Yesterday we went to a winter craft market at the botanical garden and of course I couldn’t resist getting a few pictures outside. It finally feels like winter here, with low temperatures some mornings in the 20s. But it was a warm afternoon and it felt good strolling around, even if a host of white-throated sparrows foraging in the brush wouldn’t come out for a picture!
I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape — the loneliness of it — the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it — the whole story doesn’t show.
~ Andrew Wyeth
(LIFE, May 14, 1965, “Andrew Wyeth: An Interview”)
Winter under cultivation
Is as arable as Spring
~ Emily Dickinson
(The Poems of Emily Dickinson, #1720)
The Winter, most commonly, is so mild, that it looks like an Autumn, being now and then attended with clear and thin North-West Winds, that are sharp enough to regulate English Constitutions.
~ John Lawson
(A New Voyage to Carolina, 1709)
Lots of folks are rushing around getting ready for the holidays, but I like to stay quiet this time of year, snuggling under my wool throw with a good book. I’ve started reading Clover Garden: A Carolinian’s Piedmont Memoir by Bland Simpson. The author lives not too far from us and I’m enjoying reading about the natural history of the local area.
Your mention of Bland Simpson brought back memories. I used to see his band, The Red Clay Ramblers, often in various venues and events during the time I lived in Chapel Hill. I didn’t realize he was an author as well. A very talented man!
How interesting, Anna! I didn’t realize Simpson was a musician until I read the back flap of the dust jacket. I see he’s written at least six books and is a professor of English & Creative Writing at UNC. I will have to find and listen to some Red Clay Ramblers music today!
Reading under a warm throw on a cold day is ideal! So is getting outside in the no-justice-sunshine when you can. Glad you’re managing to do a bit of both!
I do try to be balanced! I bought the wool throw in Ireland on a cold rainy February day so using it brings back lots of pleasant memories, like the B&B owner who warmed up our bed one night with a hot water bottle!
Love the photo of whatever those three round brown things are looking like they are in love reaching for a bit of sun.
Enjoyed the selections of quotes.
Darn those sparrows for not participating!
It’s been cold and drizzly for days… I’m being entertained by a female ruby-throated hummingbird who decided that either she is too young or too old to make a migration to Mexico. She is definitely staying here for the winter. I must be the only one keeping the sugar water out for her. I know that they eat insects but they need the sugar to power their wings. Today a pair of golden-fronted woodpecker joined in on the hummingbird feeder and danced around the yard eating insects and buried acorns. This is my first time to see this type of woodpecker. Over the summer I had a family of the red-bellied woodpeckers which are similar. I am excited to have a new bird and a paired mates is an extra treat.
Enjoy the quiet and book reading snuggles in your wool blanket!
I loved those three round brown things, too. I tried to google id them but got very mixed results. They might be the seedheads of false sunflower, though I can’t be sure. I spent a lot of time trying to photograph those sparrows but there was always a twig or a leaf in the way and it made the camera focus on anything but the birds. They were making a lot of noise as they foraged around in the underbrush. Hope they were finding something good to eat!
Looks like you will have your work cut out for you this winter, keeping that little hummingbird fed! I have never heard of golden-fronted woodpeckers, what pretty birds! I can see from the range map that they aren’t in my area. I hope your pair hangs around and you get to see them often. All About Birds says they are residents of your area and are not migratory. But I bet you knew all that. Thanks for telling me about your sighting. We do have lots of red-bellied woodpeckers here.
I do read a variety of sites when I’m resting my body. Today I hung my Yorkie’s stocking with mine on the fake fireplace mantel. I was gifted a very small Christmas stocking last year. So I hung ithe tiny stocking for “Joy” our hummingbird who is now part of our family. Woodstock is sitting on top of it. I will place on our Santa’s list Imperial Sugar for Joy, Sweet Potato Treat for Yorkie, and a washing machine for all of us. What is on your Santa’s list? Snow?
The stockings hanging from your mantle sound so festive, especially with Woodstock anchoring Joy’s. Woodstock was always my favorite Peanuts character. I didn’t know that dogs are fond of sweet potatoes — one of my favorite veggies that I can still eat small amounts of. You’ve got that right, snow would be the best Christmas gift ever but it seems very unlikely unless Santa has a trick or two up his sleeve. But I bet he’ll be making Joy and Yorkie very happy! ❄️❄️❄️
Even when the landscape is dreary looking, there is always something of interest to photograph. I like the spent “flowers” that are reduced to wispiness and how you caught the light on the red leaves. I like how you have the green leaves tinged with red and then the green and red Christmas bulbs. Very nice. Snuggling up and reading sounds good on a chilly day. You’ll have new info and maybe new places perhaps to try in the Spring before it heats up. We had 50-degree temps for two days in a row, but back to freezing temps coming up tomorrow.
I agree, winter has its own beauty, not as spectacular as the other seasons, but stark and ethereal at the same time. I was surprised to find the holiday orbs there in the middle of an all-natural garden, but it did look like a nice festive accent to all the earthy tones. Now, if we could just have a little snow so I could see what the garden looks like covered in the white stuff. If we have to have these cold temperatures the least Mother Nature could do would be to send us some flurries!
The snow will add a nice touch to the gardens if you get some and will make for nice photos. We have a few inches coming Thursday, thanks to snow squalls and 40 mph winds beginning Wednesday night. The real feel will be zero and I’m not looking forward to that, but we’re back in the 40s a few days later. The weather is just not normal in the least. I was at BASF Waterfront Park a few years ago and it was just before Christmas. That was a first trip there for me and I saw a memorial garden where people had purchased identical black plaques on black pedestals with their loved one’s name on them. There were many people that decorated the trees there and had purchased other plaques on trees as well. Two memorial trees stood out to me – a brother and sister that died and their two trees were identically tastefully decorated.
Enjoy your snow for me tomorrow, my friend! We’re getting torrential rain today, ruining our plans to take Katherine to the Burwell School Historic Site for their Christmas tour. 🙁 The last time there was a day off from school for a teachers workshop the rain from Hurricane Helene cancelled our plans to go to the Carolina Tiger Rescue. We just can’t seem to win the weather lottery down here! Well, I should take that back. We did manage a day doing the sculpture scavenger hunt at the botanical garden followed by a fun afternoon at a pumpkin farm in the fall. One win, two losses so far. That’s a lovely idea, decorating the memorial trees for Christmas, especially if you live nearby.
We’re getting a trifecta of wintry weather tonight and tomorrow Barbara and we have snow squalls now and at 9:00 a.m. Thursday, a real feel of -5. A couple of inches of snow for us too, but the 40 mph winds will make it awful. I walked today as I know I won’t be tomorrow and the wind was already howling. That’s a shame about your weather messing up another nice outing – at least you got the early Fall event done and enjoyed. Th trees looked very festive there. No one has decorated their memorial trees at Council Point Park yet. It may be it’s been perpetually windy the last few weeks – maybe people feel the decorations may blow away.
I love each of the quotes you selected and the photos to compliment. Happy snuggles with your book!
Thank you, Donna! I’m glad you enjoyed the quotes. The more I read the more quotes I find. 🙂