very icy times

     YES, there has been a lengthy and damaging ice storm in Kentucky.! I still don't have electricity at home, so this blog is being put together at the home of friends in Morehead -- night three.  I don't mind the cold or the isolation at home, but it's a worry not to be able to have a working phone or keep food frozen in the freezer.  On the other hand, I'm fortunate to have water there, and great neighbors.

    I love some of the photos I have made during this time. I wish everyone could have a warm and dry place to be, with food and water.  We all sure have to do a better job managing our resources, and preparing for the on-going changes in weather patterns!!

ENJOY --

The thrill of actually seeing the sun, even if only briefly!

Then there's the time honored delight of imagining the sun...

early days of the storm

 

Thank you dear neighbors, out checking on neighbors.  I loved our snowy visit!!

Spending time in the car, under the carport, to charge up the iPhone,

and the view from the driver's seat during the charging, seeing some of the pond past the snow, and the tire tracks from the Rhino....

 

from inside

another time sitting in the car

that same ex-Christmas tree, now a tree for the birds, from inside the house

riding the ridge to go to town for a warmer night and internet time

The next day, on the ridge again, after going to the house to check the pipes and get some clean clothes. 

    So many thanks, Tom and Molly, for taking me in from the cold, despite how very well I thought I was managing. It's indeed much better, however, to have access to your working telephone and wi-fi, if needed, and then there are the feasts that keep appearing!! Tonight was, for me, a very thanks-giving dinner.  

    Now the hour is late, so more next week.  I am so conscious of all the many people who are not equipped to be in a good situation during this cold winter time. Please be safe while we all wait for spring.

gardens everywhere I look

post #294
     Today is a checking in with the gardens I see around me. So many. I don't have a garden  this year because I couldn't deal with the deer problem at this time. Next year this place will have a big garden, I am sure.
     SO, here and there, gardens, gardens. Yesterday I had my first annual bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich, with lots of mayo, and the tomato was from nearby neighbors. (See first photo) Thanks, Tammy!  I have written poems about BLTs; I don't eat much bacon the rest of the year.

           We went to visit Sandy and Junie's chickens and rabbits, and I took a few photos of their hilltop garden, with three sessions of corn - newly planted, stalks in waiting, and almost ready ears on the tallest rows. Good luck distracting the raccoons!

This photo was made earlier in the visit, with my shadow for fun. This also shows what a difference light makes when a photo is taken!

Here's a garden where horses used to graze. This home's garden used to be across the road, the one we take to drive to town.

     For a book project, I needed a photo of an apple orchard, so I went searching for one. Indeed I found a house, barn, young and old apple trees, and a garden, too. Here are three views, taken from the roadside that curves up and around their farm:

    Then there is George and Margie's garden. I have shared photos from here other years. I caught this in the morning, when the light was good, and I don't think they were home.  But they have given me permission to take photos any time I can. I rarely get going early enough to catch them actually working in their magnificant garden.

again corn, for now and for later

tomatoes, beets and beans

beets close-up

Turning my back on the garden, I took a photo of fields next door, so to speak, newly mowed.

This is a garden of sorts, at Morehead's recycling center -- I love it! This grove of black-eyed susans comes up every year in the patch between the cardboard bins and the delivery entrance.  All on their own. I was hoping to see it this year, and I did! I am grateful for the hard work the center does to make our community healthier.

        I hope everyone has had some fresh garden produce to enjoy this July!!  Enjoy the beauty, too.  I will end with a photo of the wonders of family who have spent the past week here growing, like a beautiful garden.  Well, maybe beautiful is the wrong adjective for the gang in this photo.... even though it is my best photo of the week.

in honor of the first frost

post #253
       Last night, tonight and tomorrow night: frost on the pumpkins (if I had any) and death to those invisible chiggers who have bothered me up until this last day of them.  Enough already!
       I happened to call my neighbor, Ethel, two days ago for information about her piano tuner, but it turns out they no longer have their piano.  What they do have is string beans.  Several varieties of beans, in fact. She had been putting some up that day.  Even though they have an enormous High Tunnel Greenhouse, a serious frost could do some damage, so I decided to go right over there to check it out. They live "over the cliff," as we say, and driving there feels exactly like that is what is happening! It is beautiful, as long as no one else is driving out while I am driving in....

        The plants themselves are spectacular, growing way taller than I can reach, and I am tall!  There are "purple beans", which came from Sandy and Junie, the kind of bean that turns green when cooked but starts out looking very purple. The proper name for them has kind of gotten lost along the way of yearly sharing them around:

       Ethel told me the names of the other beans they grow, but today I am just calling them beautiful beans. I am sure they will be able to get some more "messes of beans" before we settle into full blown nightly frosts.

Ethel closing the "back door" to keep the chickens and cats out, and the warm air in

daily record of when and what was watered

The chickens moved to the wood pile... They do have their own house next door....

Back at the house, there are other signs that the time has come to change seasons:

 


 A deer path on the bank by the driveway

I'd like to thank Seth and Tom for their great work this summer holding down the green growth around here, with mower and with weed eater.  Today was the last cut.  It looks so green, since the frost has disappeared for the day.  I can't quite imagine all the snow that might cover it between now and the first mow of the spring.  

Before signing off, as a photographer, I want to mention a book I just finished reading, Hold Still, by the award winning photographer and writer Sally Mann.  I wasn't sure I would like it, but it was recommended by Jennifer Reis, an artist friend who somehow manages to read, read, read. I was amazed by the way the photos and words were so naturally interwoven, and how straight forward and strong she is in her writing.  I am not necessarily a fan of her work, but I found the shaping of the story so very compelling.  And the cover is fantastic: 

I am grateful for bits of beauty here and there throughout the year.

back to France and a weekly market, in May

post #198
        During my recent trip to France, I spent my first two days with close friends in Rennes.  The first morning I was there, they were willing to take me to a small neighborhood open market, one of the features to love about France.  My friends had already laid in a generous number of culinary treasures, so they were not needing to buy anything!  The huge well-known weekly market in the center city is only on Saturdays, and I was there on a Tuesday.
       I am just going to download a bunch of images, some with titles if there is something to explain.  Otherwise, just get out your francs and think about what you would like to be able to buy if you were there.  Merci beaucoup!

Here are my friends, standing by patiently while I explore and snap my photos....

 

There was a bit of drizzle that morning, and some discomfort perhaps from a stranger with a camera.  I asked permission when I could, and always got it.

My friends know this merchant, so I took these three photos for her.  But she is fast, works hard, and never had an extra moment to "pose"!

The carrots with sand, and the potatoes, too, are to show they were grown in actual sand. They tell the world that therefore they are of a higher quality.

These merchants are very proud of the quality of their offerings. They were glad I was taking the photo.

A second fish monger shows off his crabs and shrimp,

and uses a side counter to prepare more fish for sale.

CHEESE, knives but, sadly, I didn't get a good photo of the nice guy behind the counter.

What is a French anything without very fresh BREAD, much of it sold by the time we got there.

      
        I am actually finishing up today's post by using the wifi at a McDonald's in California, with the final game of the WORLD CUP SOCCER TOURNAMENT, almost over, on the TV, and everyone nearby speaking Spanish.  Maybe this isn't the best combination of place and topic, but I am glad I finally have this chance to share these photos.  I don't often make photos specifically for my blog like I did that morning in France. 
       So, for now, adios -- and I hope one of the teams soon wins this big deal match!  Oh, and bon appetit....