Clearly Clerodendrum

All dressed for Halloween!

I thought I knew.  I didn't.  The enchanting spent-blossom seed heads of the Clerodendrum were not what I imagined. Also called Harlequin Glorybower, the stunning fall show looks like little jester hats sprinkled magician-style all over the small tree. The glistening fuschia petals appear to be succulent and thick.

A closer, careful observation reveals nothing thick except the center, the turquoise "bead." The petals are thin with their edges curled back to create this stunning illusion. As long as I thought I knew, there was no space in the Things I get to do today to learn more. Really opening my eyes, to see clearly, made room for these little jesters to un-trick me.  No Trick--All Treat.

Birdie Bouquet

Rudbeckia, Camphor Hyssop, Cosmos,  White Boneset, 

Feng Shui says "no."  Dried flowers in bouquets in the house are dead flowers in the house.  Not a good thing.  Outside is a different matter, I'm sure.

When several clumps of Rudbeckia finished their bloom cycle, I remembered the birds--Gold Finches and Lesser Finches--that like to feed on the seeds.  Rather than stuff the unattractive dried foliage and flowers into the yard debris bin, a plan popped into the Things I get to do today.  I'd stake all the seed-food flowers in front of my dining room window.  We would watch the happy flocks settle one bird at a time like the timid flakes of a season's first snow.  They come in the morning for breakfast right about the same time we are having ours.

This morning we noted several other types of spent flowers that the Finches were trying. So why not make a dried flower bouquet of all the seedy sorts in the yard that the birds might enjoy, all in one place--an edible flower arrangement--a Birdie Bouqet.

Too Tough to Tell the Truth

I've put them on nearly every day.  These gloves have been the protector of my hands since September 26th, the day we started the carport in Bend.  Except for a five-day break around the first of October, every other day the Things I get to do today involved building (along side my hubby who did the heaviest of work) the foundation and structure that would provide shelter for Samantha (she's a long-ago-retired Forest Service Jeep who's needed a cover for years).  

Hiding the truth about the effort it takes to build a carport.

The gloves are just cheap throwaways.  But we shed our dirty clothes each evening, and the gloves got tossed into the wash with all the rest.  Everyday they were fresh and clean.  It certainly made it easier to put them on.  

The carport is to go along this sidewalk.

It wasn't until the last day, as we poured grout behind the retaining wall, that I noticed gaps where the thumbs join the hands.  These little tears do not tell the truth about the work they did from dirt to finish.

The footings were to be two feet deep and one
foot square.  This is what we found in most
of the holes for the footings.

West side footings  are poured.
Took a few days break here.

Extra help putting up the "bents" and bolting them to
the footings.

Finally well "out of the ground"

Smiling Sheltered Samantha
The sign belonged to the construction business of  the
previous generation.  The company would have been proud.

Grand Re-Opening

Grand Re-Opening of Dusty Springs

A little dust goes a long ways.  Hens, however, can handle a lot of dust.  Fall, with the rain and the wind, has none to be found.  So there is the dilemma.  Where does a hen find her dust?  A hen must dust.

Supplies: scraps from other projects

My girls had a resort hotel for their dust bin.  The space was really the first story of a chicken tractor that since has found itself moved to a friend's house and is fully occupied with more hens.  My flock has been short a dust bath house for a couple of months.  That's now a situation looking for a solution.

Bath house frame: as big as the
longest boards available

Checking it out!

Looks like it's acceptable.  Nora (on the right) has an itch
that won't wait.

 Find that solution and build a dust bin are Things I get to do today.

Afternoon sun makes blissful dusting.  Violet demonstrates.

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

Glorious before become soil again

Passing from alive to not alive is seldom done gracefully.  My Rhubarb has it mastered I observe during the garden clean up Things I get to do today.  No longer erect and crisp, the stalks have lost their will. The leaves lay flattened, exposed, vulnerable and, most of all, beautiful and elegant.

No fear of letting go

What lesson is here?  Is it possible that what lies beyond is more glorious than what we are so attached to in this physical awareness? Consider the lilies. Consider the Rhubarb. Consider yourself.

Fall Signs of Spring

Spring comes pulsing, even at this time of year. Be looking for it. The hope of spring gets us through dark, wet, cold, damp, snow, sleet, ice, rain and grey. The most fun Things I get to do today are filled with the vibrance of Spring. Already.

Seeds ready for next spring starting: Sun Gold, Jeune Flamme, Rapreco Paste, Green Zebra, Galina Yellow Cherry.

Hard, Sharp, Soft

Yucca is not wispy.  And yet there it was, gentle wisps curling around the stiff, pointy stalks of the Yucca leaves.  Things I get to do today take me past this area on the front walk frquently.  Pretty curls soften my on-a-mission of focus and capture important moments of contemplation.

Threads of contrast--curls on the straight.

Spirals headed in every direction.

How like people--always a soft side, always another aspect not readily visible,  always contrasting beauty.