Mid-October Garden Update

Greetings from balmy Kalamazoo, where we are more than three weeks past our usual first frost date. The garden continues to bloom:

I did some cleanup yesterday and will need to do more, picking off yellowed leaves, etc., but these zinnias and nasturtiums are going strong behind the shed. They don’t even get much light, and I’ve ignored them for weeks. I’m not sure how they continue to bloom so well.

Purple basil’s also going strong, even after a couple rounds of pesto and nights into the low 40’s.

It looks like Autumn, kind of smells like Autumn, but here they bloom …

The front yard is also bright and cheery.

I can’t believe we have cosmos in mid-October!

I need to harvest those cabbages, but I enjoy seeing their dusky purple each morning when I open the curtains. Garlic is planted, compost partially added. I just need to do some major cutback once we get a hard frost. So far, we don’t even have a frost warning, and Wednesday’s set for 62 degrees. Some trees finalllllllly started changing colors.

It’s a weird Fall here, but given our crazy world right now, I gratefully accept the flowers!

Happy Equinox!

It looks and feels like Fall here, as asters, mums, marigolds, and sedum flaunt their autumn colors:

We also had a whirlwind trip to the Pennsylvania mountains this past weekend for David’s 40th high school reunion. As we arrived at the Seven Springs Resort, I realized I had been there before. Back in 1997 — in a totally different lifetime — I won a three day weekend getaway and took my mom there as a special treat. I love the old stone of the lodge, as well as all the trees. The photos show the view from our balcony:

David drove us seven hours on the way there, and then we detoured through his hometown on the way home, making that an eight hour return trip. He hadn’t been there since his parents moved to Goshen in 1995, and I had never seen the sweet little town. It was cuter and smaller than I imagined! I got to meet his very best childhood friend from pre-kindergarten, and he hadn’t seen her in 40 years. It was a special trip with lots of quality time.

Also setting the tone of Fall, we recently converted our gas fireplace to a wood burning stove insert. A half cord + of wood arrived the day before our trip, so David’s “relaxing” day ahead of the big trip involved a lot of work hauling wood to the shed while I did phone sessions. He also built a beautiful rack in the shed and arranged the wood in such an artistic way I almost don’t want to burn it. Almost! We’re actually very excited about this upgrade, especially with all the gas craziness going on right now. I’ve wanted a wood burning fireplace since we moved here, and everything synchronously aligned to make it happen with almost no planning on our part.

The rest of the front yard colors have shifted more towards Fall, as well:

Today we experience a universal pause with equal light and equal dark. The Sun moves into the balanced scales of Libra, kissing Mercury for just a moment, as he retrogrades back to Virgo. Pay attention to messages that make their way to you in this liminal time before the September 25 New Moon.

Blessed Be … and be the blessing. All is well.

Fall Colors in Fading Light

David and I have guests arriving from Amsterdam on Monday. Half-Dutch David has known Seth for 33 years, since his two years in Amsterdam after college, and they used to visit each other when David flew regularly to Europe for work. They’ve not seen each other in six plus years since David changed jobs, and I’ve never met Seth or his wife Dorothea. We’re all excited for this synchronously manifested time together.

From Monday, September 16 through Sunday, September 22, we’ll use our house as home base for all sorts of day trip adventures, and they’ll pass through again later the following week. All of which means I will have no session availability and very minimal email time for the next week. I will check emails at least once per day, and people can schedule sessions for later this month and into October. I won’t be blogging unless something really nudges me to do so.

I thought I’d leave everyone with a taste of Autumn beauty before the coming Fall Equinox. I know many clients, friends and myself experienced a bittersweet week — a time of rich growth and harvests, but also recognition that with growth comes change. I spent many sessions comforting sobbing clients during the Pisces Moon. Some felt embarrassed or confused by such powerful emotions, while others know they carry multitudes within them. To me, it all felt perfectly timed with the changing seasons here in the Northern Hemisphere.

“This, too, shall pass” is always true, whether joy or pain, spring blossoms, summer fruit, or fall colors and frostbitten plants. When the land goes to sleep in winter, it regenerates itself for spring. Meanwhile, I invite you to enjoy the moment wherever you are. Here’s how things look and feel this late afternoon at Dra’Faven:

Wishing you all a gorgeous week! Enjoy some of that Aries Moon vigor. That Pisces phase was intense! Much love and catch you on the other side of the Equinox …

First Snow

Autumn and Winter danced this morning, with lacinato and purple kale chaperones.

September Pretties

It feels like Autumn right now — grey skies, blustery winds … fall clematis, nasturtiums and sedum in bloom. Here’s a little garden beauty to start your week:

Garden Update: September Beauty and Bounty

It seemed like Autumn was in the air for awhile, but we’re back in the 80’s. Meanwhile, a mixture of heavy rainstorms and scorching sunshine have the somewhat neglected garden producing well. I’ve harvested several golden beets, plus continued kale and chard. Radicchio has survived multiple groundhog and earwig attacks, and we’ve got some reseeded lettuce and cilantro popping up in the raised beds. It’s officially pesto season, and the zinnias know it’s September:

Also, we finally have some love-in-a-mist to keep the snapdragons company!

Perhaps the biggest news in the gardening world

Garden Update ~ Chilly Outside, Blooms Inside

We’re down to just kale, collards, lettuce and mums outside, but inside, we’ve got happy plants and the first blooms on a Christmas cactus.

 

Garden Update: Cat Naps, Fairy Crossing, and Shades of Fall

The magic continues at our new place. The wonderful neighborhood cat, who so successfully shooed away the groundhogs and scents the garden whenever bunny nibbles get too big, has taken to napping with me, just outside the sliding glass door. Whenever I decide to take a quick BioMat snooze in the back room, I usually find something like this:

or this:

Flowers in November: Some Beauty on a Gorgeous Day

Getting back to more of the garden variety garden posts, here are some flowers still blooming today, plus a bouquet I made David’s mom this past Saturday.

Zinnias:

Veronica:

Cosmos and sedum:

Mums and sweet alyssum:

Saturday’s bouquet with blackeyed Susan’s, lavender, cosmos, sedum, zinnias, yarrow, foxglove, and bachelor’s buttons. We’ve also got wild violets, snapdragons, calendula, nasturtiums, and more still smiling in the yard — at least until this coming Friday’s hard frost. I enjoy it while I can!

Blessed Be …

and be the blessing!

 

 

Autumn Beauty: Asters, Mums, Bouquets and Cocoa Spice Cake

Just a few pretties from the yard and kitchen:

On Friday, that bed above got an infusion of spring daffodils and giant hyacinths. Fortunately, an unusually late first frost has allowed the trough below to make up for its very late planting. We’ve enjoyed so much lettuce already, while the rest of the greens and mustard race the frost faeries.

Although the temperatures are back up again, a cool weekend encouraged this experimental cocoa spice cake with chocolate ganache from the delightful cookbook, Afro Vegan. This one uses coconut milk and mashed avocado for creaminess, and with cayenne, ginger and nutmeg, it was, indeed, spicy enough to delight some foodie friends and their other guests:

Bouquets abound:

And here you can see Sunday’s flowers with Saturday’s cake:

Wishing everyone a glorious week!