Snowdrop Blooms

The garden is filled with snowdrops.  The warm days have melted more snow, awaking these lovely white and green pendulum blooms.

Snow melt

With the lovely Spring temperatures, the snow is melting.  My mother was out raking the yard today. The winter was hard on the garden.  Early winter windstorms and heavy snow brought down trees and branches.  Spring cleaning will involve the removal of theses trees and branches.   We will need a number of warm spring days to melt the snow, and give us a chance for spring cleaning in the garden..

It's March

A taste of Spring, a few sunny warm days.  But it is March, so today brought rain, snow and just a peak of sunshine.

Winter Moon Rise

This evening before sunset a luminous full moon rises in a powder blue sky over snow and dark pine covered peaks.
Research indicates the January full moon is known as a wolf moon.