Icy Winds Time 2025

 

Birthday flowers

The winds that mark the transition of the seasons have begun. This past month we had very little snow but much icy wind.

We're also in the season of alternating cool and warm temperatures. We call this yo-yo weather. It's another characteristic of the changing seasons.

The month ahead will continue to be windy, but the temperatures will begin to moderate by the month's end.

Another sign of the season is the return of many birds. Our place has been the stop over for large migrating mixed flocks of Red Winged Blackbirds, Grackles and Starlings. The Robins have returned, and we had a Northern Mockingbird in our Yew for a couple of days. 

We saw our first Kildeers of the year while on our daily walk this week. I also saw two minks earlier in the month. They were scurrying in a ditch next to my walking path. One popped its head up and we spent about five minutes just staring at each other. Equal interest there, I think.

Another garden begins

You probably know that this past month was seed starting time for us.

I've started lettuces, celery, cabbages, kale, tat soi, pac choi, chard, tomatoes and eggplants. Sweet potatoes are tucked in too. It will be a while before those sprout.

Everything is coming up

Things are coming up and will be transplanted into growing pots soon.

I'm experimenting with my LED grow lights. Last year I wasn't entirely satisfied with them. My plants seemed to burn a bit. We found some more information this year with regards to distance and duration. I'm hoping for better outcomes.

I'm going to try two new types of seeds this year.

New dry bean

The first is a different dry pole bean. It's called 1500 Year Old Cave bean. It looks a bit like a Jacob's Cattle bean but is slightly smaller.

Bottle Gourd Seeds

The second is a Bottle Gourd. This is an edible squash used in Asian and Indian cooking. The seeds were given to me by a woman who has stewarded them (grown and saved seeds) for many years. She has retired and passed the torch on to me. I hope that our growing season is long enough for them to reach maturity. This will be an experiment.

Each of us has been busy with our own activities.

March 25 Ukraine Support

Bob continues to be involved with community activities: attending town board and other civic meetings and participating in rallies and protests.

Protest in Canandaigua

He's also begun work on my harp wheels. (That's the kit we bought three years ago. I did tell him at the time that I was in no big hurry for them. I guess that one's on me!)

Harp wheels

Yesterday he finished clearing the path to our meadow.

Pine blocking the path

Last winter a large pine tree was blown down over the path. With all of last year's hub bub (my broken shoulder, bathroom remodel ...) he never attended to it. 

Work in progress

Now it's been cut into sections and the portion blocking the path has been rolled away.

In addition to routine chores and starting seeds, I've been reading, practicing my harp and working on knitting and hardanger. I find that the hardanger work has been the most effective at absorbing my attention and relaxing me in this stressful time.

Yesterday was a walk in the park

Yesterday's weather was beautiful, so we walked for an hour at the Taughannock Falls State Park. Half of our walk was on a wooded trail new to us. We'll definitely walk that one again soon.

That seems to be all I have to share for now. We hope all of you are well and staying grounded in peace, kindness, truth and courage.

Till next time, 

Kathleen and Bob

Taughannock Falls 

 

Cold Time/Renewal Time 2023

 

January in our woods

Warm greetings from the cold Finger Lakes. Actually, today we're beginning a warming trend. In general, we've had a warmer winter with relatively less snow than normal. Cold Time however, decided to go out true to its name.

Feb 2 Moondog-harbinger of storms

From February 2nd through the morning of the 4th, we had cold temperatures and very high, gusty winds. The old house was continually buffeted by the winds. Thankfully, this particular 170+ year old house was built to stand for generations. Short of a tornado, it's not going anywhere.

We hunkered down by the stove, reading and playing cards.

Cozy in the storm

We just enjoyed the time in quiet ways.

Earlier in the month, we finished our threshing chores.

Bob helps with his first threshing

We now have our annual stock of beans (aka protein) all ready for use.

Sieving lettuce seeds 

We cleaned the lettuce seeds that we saved.

Howling Mob sweet corn

And cleaned the sweet corn seeds. We like to grow this variety and it is very hard to find. There is only one source that I know of that still sells it. Since no one knows when they may decide to drop it from their listings, it makes a great deal of sense to save our own seeds.

Besides working on our chores, we've been pursuing the Renewal Time part of the month. In addition to reading and resting,

A new piece for spring

I've been working on a new hardanger project and practicing my harp. I'm a SLOW learner, but I am persistent, at any rate.

 We've also been busy with medical appointments. Due to the pandemic and Bob's subsequent increased work schedule, we fell behind in our Well Adult checks. Now we're trying to catch up. Gone are the days when this could be done in one, or even two visits. At our age, it involves many tests and each one needs a separate appointment somewhere else. Additionally, scheduling these appointments can literally take months. By the time you finish one round, it's time to start all over again!! All that being said, so far, so good for both of us.

Bob is enjoying his retirement. He likes the change. The first change we made was to move our morning alarm from 4:30 am to 5:00 am. That's very nice. We also can eat supper a little earlier. We like that because we have more time to digest it before bed, and we get a bit more evening to enjoy.

He's been relaxing, reading, and helping me more with the routine household chores.

One of his goals is to become more consistent in his exercise routine. Since I've a longstanding (29 year!) practice of daily (weekday) walking and afternoon yoga, he has decided to latch onto this structure. He joins me on the daily walk. For now he has to walk at a slower pace and for less distance, but hopes to build up on both counts over time. In the afternoon, while I'm doing my yoga practice, he does a tai chi practice, which he prefers. Again, it's a dedicated time and is honored as important.

Other things that he's done, are to finalize the porch plans, prepare the tax returns as much as possible at this time and is planning out new mushrooms that he wants to grow. He's expanding his mushroom garden. Just a fun-guy, after all.

Winter tree Identification walk

Another thing he wants to do is to be better acquainted with our winter trees. He's been reading up on this and his first Cornell Retiree newsletter told about a local Winter Tree ID Walk. So, we went on that at the end of January. It was very basic, but a nice day to get out.

Within the next moon cycle, I'll begin some of my seeds and we will begin turning toward spring.

To prepare for spring, we'll spend some of our time examining our lives to see what needs to be cleared away to allow for new growth. Everything is on the table; possessions, habits, beliefs, and thought patterns. It's an annual "housecleaning" of sorts. Sometimes the "delete" list is long, sometimes short. It's the examining and acting that makes the difference. It helps us live consciously and purposefully. It helps us remain centered and at peace.

It's a very worthwhile discipline that I highly recommend. 

Till next time,

Kathleen and Bob

Flowers to brighten January