Sunday, December 8, 2024

Christmas Nutcrackers


Just nutcrackers today. Click to enlarge.

Do you know what goes Oh Oh Oh?

Um, no. 
Santa Claus walking backwards!

Resting nutcracker face.

Santa Claus is coming anyway.





Sunday, December 1, 2024

Leftovers!

 

The annual feast of holiday lawn pumpkins is on!

Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Autumn decorations... all tasty.

These are for me, right? Click to enlarge.

Well, maybe just a nibble.

And they have seeds inside! Gotta love the holidays!

Sunday, November 24, 2024

Have a Great Thanksgiving!

 

Here's to a fun week of preparations for the feast. Some of New Jersey's wild turkeys, above, are slipping quietly into the woods. They can disappear remarkably fast for such big birds.

But this guy... a member of the flock that lives in my little suburban town, was showing off during breeding season last year. They look different when they want to be seen. Click to enlarge.

Sunday, November 17, 2024

National Homemade Bread Day

 

Today is National Homemade Bread Day! Guess how I spent the morning.

Click on this sentence for a good basic white bread recipe from King Arthur Flour. Here's my ball of dough.

Here are the two loaves that ball of dough made. I covered them and let them rise for an hour. I  sprinkled corn meal on the pan for a crispy bottom crust.

One hour later -- risen, floured, scored and ready to bake.

After baking! The house smells wonderful.

This is the more beautiful of the two. Looks good, doesn't it?

Perfect inside. The whole thing took about 2 and half hours from gathering the ingredients to this. Click to enlarge.

Buttered while still warm.

Second slice with homemade peach jam. And that is how one celebrates National Homemade Bread Day. Try it!

Sunday, November 10, 2024

November


November Night, by Adelaide Crapsey

Listen...

With faint dry sound, 

Like steps of passing ghosts,

The leaves, frost-crisp'd, break from the trees

And fall. 

I remember collecting autumn leaves when I was a child, head down, looking for the most interesting, the most beautiful. I'm still doing it, but with photos now. Love this red and purple one. Click to enlarge. A few more...









"How beautifully the leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days." John Burroughs

Sunday, November 3, 2024

Daylight Savings Time Ends Today

Daylight Savings Time ends today. Check your clocks. Set them back an hour if they have not already done it themselves. Prepare for darkness at dinnertime.

And, as the sun sets over Philadelphia at 4:55, ask yourself this question from 

Dr. Seuss: 

"How did it get so late so soon? 

It's night before it's afternoon. 

December is here before it's June. 

My goodness how the time has flewn. 

How did it get so late so soon?"



Sunday, October 27, 2024

Four Days Until Halloween!

 

Behold, dead Atlantic white cedar trees standing in the shallow water of an abandoned cranberry bog in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. This place is sometimes called a "ghost forest." The smoke on the left is coming from a distant forest fire. Click to enlarge. Does it give you a spooky feeling?

You are now ready for Halloween. Go forth and get candy!