Maya and US Southwest Archeology eBooks by Earl H. Morris

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A little archaeology from the early 1900s…books available from Internet Archive with great illustrations made immediately after excavations:

Preliminary account of the antiquities of the region between the Mancos and La Plata rivers in southwestern Colorado  (1919)

The Temple of the warriors at Chichen Itzá, Yucatan (plates) (1930)

Earl H. Morris did archaeological field work from 1912 to 1940….contributing artifacts to institutions that supported his work and a myriad of publications until his death in 1956. Both books are well worth the time to browse.

The first book’s pictures of pottery from the southwest reminded me of a visit to the Arizona State Museum’s The Pottery Project room….it was a place to savor shapes and patterns…I spent more time in that room than any other at the museum.

Peanut Butter Breakfast

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My favorite quick breakfast on cold days is a slice of oat bread with peanut butter. Preparation is easy: a big blob of smooth peanut butter on a slice of bread…microwave for 30 seconds…spread the peanut butter like icing over the bread. At first, I tried picking the bread up to eat it…but found using a fork is less messy!

Yummy…and nutritious with protein from the peanut butter and the bread…a good amount of dietary fiber too!

Old Rocking Chair

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My husband bought a rocking chair a month or so before we got married…about 50 years ago. We moved it with us from Texas to Virginia to Maryland to Missouri. It got a varying amount of use over the years, but I sat in in a lot recently since I positioned it in front of one of the windows in my office. The rocker was perfectly positioned for watching birds at the feeder, talking on the phone, crocheting, and making Zentangle tiles (using a clipboard to provide a hard surface). And then the back separated from one of the arms; it happened while I was rocking…talking on the phone…there was a crack and I stood up quickly to avoid breaking it even more.

My husband had mended the same place within the first year that we had it – putting in a larger screw and gluing the joint. He was going to mend it again but discovered that the screw had broken in half at the joint and he couldn’t remove either piece! We removed the cushions thinking we might reuse them and prepared to carry the rocker upstairs to go out next to the dumpster on the next trash day.

 Both of us feel sad to let it go; it’s a part of our history as a couple. We are frustrated that it can’t be mended and has become trash. We’ve ordered a glide rocker to replace it.

Gardens Aglow

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We walked through the Gardens Aglow event at the Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden in Springfield, MO last Friday. It was a wonderful way to celebrate our first winter holidays in Missouri…will become an annual tradition from now on.

We got there shortly after the opening at 5 PM. There were a steady stream of cars arriving but there were people directing parking which eliminated confusion; it was a short walk from where we parked to the entrance and there was no line although next year I will plan to buy tickets in advance.

My husband and I had enjoyed the Brookside Gardens lights during the many years we lived in Maryland and found ourselves comparing the two displays. The lights in both places used the gardens as a theme and the trees as scaffolding. The lights at Mizumoto seemed brighter (maybe slightly larger LEDs?) and they had more water to use for reflections/dark areas of the display.

In some ways it was easier to photograph the lights this year because the animations were changes in light color within a fixed grid rather than across a space. I liked the wall of color…watching as it moved through a cycle of colors.

There was a weeping cherry in lights; the tree underneath was probably a weeping cherry too!

The arched bridge over a water feature became magical with all the lights and a shed looked like a gingerbread house.

I managed to notice two Japanese lanterns and maybe next year I will try to photograph more of them. They don’t have lights themselves but offer a link to the place that is not as obvious looking at the lights.

There were several butterflies along the way that were photo opportunities…a person could become the body of the butterfly! This was something new to us…lots of fun; I was glad they had a small butterfly too (but didn’t see any children getting their picture taken).

We spent about an hour strolling the loop through the garden…enjoying the lights and happy noises of people around us.

Intentions – What will I do different in 2023?

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At the end of 2021, I wrote down 4 intentions – things I wanted to be different in 2022:

  • Releasing myself from some of my daily ‘metrics’

  • Look for the unique

  • Reverting to a cleaner/neater house

  • Moving to life closer to my daughter

The last one was the most finite and the only one to be marked ‘done in 2022.’ The others are continuing. I was least successful in releasing myself from the daily ‘metrics.’ It worked well for me to do a mid-year assessment of my intentions…so I’ll do the same in 2023. My intentions for 2023 are:

Reliably spend a week of each month supporting my parents in their home (Carrollton TX). My sisters and I are determined to keep them as comfortable and independent as possible…honoring their wishes.

Restart volunteering. The pandemic caused a pause in my volunteer activities. At this point, I have tentatively identified where I want to volunteer…am hopeful it will be as rewarding as my previous volunteer gigs.

Update and maintain my yard. Our first summer in Missouri we hired a yard service. In 2023 I will use my (new) electric mower and mow it myself. I will also begin my project to reduce the amount of grass by planting several native bushes (I am thinking Beautyberry, Oakleaf Hydrangea, and maybe Ninebark). I also will start some perennial beds…maybe a ruff of day lilies around the base of maples in the front of the house.

Make some birding/hiking road trips. We were so busy moving in 2022 that we didn’t do the usual ‘vacation’ travel that we did pre-pandemic. We probably won’t do any airplane travel…but our location in the Missouri is a great starting point for road trips. There is a lot of Missouri that is ‘new to us’ too. The Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis will probably be part of one of the road trips.

Attain and maintain ‘normal’ weight. I am close…but a few pounds too heavy. I’ve got into the normal range during 2022 but didn’t maintain it.

Springfield Conservation Nature Center - December 2022

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It was a foggy morning at the Springfield Conservation Nature Center; I opted to do macro and zoomed images rather than landscape compositions…and am relatively pleased with the way they turned out. There are remnants of the native plants in the area around the nature center: berries providing splashes of color along with the subtle colors but interesting shapes of dried plant parts and seeds…

The Beautyberry near the main entrance has wrinkled berries now that there has been more wintery weather.

I took a short walk down one of the trails. Some desiccated fungus on a downed limb was close enough to the trail to photograph.

Another branch had some interesting lichen that seemed to be growing more upward that usual. I regretted that I didn’t have a better camera with me to photograph it.

The other end of the branch must have broken recently…the shape reminded me of an open mouth or cave surrounded my lichen!

I long ago had ago had this stump be cut/exposed. The bark was gone from around the edges, but the rings were still easily visible. I didn’t take the time to count them.

The patches of missing back on a standing tree (probably dead) were probably the work of something looking for insects – maybe a woodpecker?

I started taking macro pictures of tree trunks…realized that it was more interesting if there was a patch of something rather than just the bark; lichen is the most common find…a bit of green and different shape among the crinkles of bark.

As I walked on the path, the floor of the forest was covered with small plants protruding from the thick layer of leaves. I realized that these small plants were an indicator that the area was not overly browsed by deer as so many places in Maryland had been…and a good indication that the native plantings I want to add around my house will survive!

Last but not least – I took one picture looking upward through the winter tree branches. Maybe next month I will do more landscape images from around the nature center….or maybe it will be cold enough to hike down to the water and take some ice pictures!

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 10, 2022

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Adults living in areas with high air pollution are more likely to have multiple long-term health conditions – A study of more than 364 thousand people in England. Respiratory and cardiovascular problems dominate but neurological and common mental conditions were also observed.

Best of 2022: Top 50 Photographs from Around the World – The first of the year in summary type articles. I had seen some of these photos before…but not all of them. They are worth a look.

Larger wheat harvest in Ukraine than expected – Based on satellite imagery, 94% of the winter crop was harvested…including 88% in areas not controlled by Ukraine. Some Ukrainian grain made it to global markets…however Russia is reaping the benefit of a significant portion of the harvest.

Medieval woman’s burial in Switzerland yields gold broach – A wealthy burial from a 7th century AD cemetery…excavated prior to construction work. The article didn’t say whether the finds would be going to a museum…or be reburied with the skeleton elsewhere.

More Than 52 Million Birds in the U.S. Are Dead Because of Avian Flu – It began last year in Eastern Canada and has affected flocks in 46 states since then. Wild and domestic birds are impacted…and there is a risk of infections in people too.

Study finds that experiences of daily stress decrease as people age – As we get older, we begin to deal daily stressors better. It’s a positive aspect to aging!

Archaeologists Find 1,900-Year-Old Snacks in Sewers Beneath the Colosseum – The debris from 1,900 years ago: olives, nuts, meats, cherries, grapes, figs, blackberries, and peaches!

Biodiversity unbalanced as ice-free Antarctic areas grow – Non-native species invading Antarctica

Idaho’s Potato Belt – 1/3 of the US potatoes are grown in the Snake River Plain….satellite images from NASA’s Aqua and Landsat 8.

Dam safety: New study indicates probable maximum flood events will significantly increase over next 80 years – This is a paper about 546 dams in Australia. We need to extend this type of analysis around the world…to improve the integrity of critical infrastructure into the future.

Coles Phillips eBooks

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Coles Phillips was an illustrator known for his stylish images of women for books, advertisements, and the covers of popular magazines. I browsed two of his books on Internet Archive recently:

A Gallery of Girls (1911)

A Young Man's Fancy (1912)

More of his magazine covers can also be found on Internet Archive (list here).

He died relatively young in June 1927; Life magazine featured one of his creations on the cover in July 1927 (and a 2-page illustrated obituary). His last Life magazine cover was in September 1927. The illustrations are available from Internet Archive via the link above.

He was one of the artists that depicted the greater freedoms of women in the 1920s. I wondered, as I realized how young he had been when he died, how his art would have evolved had he lived through the great depression and World War II.

Decorating for the Holidays – Part 2

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Once we made the decision to not have a tree this year (see part 1), there was only a little more decorating to do before we declared it ‘done.’

We hung a wreath on the door with a magnet hook (since it is a metal door). The hook worked very well and will be easy to take off when we don’t need it. This wreath worked well on our Maryland house, but its lights are not dense or bright enough to look good on our Missouri house with its covered porch. We opted to turn on the front porch light in the evenings and the wreath looks great.

I continued to add decorations to my office: a garland of silver bells around pinecones from the tree in our back yard, some red glittery swirls in a tall vase on the hearth, old Christmas cards attached to the frame of the fireplace with magnets, and a garland of red bells on the door to the outside!

Oranges!

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This time of year, I always look for (and usually find) a bag of organic oranges….and then proceed to use the whole fruit (peel and pulp)!

Usually, the first way I enjoy the oranges is to eat the pulp then process the skin in a small food processor and dry it to enjoy later.

This year I have already used some dried orange peel as an addition to the loose tea in the filter of the ‘coffee’ maker. My office smells of tea and citrus (and the flavor is good too). I can always use it as a seasoning in mulled cider or a stir fry…it’s not possible to have too much dried orange peel!

The recipe I like for cranberry orange relish uses the whole orange. I cut the ends off and any large areas of pith…but most of the orange is cut in chunks and put into the food processor along with cranberries and a little sugar. The relish is good on its own or combined with other things:

  • With tomatillo salsa and heated…used as a sauce for meatballs or stir fry

  • With some oil to make a dressing for salads…particularly for salads that include other fruit

  • In muffins

  • In soup

Cold or hot…cranberry relish is one of my favorite winter foods (I sometimes prolong the season by freezing cranberries and sometimes the cut up oranges as well)!

Oranges are one of the great flavors of winter!

Kittens! – Month 4

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Month 4 with our 3 kittens…..they are still kittenish but beginning to make cat noises…and always trying something new. Here’s my notes for what’s happened with the kittens over the past month.

Two of the kittens (Sooty and Puma) like the cat hammock that we kept from our first cat. It’s been in storage for almost 20 years because our next cats didn’t like it!

We tried putting up our Christmas tree…gave them time to adjust to it without ornaments. They climbed it, knocked off branches…then got sick. We opted to forego a tree completely this year even though we think now they were sick from something contagious that they all got and then recovered.

When they were sick, my husband let the kittens have the run of the 1st floor (except for our bedroom) during the night rather than sequestering them in their suite….and we’ve continued now that they’ve recovered – keeping the main bedroom and bathroom a kitten-free zone at night. We hear them at the door occasionally. I am the first one out and about in the mornings. I got my camera and photographed the kittens right after I emerged earlier this week: Pooky as in the hallway near a scratching pad, Sooty was comfortable in a pile of jackets my husband had left in a chair after the kittens knocked over the coat rack (damaging it a bit), and Puma was already waiting for my husband at the bedroom door.

It didn’t take long before all three were at the door…Pooky got nervous and retreated to the scratching pad. As soon as the door opened, they all streamed into the bedroom as if they had never been there before.

Sooty is the only one that likes the bathroom sink…and he doesn’t want to be bothered by anyone needing the sink.

When I was in Texas, I noticed some ‘space cats’ catnip toys. The cats will be getting them as part of their Christmas.

Previous Kittens! Posts: day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 5, week 1, week 2, month 1, month 2, month 3

Crocheting Again

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I learned to crochet early on, probably when I was about 10 years old. My grandfather taught me! He didn’t crochet himself, but he read the instructions and taught me the basics. I can remember the setting: on the couch in his living room as my grandmother looked on. It was several years after the accident that had caused one of his legs to be amputated; he wore a prosthesis (primitive by today’s standards). My memories of him before the accident are vague, but I remember his interest, attention, patience, and kindness to me and my sisters all the years afterward. As I’ve started up crocheting again…thinking about how I learned…I realize that I was the only grandchild that he saw all the way to adulthood.

I don’t remember anything I made early on…I picked up crocheting again when I travelled with Up with People my junior year of high school. There was a lot of time on the bus between shows. I made slippers to use for rehearsals (wore them out very quickly), a hat and scarf. The hat and scarf were dark blue to match one of the colors from the tweed coat I wore then. I still have them but haven’t worn them in a long time. I tried on the hat and discovered that the yarn had degraded somewhat…making it less stretchy, too tight to be comfortable.

I made crocheted stars for Christmas tree ornaments in white shortly after I married…and then in red more than a decade later.

In my early thirties and before I had my daughter, there was another burst of crochet activity. I made some yellow dollies. I don’t remember why I chose the color! Around the same time, I was still making my own blouses for work and crocheted ecru or white pieces to sew into the neckline. I remember being very pleased with the results and wish I’d saved the crocheted part when the blouse fabric wore out.

I also made three crocheted scarves in red and green (wore them together for Christmas then separately at other times) and variegated pink with black. I’m not sure when I made them…probably about 20 years ago since I remember wearing them during my career and I’ve been post-career for over a decade.

Now – I am crocheting again. My initial project is to make a series of cotton scarves to keep the sun off the scar on my neck so that I don’t need sunscreen all the time while the scar fades. So far, I have made ecru and black scarves…am working on a white one. Light green and turquoise crochet threads have been purchased! It feels good to be crocheting again and making something that fits my need (cotton, colors, length) exactly.

Another aspect that pleases me about this new crochet project is the wooden bowl that was given to me in the 1970s by a friend I’d known all my life. I hadn’t used it for salads since its finish was damaged, but it is the perfect size and shape to hold the thread and my project….and reminds me of the good experiences I had growing up with her.

Through all the years and projects – crocheting has been an activity that I can do some deep thinking while making an item I need. Maybe that’s why I restart crocheting all over again.

Colorful Outdoors Plants in December

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After the leaves have all fallen off the deciduous trees, plants that retain their color in the cold of December stand out against the background of browns and grays. Here are three of my favorites:

Kale lasts into the winter – particularly in protected area around houses.  The plants I photographed were in a location where frost covered the grass nearby…and the water droplets from an overnight rain were probably icy. I like the color transitions on the leaves…from the new leaves that are all purple/pink…the older ones with the purple/pink near the stem then the gray/green around the edges. The oldest leaves are all gray/green..

Conifers are the dominant greens of winter…and the cones that remain on the tree are interesting too. Is this a pattern from nature that we follow when we decorate our Christmas trees?

We have some hollies in our yard, but they are young enough that they don’t have a lot of berries. The hollies at my daughter’s house are large trees and are full of red berries. While the berries last, the tree displays Christmas colors! At some point there will be enough freeze/thaw cycles for the birds to decide they are edible – sometimes the berries disappear very quickly. Note that these hollies are varieties that don’t have the prickly leaves of the wild American Holly.

The joys of early winter….

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 3, 2022

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Drought hit large portion of the globe in 2021, state of water report says – Bad news for water: the negative trends are stronger than the positive ones.

Bloating common among Americans – I am so glad I discovered that I was lactose intolerant; it’s been relatively easy to change my diet to avoid bloating completely!

Do students really eat that badly? – Yes and no…and alcohol plays a negative role.

Fungi that cause lung infections may be spreading across the US – Infection causing soil fungi Histoplasma, Coccidioides, and Blastomyces – evidently the diseases are more widespread now than in the 1950s!

White House unveils its holiday décor, including 77 trees and ‘We the People’ theme – Getting in the mood for December celebrations!

From Patches to Pies, Illinois Knows Pumpkins – A little pumpkin history…and a satellite image (NASA’s Landsat 8’s Operational Land Imager) from after the pumpkins are harvested.

Cranberry bogs in Plymouth County – A satellite image of production of another seasonal food: cranberries! Massachusetts supplies about 25% of the cranberries grown in the US (outpaced only by Wisconsin). The cranberry bogs look pink/red in the natural-color image at the beginning of the article.

We’re told to ‘eat a rainbow’ of fruit and vegetables. Here’s what each colour does in our body – Love the colorful foods!

Effigy Mounds National Monument Becomes a Tribal Sister Park To Ioway Tribal National Park – A new type of agreement….hoping it is a good one for everyone.

How to be a sustainable parent – It’s hard since the most easily obtained products are obviously not and there are no pre-defined alternatives that are more sustainable…aside from buying second hand (i.e. reuse) whenever possible.

eBotanical Prints – November 2022

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Another 20 botanical books in November. Four works by Ethelbert Blatter (best known as a pioneering botanist in British India) available on Internet Archive were browsed as well as 3 authored by Frederick Orpen Bower. I noticed that I’d missed browsing the 3rd volume of Bower’s The Ferns until I was writing this post – so I’ll include it with the December books.

The whole list of 2,512 botanical eBooks can be accessed here. The list for the November 2022 books with links to the volumes and sample images is at the bottom of this post.

Click on any sample images in the mosaic below to get an enlarged version. Enjoy the November 2022 eBotanical Prints!

Lehrbuch der Botanik fur Hochschullen * Strasburger, Eduard, Noll, Fritz, Schenck, Henrich, et al * sample image * 1923

A history of British ferns * Newman, Edward * sample image * 1874

My Shrubs * Pillipotts, Eden * sample image * 1915

Plant-geography upon a physiological basis * Schimper, Andreas Franz, Wilhelm; Fisher, William Rogers et al * sample image * 1903

Cape Flowers at Home 1929 - Series I * Marloth, Rudolf * sample image * 1929

Das Kapland  * Marloth, Rudolf; Schimper, Andreas Franz Wilhelm * sample image * 1908

The origin of a land flora : a theory based upon the facts of alternation  * Bower, Frederick Orpen * sample image * 1908

The ferns (filicales) V1 * Bower, Frederick Orpen * sample image * 1923

The ferns (filicales) V2 * Bower, Frederick Orpen * sample image * 1923

Manuel complet de l'amateur de roses : leur monographie, leur histoire, et leur culture * Boitard, Pierre * sample image * 1836

Beautiful flowers of Kashmir Beautiful flowers of Kashmir V1 * Blatter, Ethelbert; Withen, G.A.; Walli, Haldar Joo * sample image * 1929

Beautiful flowers of Kashmir Beautiful flowers of Kashmir V2 * Blatter, Ethelbert; Withen, G.A.; Walli, Haldar Joo * sample image * 1929

The Bombay Grasses * Blatter, Ethelbert; McCann, Charles * sample image * 1935

The Ferns of Bombay * Blatter, Ethelbert; Almeida, Joseph Francis * sample image * 1922

Popular studies of California wild flowers * Rice, Bertha Marguete; Rice, Roland  * sample image * 1920

Mistletoe and holly * Prior, Sophia; Frey, Albert * sample image * 1939

Carnivorous plants * Prior, Sophia * sample image * 1939

Coffee * Dahlgren, Bror Eric * sample image * 1938

Tropical and Subtropical Fruits * Dahlgren, Bror Eric * sample image * 1947

Common Mushrooms * Pray, Leon Luther; Dahlgren, Bror Ericc * sample image * 1936

Zentangle® – November 2022

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30 Zentangle tiles made in November…or rather 30 chosen from the much larger number of tiles I made during the month. The tiles are all squares this month – a rare occurrence for me. I was trying not jump ahead to December motifs but couldn’t resist a cluster of stylized trees and red dots! Otherwise, I stayed focused on the fading green and orange color pallet for fall…and then using up gel pens from my sister’s teaching career for the tiles I made while I was in Carrollton.

Enjoy the November 2022 mosaic!

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The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. “Zentangle” is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

Decorating for the Holidays – Part 1

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Decorating the house for December has been different this year. It’s our first season in our Missouri house (old decorations in a new situation) and keeping the kittens safe is causing us to reconsider some of our decorating.

I decided that the pinecone wreath one of my sisters made for me more than 20 years ago needed to be refurbished; it was beyond my skills, so I took it to Carrollton and my sister stabilized the cones with wire and hot glue. We opted for simplified additions beyond the pinecones; I bought a new bow, and she attached it. When I got it back home, I realized I didn’t have any place to hang it that would be safe from our 3 kittens (the glittery bow would be too tempting them to chew).

It’s now hanging in my office in the basement…a kitten-fee zone.

My daughter and son-in-law helped us set up the tree on Thanksgiving. We didn’t decorate it right away…waiting for the cats to get bored with it. The kittens never got bored with it…climbed up through the center of the tree dislodging some of the branches. We took the tree down after 6 days when it appeared that the kittens were nibbling on the white plastic.

On the plus side, the old Christmas cards are not drawing the kittens’ attention. I have giant scrunchies with cards on the pantry door, the door to the basement, my office door, and one of the upstairs bedrooms.

There are also cards (with magnets taped to their back) on the two metal doors in the house (the doors to the garage and front).

Since we’ve turned off the gas fireplace completely, I put cards around the metal frame of the upstairs fireplace as well.

There are still a few other places to put old Christmas cards. I am glad I collected cards over the past 30 years…realizing that there won’t be many new ones; few people send cards any more…including me.

We have a wreath that we’ll put on the front door. My husband bought a magnetic hook as soon as we realized the door was metal! More on our decorations in a week or so…..when we decide to declare them ‘done.’

Ten Little Celebrations – November 2022

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Ten little celebrations for November. Some of them weren’t so little: a 91st birthday, a grandnephew, and Thanksgiving. There was a lot of food involved too. Celebrating November foods is probably my favorite lead up to the crescendo in December and then the beginning of a new year.

A mini-pumpkin – perfect for 4 servings. My sister bought small pumpkins for a table centerpiece; we decided to cook one of them for lunch along with meatloaf. The oven was nicely full. I pricked the skin of the pumpkin before I put it in the oven since I was cooking it intact. After about an hour, I took it out of the oven, lifted the stem off, cut it into quarters, and took the seeds out from the center. Everyone sprinkled cinnamon and added butter to melt into the pulp. All that was left at the end of the meal was the skin! Yummy!

Cranberries. I like cranberries in just about everything: stir fry, sauces for meatballs (combined with tomatillo salsa), chopping as an addition to stuffing, sauteed with apples + butter + cinnamon + honey for dessert. I used to make cranberry relish on the stovetop because I enjoyed watching the cranberries pop as they cooked, but I don’t like the relish as much anymore (too sweet) so now I enjoy cranberries pooping in stir fry or when they are sauteed. I celebrate both their flavor and their color!

Getting 141 bulbs planted. It took multiple sessions in the yard…and I celebrated when they were all finally in the ground. I hope most of them survive the squirrels and bloom next spring!

Leaves – raked, blown, shredded. Mowing is adequate for the leaves at our house but not my daughter’s. She has very large trees and the leaves were thick enough to kill grass. She and I spent an afternoon focused on leaves…and celebrated our accomplishment! The weather cool and crisp for a traditional fall activity …. always helps get me in the mood for the beginning of the holiday season.

A 91st birthday. Both of my parents are 91 years old as of November. Our family celebrates these milestones…enjoying that we still have them with us.

A grandnephew. Celebrating a baby in our family…the 1st one in over 20 years…adds a another facet to our joy during the holidays.

Walnuts. Not sure why…but walnuts have become a favorite this year. I am celebrating all the ways I’ve found to add them into food I am preparing!

Ritter Springs and Neighborhood Ponds. Celebrating the crisp air outdoors…the color of leaves…the frost on the grass.

Thanksgiving. Celebrating a day to appreciate all the recent events of our lives…a prelude to the family events/gatherings of December.

Leftovers. It’s a treat to have great food in short order… prolongs the celebration. I ate too much on Thanksgiving…did better on the subsequent days and maybe enjoyed the food more.

Zooming – November 2022

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18 images in the slide show for November – less skewed toward botanical subjects than recent months. Outings to Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, Springfield Conservation Nature Center and Josey Ranch Lake increased my opportunity to photograph wildlife. It was good to see winter and migrating birds…more of those in coming months (probably).

Enjoy the November slide show!

Unique Aspects of Days – November 2022

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I had a hard time picking the top 10 unique aspects of my November days. There seemed to be a lot of firsts happening during the month!

New electric lawn mower. I made a few turns around the yard with my early Christmas present before our yard crew showed up. Next year I will be doing the yard. I will probably do some spot mowing on a warmer afternoon as soon as all the leaves are off the trees – mulch the leaves into the grass for the winter). What a luxury to have clean air (i.e. no gasoline motor fumes) while I mow!

Cooking a big pumpkin. I’ve always bought pumpkins small enough to fit in my oven previously but the one this year was a left over from my son-in-law’s pumpkin carving event and it was large. I had to cut it in half and then cook each piece separately! I baked and made soup with some of the puree but most of it went into the freezer.

A gaggle of Greater White-fronted Geese. The group was migrating through Hagerman on the day that I stopped on my way down to Carrollton. It was my first time seeing this species.

Pumpkin Custard Quiche. I used some of the pumpkin puree from the large pumpkin to experiment with a high protein dessert/breakfast. I used 2 cups of puree, 8 eggs, pumpkin pie spices, sugar, milk, 8 ounces of Swiss cheese and walnuts on top. Each of the 6 servings were about 21 grams of protein….and my parents ate their whole serving! This is an experiment that will likely become a favorite recipe.

1st snow at our Missouri home. It happened while I was in Carrollton, but I enjoyed it vicariously through pictures my husband sent.

2 Bald Eagles soaring above the highway in Oklahoma. What a great sight driving home from Texas. One was an adult and the other a juvenile. No fighting….just graceful flying back and forth above the highway.

Learning to use a blower to create a pile of leaves. I’m very adept making leaf piles with a rake…but was overwhelmed with the leaves in my daughter’s front yard. She had a new battery powered blower. There was a trial-and-error period but then I managed to move leaves around trees and under bushes…and into piles for her to vacuum up with the mulcher. I depleted 2 batteries (good thing she had 3 that worked with the blower).

Rice Pudding Quiche. After the success of the pumpkin custard quiche – my next experiment was with rice pudding. I used the small carton of rice left over after having Chinese takeout to make rice pudding (with milk, eggs, raisins, drizzle of molasses) with Swiss Cheese (making it more quiche like). Next time I will use a bit more milk since it was a little too dense…but it was still tasty (I drizzled some honey over it to make it sweeter). It’s a good way to use up rice!

Cranberry and tomatillo salsa sauce for Impossible Burger meatballs. Our appetizers for Thanksgiving were Impossible Burger meatballs (purchased frozen…heated in oven). I had barbeque sauce and marinara for dipping…then made a third sauce with chopped cranberries (heated in microwave) and tomatillo salsa. All the sauces were warmed just before we tried them. Everyone agreed that the cranberry and tomatillo salsa was a great flavor with the meatballs – and it looked festive too.

Experimenting with Christmas tree decorations. The kittens are changing our thinking about decorating this year. We put our artificial tree up in the center of our living room using an outdoor umbrella stand for the base (to keep them from knocking over the tree). Right now, we are letting them get bored with the tree, but they’ve managed to dislodge lower and middle branches (they climb up around the center of the tree). We don’t want to use hooks to attach ornaments. I experimented putting Beanie babies on the branches and the kittens knocked them all off as they move around the inside of the tree. So – a series of unique experiences that isn’t over yet!