A soft evening

If there's one prevailing weather condition we have in our area, it's fog. Mist. Vapor. Haze. Whatever you want to call it, it's here except in the summer when it's too warm.

This fog can be treacherous in the winter, when it freezes and forms a micro-layer of ice on everything. We have a friend whose vehicle slid off the road in such conditions, and he has a permanently injured back from the accident.

And yet, in its softer moods, the fog can be beautiful. The other evening, as Don and I took Darcy for his walk, the mist ebbed and flowed around us. There was just a hint of pastel color in the western sky. Sometimes the fog completely enveloped us, then it would drain away. Every minute, the landscaped seemed to change.

In fact, it could change almost second by second. It was like the fog was a living, breathing thing, and we were right there in the midst of it.

It was one of those walks where even when we had our backs to the western sky, we kept turning around to watch the changing conditions.

A soft evening indeed.

The colors of November

Around here, October is bright. But while it seems November should be subdued and gloomy, in fact it's quite beautiful. As I told Don, "October is brilliant. November glows." Here are some photos as proof.

In an otherwise cloudy sky...

...a last shaft of sunlight escaped just as the sun set, illuminating a row of trees on the hillside opposite.

The changing color of blackberry leaves contribute to this late-autumn glow.

The leaves transition to yellow and red.

On a distant hillside, where blackberries have taken over vast swathes of land, the leaves are red.

Wild roses also contribute to November's glow.

The rose hips are abundant this year.

Like blackberries, wild roses can take over whole fields.

Water drops amidst the brambles.

Where pine needles meet mossy granite.

The weeping willow in our yard had some bright yellow leaves.

They turned even brighter when the sun came out.

I'm doing some late-season garden cleanup, including trimming back the strawberry runners.

The strawberry leaves, too, contribute to November's glow.

A bit of sunlight broke through the clouds while I was raking leaves.

The sun made the leaves glow.

It made Mr. Darcy glow as well.

This time of year, the leaves have dropped from the wild apple trees, but in many cases the apples are still on the branches.

A sun halo, which by some accounts predicts rain or snow. Accurate (for rain) in this case.

And those are some of the colors of November. A blessed Thanksgiving to all.

Sunsets and rainbows

We walked Darcy the other evening when the sun was behind some clouds. Just as we got home, the sun broke through and looked intriguingly bleary.

As the sun set, it started lighting up the clouds above it.

Some rain began to fall, and Don called me out to the porch to see the results: A stunning rainbow in a full arc. (It was actually a double rainbow, but the second rainbow isn't really visible in the photograph.)

The colors, especially at the ends, were brilliant.

The last shafts of sunlight also lit up some clouds overhead, which lent an orange-y glow to the entire landscape.

A couple of evenings later, long after we had returned from our evening dog walk, I glanced out the window and saw this surprising development.

A few minutes later, it got even more dramatic.

Sunsets and rainbows.

Bit and bobs

Here are a few random bits and bobs from the last few weeks.

We have a shed in our yard we use for garden tools, etc. The doors were open on it for about a week or so. One day Don saw a robin fly in with food in its beak, and we thought, "Uh oh, robin built a nest inside." If that was the case, we'd have to keep the shed doors open until the babies fledged.

Later that same day I went to put something inside the shed and saw this:

Not a nest, but a fledgling that had made its way in.

Of course we left the shed doors open. By the next day, it was gone.

Ground squirrel.

Full moon behind a pine.

There is a single volunteer sunflower plant growing in one of the potato beds.

It's always worth examining things like this up close...

...because you never know what you might see.

And another small spider, this one on our screen door. I believe it's a young orb weaver.

I have some basil plants growing on the deck. I was going to transplant them into the garden beds, but never got around to it, so I repotted them in larger pots and they're happily growing.

However something was eating the leaves.

Aha! Found the culprit. Look how closely it blends in, color-wise. I scooped it up and dumped it over the side of the balcony.

Grasses, blooming.

Allergies, anyone?

A clump of irises growing by the side of the driveway. This photo was taken about a month ago.

In late June, I baffled to see what looked like carrots growing in the rocks next to one of the garden beds. Carrots? How?

The mystery was solved a few weeks later. Not carrots, but Queen Anne's lace, a member of the carrot family.

I know Queen Anne's lace is technically an invasive weed, but I absolutely stinkin' love it.

A very, very distant doe and her fawn.

Some quail parents herding their chicks toward the safety of some brush.

Sunrise..

...and sunset.