Welcome! I hope I bring a spot of calm and happiness into these uncertain times. I blog about my photography adventures, flowers, gardening, the importance of chocolate in a well lived life, or anything else on my mind.
On the last day of November, we started the day at 26F (-3.33C), so why not blog about gardening?
My spouse has two community garden raised bed plots this year in our zone 5b area of New York State. In the spring of 2023, my spouse planted onion plants in one of them. He harvested them in August.
He decided to try to grow fall crops in there: a Chinese green, carrots, broccoli, and a sunflower developed for container culture.
Successes:
The sunflowers in October.
This was taken October 13, right before harvest. Sadly, around October 6, we had discovered some larvae got hold of many of the leaves and ate them. One day I might blog about that because I would love to know what those larvae were. But the flowers, already budding out, opened. It's hard to see the damage in this picture.
These are carrots, harvested November 27, along with what was left of the Asian greens, and the rest of our Swiss Chard (aka silverbeet in some parts of the world).
Failures: the broccoli, which never flowered. No sign of any bud activity.
We also have some kale plants at home in a large container, and have been eating off it (soup) now that we've had some freezes. Before frost, it is too bitter for me.
Not bad, considering it's been as low as 21F (-6.1 C) where we live so far this fall.
Now that the seed catalogs are coming in, it's time for what I call the hot stove league of gardening, where hope springs eternal and all things are possible.
The movie Barbie was a tremendous success here in the United States and worldwide, grossing over $1.38 million U.S. dollars. I still haven't seen the movie, but I owned a Barbie in my youth, and I would love to see the movie one day.
Earlier this month, I had the next best thing.
The annual O Tannenbaum Christmas display and auction at the Tioga County, New York Historical Society is up and running, and the entries will be on display until December 16. Many of these trees (actually, just the ornaments) are auctioned off in a silent auction. A clipboard with a sheet is next to each tree and people write their bids there.
This year there were at least three Barbie inspired trees.
This tree included a Barbie tree topper. In case there was any doubt, even the tree skirt was Barbie inspired. For me, though, the Barbie tree topper head was a bit - creepy?
I didn't have much room to maneuver for some of these and I was trying to get the entire tree. The detail may be hard to see.
This tree was called "Vintage Barbie".
I did get a closeup of this tree, which included some Hallmark ornaments.
For those of my readers who celebrate Christmas, do you do themed trees in your house?
It's the last Monday of November and it's time for music.
Let's introduce the Music Moves Me bloggers.
We blog about music
each Sunday or Monday and if you have music to share with us, you are most
welcome to join! (Music Posts Only-meaning at least one music video,
please!) Our head host isXmas Dolly, and our co-hosts are Cathyfrom Curious as a Cathy, joined by the knowledgeable Stacy ofStacy Uncorked and yours truly.
Our guest host for November is none other than Xmas Dolly, and she has asked us to post thankful songs.
Let's start with a Disney song from the movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame. "Out There" teaches us to be grateful for the blessings in our life, whatever they may be.
From 1964, The Beatles "Thank You Girl", which I had totally forgotten about.
Now for something different from my usual offerings. This is a cover of a song with a somewhat sad back story. This song was written in 1966 by Chilean artist and composer Violeta Parra who, sadly, committed suicide in 1967. It's been covered many times since its release on Parra's final album, and the song was inducted into the Latin Music Hall of Fame in 2013. I've chosen a cover by Joan Baez and Mercedes Sosa. Joan Baez introduced this song to us here in the United States and Mercedes Sosa popularized the song throughout Latin America. I bring you "Gracias a la Vida" which means "Thank you to life".
I can not write a song about thankfulness without including Andrew Gold's "Thank You for Being a Friend". This song became famous as the theme song for the hit TV show Golden Girls.
Join me again next week. For December we will be blogging holiday music and I hope to continue a tradition I've followed the last few years. See you then!
What should I blog about today? For a while, I was out of ideas.
These were my choices:
1. The 45 minutes plus I spent on the phone with two reps (and the automatic system) at Medicare on a bill that has already taken more of my time than it's worth, and the time of a billing advocate? (Maybe I'll blog about that one day)?
2. The finding out that Microsoft had somehow updated my Photos app so I could no longer save photos from my iPhone the way I always have but insists I use something called OneDrive, whatever that is? (Should I waste more of my life to find out what One Drive is and how to get rid of it?)?
3. My reserve list for ebooks at the New York Public Library.
But then I thought of #4, which needs a shout out:
4. A wonderful veterans program we've taken some classes because of?
Let's go with #4, which leads us to this Christmas evergreen wreath.
Cornell Cooperative has been holding one hour evening classes (free of charge!) for veterans and a guest (in our case, me). They average one class a month. They actually do a lot more for vets, but we don't want to take advantage and not have a truly deserving vet (for example, one that served in combat) not be able to attend or get some needed help.
So far we've taken three excellent classes: Flower arranging (all supplies provided), herbal make-your-own salves and the like (ditto) and wreath making.
The wreath making class was somehow rushed, but this is what my spouse made. (This time all we got was the wreath ring and the evergreen boughs/wire to wire the boughs onto the ring. We bought the little bows and the big bow at what I call the $1.25 store. It used to be the Dollar store at one time.
Yes, it is far from perfect but it is ours. Thank you, Cornell!
It's strange - for years I've woken up early on Black Friday and gone shopping. For the first time in years, I'm not.
I'm taking it easy today. Yesterday was Thanksgiving in my country (United States) when we gather with family and/or friends to eat together and give thanks. It both brings back old memories and makes new ones for me. Yesterday was also the fifth anniversary of the death of my mother in law and so was a little bittersweet.
I'm thankful for the Skywatch Friday family and would like to thank everyone who has read these posts over the past several years.
Today, a combination post of two sunsets over a river. November 13
The next two are from November 14.
It's hard to see, but in the red spot you can see distant trees. There is just something about trees with bare limbs, and almost all our trees are bare now.
What am I thankful for today? So much. Being able to spend a small Thanksgiving (I like it that way) with some family. Having food on the table.
I am thankful for all the people in my life who have been friends, family, mentors, co workers, or those who were in and then out of my life during a time I needed them. Many of them have moved on to wherever we go after our time on Earth is done. Others are still here - I have never thanked them enough.
I am thankful for the people working today to safeguard me, and make my life comfortable.
I am thankful for living in a part of the world where I can enjoy fall color in its season.
Today I'll be busy so here is more of the bounty at our local farmers market, continued from yesterday.
Here in the United States, today is Thanksgiving, a day to spend with family or friends if at all possible.
First mushrooms of the season. This is a winter crop for this particular farmer.
Parsley root.
Living herbs.
Cranberry sauce, made homemade by me, for today's dinner. Here's the recipe.
And, before I go, a song for the season.
I hope you have a happy Thursday or Thanksgiving, free of drama and full of love.
In the United States, it is the day before Thanksgiving.
We have so much to be thankful for, and sometimes it is easy to forget how fortunate we are.
On Saturday, we visited our local farmers market and saw the bounty of the season.
Carrots and parsnips.
Yellow and purple cauliflower.
Wild Twist apples, a cross between Honeycrisp and Pink Lady. These are a late apple, unlike Honeycrisp.
But today is more than the day before Thanksgiving. It is an anniversary of the event that marked my generation the way a great tragedy marks (it seems) each generation. But let me start with the story of a pet bird, a repeat of part of a post from 2022.
I grew up in a New York City housing project which
prohibited dogs or cats. My Mom had brought home various goldfish, but
eventually they all went to the large aquarium in the sky.
One of my aunts, who lived a couple of miles from me, had three pets: two cats and a canary.
It was a male (only male canaries sing) and it sang so beautifully. For me, watching it, it was
instant love. I've always been attracted to birds and started begging
Mom for a canary of my own.
When I was about eight, Mom decided I was old enough to
care for a pet, and off to the pet shop we went. Mom and I
came home with a yellow canary.
"Singer" became a friend and companion for me, an only child. He would
sing for me, do little tricks with his seed bell and swing, and
entertain me in general with his antics during his weekly bath. In
fact, I was able (with a lot of patience) to train him to sit on my
finger, and even to sit on my shoulder. I have a picture, somewhere of
me (in a bathrobe, as I recall), with "Singer" perched on me.
His songs and company were just what I needed after I broke my leg in
three places and had to spend the next two months at home because my
elementary school classroom was on the 4th floor and there was no
elevator in the school building. (I was home educated by a teacher sent
to my apartment until after my cast was removed. I blogged about that
several years ago. I owe a lot to that teacher.)
Sadly, Singer passed away during my recovery. I remember the date, too,
because it was the day before President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. I was still in
my leg cast.
Yes, people of my generation remember the date
November 22, 1963 well.
That morning, I was at home,
reading or doing homework, perhaps. My mother had left me to go
shopping. She returned home, and was crying as she opened the door to
our Bronx apartment.
Mom turned on the TV, and the next three days
were nonstop television coverage. I had a doctor's appointment the
following Monday to have the progress of my leg healing checked, and I
remember watching some of the funeral coverage in the waiting room.
We went to the pet store the day after Kennedy died to buy another
canary. In the pet store cage was a yellow canary with a black spot on
top of his head. My Mom and I agreed the bird had the spot to mourn
Kennedy, and that was the bird we took home with us.
It's been 60 years since that sad early afternoon when my Mom came home crying and turned the TV set on. I still find that, in some ways, hard to believe.
I am thankful for you, my readers. For those in the United States, may you have a joyous Thanksgiving tomorrow. For the world, is it too much to hope for peace and full stomachs for all?
Maybe this year, hopefully, things are somewhat back to normal.
Thursday, in the United States, it is Thanksgiving. There's no turkey shortage. There's no cream cheese shortage.
This year, we gather with a small group of family, Let's hope that, at the last minute, we don't have anyone having to back out due to sickness.
It truly is a time of gratitude.
Also, it's time once again to tell you the story of the year I called the
Butterball turkey number on a dare to get advise for cooking a 28 pound
turkey. This year, we only have a 24 pound turkey to cook.
That 28 pound turkey wasn't even for us.
First, the name of the talk line. It's
not the Butterball Hotline, which I thought it was until 2017.
It's Butterball's Turkey Talk-Line, and it has been giving turkey cooking advice to people in the United States since 1981.
For
years, one would have to call and talk to the kind folks at the
Butterball Turkey Talk Line, but now one can text them, too. The
texting number is 844-877-3456. The phone number is 1-800-BUTTERBALL.
So, if you are having last minute problems on Thursday (or whenever you are cooking), do give them a call or
send a text.
Why would Americans need to talk or text turkey? Because on Thanksgiving, it is
traditional to cook a turkey, and - well, there are so many ways to
prepare turkeys.
I've wanted to call the Hot..I mean, the Turkey Talk-Line for years, but
my spouse, the family cook, has never needed turkey advice.
Comedian Stephen Colbert has made it a Thanksgiving tradition to call
the Turkey Talk-Line with prank questions for years. In recent years, those good
folks actually let him loose on the Talk-Line in person. I am not sure he's doing it any more. He reran one of his exploits last year.
By the way, don't take his advice.
Now, the story.
Back in 2017, someone I know was concerned because she had purchased a 28
pound (12.7 kg) frozen turkey for Thanksgiving (November 26 this year,
in the United States) and had tried online research to figure out how
long to cook it. She had never cooked that big a turkey before.
Why don't we call Butterball? I asked. "OK, but you start the
conversation" was her response. And so I dialed 1-800-BUTTERBALL. The
phone was answered quickly by a woman.
Upon hearing of the 28 pound turkey, the woman exclaimed, "oh, you will
have such a beautiful turkey when it is cooked. It will be golden
brown; it will look like something in a Norman Rockwell painting! It
will look wonderful on your table." Obviously, she sensed our
hesitation. But she was totally prepared with advice.
She took us through the process.
"You need to take the turkey now, today, and put it in your
refrigerator. It will take that long to safely defrost." Then she
explained how to pat the turkey dry, take out the giblets (these turkeys
are prepped and almost ready to go). She gave us the oven temperature
(325 degrees F), the fact that after a couple of hours we were to tent
the turkey with aluminum foil, and the total approximate coking time (4
1/2 hours) for the unstuffed turkey. And, she recommended we use a meat
thermometer and what temperature the breast, or the leg, should be
before you consider the bird "done".
She talked with us as if she had all the time in the world (maybe, a
week away from Turkey Day, she did have a lot of time. But, on Turkey
Day, her and her co workers will field about 10,000 phone calls). And
again, she told us how beautiful that turkey was going to look on the
table. After our questions were answered, she asked for only one thing -
what was our zip code (postal code)?
We answered, and she exclaimed "Binghamton, New York. Oh, I grew up in
Scranton, Pennsylvania!" (that's about an hour south of us). She closed
by asking if we had any more questions (we didn't).
So ended our conversation with the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line.
It did make me wonder who works for the Talk-Line, and if they enjoy talking turkey all day long.
So, an article about their experiences is quite fascinating, too, especially,
when you get to the part about the 89 year old man cooking his first
turkey. It sounds like such a fun place to work, if you are a people
person.
Oh, and Stephen Colbert's exploit with the callers to the kind folks at Butterball? Here it is, starting at about 44 seconds into the video.
Too bad he didn't do it again this year but I am thankful for the memory.
It's the Monday before Thanksgiving in the United States, and it's time for music!
Let's introduce the Music Moves Me bloggers.
We blog about music
each Sunday or Monday and if you have music to share with us, you are most
welcome to join! (Music Posts Only-meaning at least one music video,
please!) Our head host isXmas Dolly, and our co-hosts are Cathyfrom Curious as a Cathy, joined by the knowledgeable Stacy ofStacy Uncorked and yours truly.
Our guest host for this month is none other than Xmas Dolly, and it's a Freedom of Choice week. We can post any music we want to.
Next week, Xmas Dolly has asked us to share some thankful songs, but I wanted to say this now: We have a lot to be thankful for today, including having this technology that allows us to share music with each other.
Today, I'm going to feature several songs that are based on works of classical music, or have been influenced by the styles of various classical composers.. These happen to be from different genres, proving that our love of music is universal.
Note: I am not a musician, nor a student of classical musical. I just happen to like this music.
First up - The Toys and their hit "A Lover's Concerto" from 1965, which hit #2 on the Billboard charts. Here's the story of how the melody originated.
From Walter Murphy and the Big Apple Band, A Fifth of Beethoven. This was adapted from the first movement of Beethoven's 5th Symphony. Released in 1976, it was later included on the soundtrack of the movie Saturday Night Fever.
But this isn't even the biggest of Beethoven's rock hits. Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" from his Symphony No. 9 in D Minor has been covered countless times. I had thought about Miguel Rios and his 1970 "A Song of Joy" but decided on this flash mob performance from 2012 instead.
And that's a soaring wrap!
I wish my United States readers a Happy Thanksgiving come Thursday. May you spend the day in joy with family, friends, or other good company.
One of our local county parks, Otsiningo Park, is dressed up with lighting displays. We saw them (from the highway) testing the lights on the evening of November 15 and it was spectacular.
The lights started to go up at the end of October, which was a bit strange (they were taking down the Halloween scarecrow contest and colored leaves were still on the trees) but I realized, after a time, that the display was larger than in previous years.
During the day, the lights aren't visible but the displays cast some nice shadows. Here is a small sample of shadows from earlier this month, when the lights were still going up.
One of the bigger displays.
Still under construction.
Hope you enjoyed the selection. I'm sure they look lots better at night while lit.
It's closing time, and it's not like in the old days.
Where I live in the Southern Tier of New York, the indoor farm markets used to close up (for the most part) on October 31. Some of the markets that were also gift shops, or nurseries, would close on Christmas Eve and reopen sometime in April.
But that was then and...
Our two indoor farm markets (not our farmers market, which is open year round) have, in the past three or some years, been open in early to mid November. One gets a lot of produce from southern Pennsylvania so they still have plenty to sell. One is open only weekends in November, although they will also be open this Tuesday for last minute Thanksgiving produce shopping.
This year, both of them are closing the day before Thanksgiving.
One, the next day, is going to reopen as a holiday market (selling things like candles, teas, coffees, and little gift items) on Friday.
I will say the words for why: Climate change.
Today it's bitter. I exercise walked with my spouse right after noon and it was 43F (6.1C) with a brisk wind. But yesterday, it got up to 63F (17.2C).
I think second summer is over. And soon, some of these stores I shop at will be closed for the long, long winter.
After months and months of hardly any sunsets to show you, I had promised to show you a really good one.
In the meantime, there was another good sunset.
One notable thing about our second summer (right now, writing this on Thursday afternoon, it is 58 F (14.4C) and I'm enjoying every degree of it) is that the warmish weather is happening after the return of early sunsets. Tonight, sunset is 4:42 pm.
On days when I work, it fits right in with when my work days end. On days off, it's still a convenient time, as we tend to eat supper a little later than many.
I prefer not to do sunset photography in cold weather where I have to take gloves off. With this warm wave, I'm comfortable taking pictures.
Also, the sunsets have cooperated with some nice ones. Thank you, sunsets, for thinking of me and my readers.
The day opened up with frost all over the ground and frost on the windshield of our car. This was about 7:50 am.
I've drank tea all of my life. In my childhood, I drank black tea, brewed from tea bags. In the summer I drank ice tea, unsweetened, as is the tradition where I grew up in New York City.
Now, I can no longer tolerate more than a tiny bit of caffeine, and I've switched to either herbal tea or decaf black tea. I have always been sensitive to cinnamon and that leaves out some herbal and flavored black teas, but I find the herbal tea world is large. The two herbals I really don't like are roobios (which, unfortunately, is in a lot of blends) and chamomile. On the other hand, I like hibiscus and mint.
The one thing I regret about my tea habit is the fact that, except for a couple of gift shops that will sell you one herbal tea bag, I can't buy just one tea bag (or enough tea for one ball's worth of loose tea, which I also indulge in sometimes) to try out. If I don't like the tea, or if my digestion doesn't, I'm stuck with a box of 19 or 23 tea bags.
I'm not a tea connoisseur. I think I can tell if a tea is really bad (and I know that most tea connoisseurs don't use tea bags - I can understand why, but I tend to be lazy) but I'm willing to try different brands out.
Enter....The Tea Library.
Yes, one of our local libraries has set up a Tea Library for this winter. They need contributions of tea bags. They must be individually wrapped, list ingredients on the wrapper (thank you!) and not be past their expiration date.
If you take tea, the limit is three tea bags. You also have to sign a register (first name) if you are either taking or donating.
Today, I stopped into this library (I usually don't go to this one) and there was the tea library. I didn't have any teas but I decided to try three of them. I figured I couldn't go wrong with Earl Grey, and none of these have roobios or chamomile.
Now I'll have to find the time to donate some teas.
It's the 15th of the month and another Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.
The first frost and freeze have come and gone in my zone 5b area of New York State. Only some stray kale, carrots, and swiss chard remain in the garden. The bounty of flowers are a memory.
I scrounged for flowers this November 15 and found more than I thought I would. The same probably won't be true for December, but one month at a time.
Let's see what I found.
Houseplants.
Plectranthus, which I informally call a Charlie plant. Years ago, a
woman in Ithaca, New York gave me a cutting. What I have now are
cuttings from that original plant. When I asked her what it was, she
said it was a "Charlie plant". Why will always remain a mystery.
Airplane plant is putting out little airplanes. This is the flower that proceeds the airplane babies.
One of my Thanksgiving cactii is blooming. The other (not shown) may be open by later today.
A wider view.
Hanging baskets: my two remaining sunpatiens.
I've taken their hanging baskets inside.
Finally, this cuphea pot didn't make it - or did it? The part of the pot nearly up against the house must have been close enough to the house and a little piece of one of the plants survived.
It's the season for rerun posts, and here is one of my favorites.
Friendsgiving. It's become, as we say here in the United States, "a thing".
It's interesting to see how a holiday evolves, because I was
introduced to the concept when my spouse was in the military, back in
the mid 1970's. That's way before the TV show Friends, which some
credit in making this unofficial holiday popular. But Thanksgiving
among friends is a lot older than the show Friends, and I know this from
experience.
Think
about it - young men and women hundreds or thousands of miles from
home. For some, it's their first Thanksgiving from home. Many are
single. Travel home, for many, is out of the question. Young military
people do not make a lot of money.
So you turn to the people
you are with - your fellow military people. We decided to host a
Thanksgiving at our one bedroom apartment for some of my spouse's
buddies because my spouse loves to cook.
I
don't remember asking for food contributions, but nowadays a lot of
Friendsgivings involve potlucks. And, although our Friendsgiving was on
Thanksgiving Day, a lot of young people hold this the weekend before
Thanksgiving. That will be this coming weekend.
After all, not everyone has a happy family life. Some would rather skip the drama. Or,
sometimes, people just want to hang out with friends. Or co-workers.
As far as I'm concerned, Friendsgiving is, and will continue to develop, as a wonderful tradition.
That 1976 Friendsgiving (what I remember of it) is a cherished memory of my youth.
Or maybe my spouse and I were years ahead of our time.
Have you ever hosted or participated in a Friendsgiving?
It's almost the middle of November already, and it's time for music!
Let's introduce the Music Moves Me bloggers.
We blog about music
each Sunday or Monday and if you have music to share with us, you are most
welcome to join! (Music Posts Only-meaning at least one music video,
please!) Our head host isXmas Dolly, and our co-hosts are Cathyfrom Curious as a Cathy, joined by the knowledgeable Stacy ofStacy Uncorked and yours truly.
You are welcome to join our Monday music group. It's so easy. All you have to do is
join the linky above but your post must contain at least one music
video. No music video? Your post may be removed, or may be labeled *NO
MUSIC*.
This
month our guest host is none other than our head host Xmas Dolly and
her theme for this week is "Tunes about food, family, or friendship".
What I found out, in my research, is that a lot of food songs are actually about something we all need, but not food. So how about a couple of songs with sweetness in their titles?
Neil Young and 1977's Sugar Mountain. It's really not that much about food but about life. Neil wrote this song on his 19th birthday in 1964 and it was recorded a bit later.
Paul McCartney lends a celery vibe to this 1971 song by the Beach Boys: Vegetables.
Let's switch to family.
Stevie Wonder and Isn't She Lovely, an ode of love to his newborn daughter, Aisha Morris. (I'll have a bonus song with both of them a little later.)
One of my favorite songs, 1982's Our House by Madness, a song about a working class family.
Friendship songs abound. Here is Randy Newman and You've Got a Friend in Me. Originally written for the 1995 movie Toy Story, this song was nominated for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. It's since been used in other Toy Story movies.
Weezer and My Best Friend.
And now for the bonus song I mentioned. Stevie Wonder and Aisha Morris performing The Girl from Ipanema.
And that's a wrap!
Join me again next week for another episode of Music Moves Me.
