Lots more photos and reflections to come

A We've had a wonderful trip around the Argentinian Lake District, across to Chile and down the Carretera Austral, returning up the Ruta 40 on the Argentina side, now back in Buenos Aires for a few days before returning home. Gravel roads, dust, isolation, fiords, mountains, Valdivian rain forests,...

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Bariloche, Argentina Lake District, Patagonia

View from Cerro CampanarioPosted with Blo...

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A wish for a greener 2015

I wish you and yours a wonderful and bountiful New Year!!A frosty reddish leaf lettuce.Winter vegetablesHere in Florida, even here in North Florida where we receive several killing frosts each winter, we can grow most cool weather crops right through the winter. In most of the country, gardeners spend...

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Speaking out

Senator Rob Bradley and me.The 2014 Clay County Delegation hearingEach year the 3 elected officials to the Florida legislature representing Clay County—a senator and 2 representatives—hold a hearing before the legislative session begins. This year the committee work begins in January and the general...

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Journeying

I went on a wonderful trip a couple of years ago to visit naturalistic gardens in Germany.  (This group of posts reflects on that trip and beyond).Traveling solo creates a different experience than traveling with others, and I've thoroughly enjoyed it, spending reflective time as well as active...

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Winter

This is a good time of the year, for me, as we move through the "holiday season" and pass through the Winter Solstice, in the Northern Hemisphere. Here in the Southeastern U.S., we have 4 distinct seasons, to be sure, but winter isn't normally too difficult, unless you're high up in the mountains (Southern Appalachians). Many of you, who might read this, are in MUCH farther northern areas than...

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More holiday thoughts

This is really another test Blogsy post.Here's Woody on the trail. It's hard to leave him at home, when we're traveling, but he's always in good hands. Posted with BlogsyGeez, it actually worked!...

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Christmas lights

I was reminded, thinking about Christmas, and traveling to come, and various places that we've been over the holidays - of the wonderful lights in Lecce, in Southern Italy some years back.They were magical, above the streets of the old town's (now) pedestrian walkways.&nb...

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Traveling over winter break

Holidays are interesting times. We're heading off on Friday for three weeks of traveling, and I've been making sure everything is "battened down" here at home, etc. with house-sitters, mail and newspapers held, plant care instructions, and bills paid in advance, etc. etc.It's a familiar dance,...

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Woody's perch

I thought I had some better photos of Woody's perch.  He looks so delightful when we return from dinner or an outing without him (not frequent....)A rescue boy, with an affinity for getting into trouble (think cat poop, decomposing debris, etc., with resulting MAJOR digestive issues, and expensive...

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Connecting with nature through art

I've had a great time tip-toeing back into doing art that connects me with nature.  Nature has been a touchstone for me, although art (aside from photography) has been absent for a long time.Doing watercolor classes has been great fun recently, and helping me get through some of the "art blocks"...

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Traveling

I'm fussing around this evening trying to make sure that I remember how Blogsy works, with its tricky interfaces with photos, Picasa, etc.It's the best option for blog posting on an iPad, still, apparently. I first used it 2 years ago in Germany, then a bit in the Caribbean.In Colombia last winter,...

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Wonderful fall color

The fall color just continues -- it's surprising. Maybe the mild weather has held the brilliant red leaves of the oak leaf hydrangeas still?Here's what they looked liked a couple of weeks ago, and have the upper leaves echoing this still.And the blueberry leaves have turned a lovely scarlet color, too....

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Japanese persimmons

I should have persimmons to harvest about now, but don't, thanks to some sort of voracious herbivore (the fruits would have been VERY astringent when they disappeared.The small tree that had produced them came with us to the Piedmont over twenty years ago.  I've written about that journey and its...

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A wonderful witch hazel

The witch hazel in the front is in full flower now.  It's beautiful.  My camera is "in the shop" so I'm just imprinting what it looks like to memory.The beautiful fall color of the leaves (a buttery yellow) are lovely, and now past, but what's wonderful now is the flowers --they festoon the...

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French Broad views

There's a lovely trail up along the Deer Park Trail at the Biltmore Estate.  It starts at the lagoon and goes up to the Walled Garden and the "house."We had a lovely hike there this morning, so I remembered these views from earlier in fall, on a similar hike.There were a couple of red-headed woodpeckers...

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Winter views and sculptural trees

The winter views have become amazing in the mountains.  The clear air, trees sculpturally outlined in the distance.  Wonderful.I'd posted about this tree some years ago.Happily, I'm still enjoying the view of it, along the horizon as I walk up past the visitor center and towards the bridge...

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Late fall view

 I've spent a lot of time in my study lately, proofing final book copy.  One of the joys was seeing the oak-leaf hydrangea next to the porch turn a vivid scarlet.They don't always do that.  This one has been happy in the almost total shade, and even though slow-growing, has thrived.view...

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Yard critters

A green treefrog (Hyla cinerea) jumped out of the beggar ticks (Bidens alba) that I had pulled from the front garden.A bagworm (Oiketicus abbotii) is overwintering on a beautyberry bush.Managing exuberance carefullyI allow some beggar ticks (Bidens alba) and snow squarestem (Melanthera nivea) to...

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Waterfalls and wildflowers

I'm fortunate to live in a wonderful part of the world -- our ancient mountains are rich in biodiversity of all sorts.  And we're blessed with an abundance of waterfalls, too, throughout the mountains.So I'm just thrilled to see the final copy of my gardening companion's second book, Waterfalls...

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It's been a wonderful fall

The cold and wind is pushing out the last fall leaves, but I'm reminded of what wonderful fall color that we've had in the Southeastern U.S.The maples just went on and on and on.view from Biltmore terraceI was reminded about how beautiful it's been, as I looked back through some recent photograp...

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Large numbers of buzzards

There's been a large flock of buzzards coming through at sundown for the last two days.  They swirl around in long, looping circles, as they slowly progress onwards.  Curious.  There are upwards of 20 in the group.We speculate about whether they're roosting nearby?I'm thinking that I...

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