December

The sun hit me square in the face this morning about 8am. Looking out the window, I thought it had snowed. Larry's roof was covered with a layer of white stuff. The back yard, untouched by the sun, was glistening.



My truck was also covered.



It's 28 degrees. It was a hard frost. I doubt any tender plants will survive this one. Now I can start thinking about moving perennials.

Last night the rain regrouped and gave us more than 1 inch in under an hour. That moisture froze as the temperature dropped rapidly. Even the birdbath is frozen solid this morning. The cat is very unhappy this morning.

1:00pm - It's 50 degrees. In the sun, it's a gorgeous day. In the shade, I'm glad I'm wearing long sleeves.

I raked all the paths in the yard. I didn't chop these leaves. It was too quite this morning to start the leaf blower. I'll let Mother Nature take care of them over the winter. There's still some green to the grass behind the house.



The cleared paths really set off the meadow garden. More larkspur has germinated. I think I've seen some Queen Anne's Lace too. I'm anxious to see what it looks like next year. I'm hoping to get back into Larry's yard soon for more shredded leaves to use as mulch. As it breaks down, it should create some nice dirt.



For more than a year now, I've assumed these plants that I moved from the gully were Mock Orange. Now, I'm inclined to think they're Cornus mas, or Cornelian Cherry. I could be wrong. I've never noticed a bloom on the ones left in the gully, but I did find red, semi-translucent fruit on one. I could be way off on the identification. There are many of these growing in the gully still.



Mr. Lincoln



The smoke from the chimney is staying low to the ground today. My mom says that's a sign that rain is coming.



Tomorrow's forecast, rain.