Saturday Field Trip

Saturday Morning we joined members of our garden club at the Seymore Conservatory at Wright Park in Tacoma.

It is a wonderful old Victorian glass house built in 1908, and is home to many interesting tropical plants. It's a great place to visit during the cold, dark months. 

I didn't take many photos, but I was attracted to a few unusual blooming things and seed pods. 

                   

This Google phone app is a great plant identifier. 

Ginger seed pods.

Then while the rest of the garden club went to lunch, we went off to some nurseries in search of some greens to add to our home supply of wreath making greens. 

Of course we did make a Starbucks stop along the way.

We found the new location for Windmill Nursery and the juniper we wanted. Then we went to Watsons, where we checked out their Christmas greens as well as their Christmas shop. 

I didn't take photos of all of the decorated trees and didn't buy anything except two bunches of Incense  Cedar.

This week we are making wreaths. We made one for us on Sunday, as I practiced to refresh my wreath making skills.

The wreath is mixed greens with juniper and incense cedar berries. 

Today, Tuesday, I made a wreath for SIL Jan, who will be hosting Thanksgiving. Tomorrow, Wednesday, Isaac and his girl friend Seila, and Jake will come to make wreaths. Next Saturday Irene will come to make her wreath for her apartment door in Bellingham. That will all be another post. 

Tomorrow I will be baking pumpkin pies and making cranberry sauce. Thanksgiving is almost here!

Happy Thanksgiving! May your blessings be too many to count. 

Keeping the Home Fires Burning

 

We enjoyed our first of the season fireplace fires this last weekend. It will also soon be the last of the autumn decorations, as they will be changed out for Christmas decor after Thanksgiving. 

Outside the last of the leaves are coming down and Tom will mow up the ones on the lawn. 

We are still a ways off from the first frost, more rain on the way instead, so there are still roses. 

We've been trying to figure out our computer/internet issues, but we have exhausted all possibilities aside from maybe buying a new laptop, so I'll just resign myself to the slow process of getting my laptop on line since everything else is working.

This morning we had to get up early to make it to an 8:00 appointment at the KP Medical Center through heavy commuter traffic. I will be scheduled for finger surgery to remove a ganglion cyst on my left hand, "sometime in about three months". That's how medical things go now. 

I have been fortunate to spend some time with my guys this week. Jake was here yesterday, come to use our desktop computer to write a report for his medical team. When you are neurodivergent it is hard to get across to some of your service providers what actually will work to assist you in getting  employment with the right accommodations. They want to "fix" what can't be fixed instead of understanding and providing for your differences. It is frustrating. Anyway we had some good conversations and I know more about my 50 year old son than I have for a long while. I cooked a pot roast and roasted vegetables and he stayed for dinner. 

Today Isaac came over after his work shift at Boeing to help Tom put up the Christmas lights on the house. 

I went for my walk at the park while they worked and they had the lights up and on when I got back home. I can't show you them yet though because no lights until Thanksgiving night. 

We talked about making wreaths, so Tom and I will be gathering wreath materials. Cookie making is also still a requirement, as is fruitcake, so I will have my jobs lined up in the coming days. That will keep me busy and out of trouble. That's good, I guess. I will have plenty of help, but the organizing does always fall to "the Mom", at least until I say no more. None of us are ready for that. 

I guess I didn't  mention that last Friday I spent more than enough at Safeway to get a free turkey. The turkey is in the freezer and will go to Jill on Friday. She will be cooking it at Jan's, where we
will gather in Gig Harbor for Thanksgiving. And I have almost all of my baking supplies for all of the Christmas baking. 

The Holidays are almost upon us!. 

Underfoot

 

It rained last night, and it will rain tonight, and it will rain off and on for days to come, but this morning was a perfect day for a walk in the park. 

I haven't been having much fun lately. Last week on Tuesday I had a root canal that was complicated and took almost two hours. Then my jaw has been sore for a week. Two days later I was back in the dentist chair to have my permanent crown put on that tooth. OK, done with that.

But no. Friday night I was using a gum massaging tool that the dentist gave me and off popped an old crown an the other side of my jaw. 

I got an appointment for the next Tuesday morning, so I couldn't go with Tom and Jake to Whidbey Island for the day. At least at the dentist they were able to use the old crown - no complications. 

On the way home I stopped at the store and bought myself a piece of chocolate mousse cake. I needed a treat.

Then after a late lunch, I went outside and cleaned off the patio. 

As you can see this morning's walk featured gold underfoot. It was lovely, and I listened to my favorite John Denver music in my hearing aids as I walked my mile plus. 

Tom said he had a job for me to do today but he couldn't remember what it was. Too bad. 

I have mailed a card to my brother, who will be 75 next week, and have started the pork stewing that will be the base for pozole for dinner.  

During the last week we have worked in the back yard. I cut the edges of the lawn and we both picked up. Today Tom is finishing up the island bed in the lawn. It's all looking very trim. Tom mowed/mulched the leaves on the lawn and they make a pretty mulch in the bed.

Wood is stacked in the garage for our first fire in the fireplace, the remedy for cold November rain. 

I can chew on both sides of my mouth again! Things are looking up. And looking down there is lingering beauty all around. 

Fall Is Falling

We had some dark stormy days this past week, and I have been having a lot of uncomfortable dental work, so I was happy to get outside in sunshine for a few hours this Saturday morning.

The autumn leaves have been glorious this year. In our garden the dogwoods and maples have been going through their color changes, each tree at its own pace. I have seen the same sequences in the trees over at the park where I walked when it was dry.

In the back yard, the red Japanese maple, the Korean dogwood, and another red maple. maple. 

In the front yard, the Fern leaf Full Moon Maple and another Korean Dogwood. 
 

And now this weekend the leaves are falling and forming a colorful carpet under the trees. 

Over at the park.

Yesterday Tom picked a rose, maybe not the last rose of summer, but close, and a perfect accompaniment to my grocery store bouquet of mums in autumn leaf colors. 

We'll be back outside again Sunday morning, grabbing all of the Autumn beauty we can before the rains return again.