Nothing Gold Can Stay - SOOC

Nothing Gold Can Stay

by Robert Frost

Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold,

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

Many many years ago an ancestor on my grandfather's side of the family was friends with Robert Frost who gave this man a book of his poetry.  It stayed in the family and was passed down to my grandfather.  Sadly, about 50 years ago a fire encompassed their farm home and all was lost, no casualties, but the book went the way of the house.  So sad, it would be such a treasure indeed.

This photo was taken early October in my yard.  This I am contributing to SOOC.  See more Straight Out of the Camera shots here:  http://www.murrieta365.com/search/label/SOOC%20Sunday

Shadow Shot Sunday

Happy Halloween everyone! 

Join the fun with our host  Hey Harriet at Shadow Shot Sunday

http://heyharriet.blogspot.com/

ooooh went the wind and out went the lights............

It's coming up Halloween

with witches and goblins

spiders and ghosts

Now tell me please do

Which decor is the most.

The neighbour whose yard is shown below outdoes himself each year.  The web is new and a few other items.  He seems to take great joy in decorating for Halloween.  You may recognize this yard from a previous post.  Here's a closer look:

 Another neighbour dressed up this head with a witch's hat.  In this yard there's a witch by the front door, and a mini-graveyard opposite this head.

This neighbour has a black tarp draped near the entrance to the house. The sidewalk is dotted with pumpkins, headstones and such.

  How scary it would be to walk under this tarp to get your treat.

Can you spot the large spider at the doorway below?  I think the shadow is rather a frightening addition.  Maybe a good addition to Shadow Shot Sunday?

This yard below appeals to the younger children...

oh, maybe disregard that comment.  I see the beheaded skull and other creepy skull but other than that....

Our neighbourhood has gone to the ghouls and goblins!  What is yours doing?

Another look in parting...imagine this at night with eerie tunes and lighting.

Sky Watch Friday

 The full moon (above) arrived a few days too early for Halloween. 

Here's (below) another shot taken just a few moments earlier.

Visit others who capture the skies in Sky Watch Friday.  http://skyley.blogspot.com/

Taking the Fright Outdoors

We started watching the progress on this project and over a few days the home owner

added many interesting touches such as grave sites complete with markers.....

this humongous spider web..............

open house for the haunted home....

 and more frightening touches at the entrance....

until he achieved this effect......

This is the most decorated yard in our neighbourhood.  Each year the owner adds a little something more.  It is eerily lit at night too.  I wonder who enjoys it more, the "designer" or the trick-or-treaters? 

If I remember correctly, he goes all out for Christmas too.

Rather inspiring, in a manner of speaking, don't you think?

Fall Colour Project

 These photos were taken this year in Edmonton.

The river valley, North Saskatchewan River

Above and below, the Legislature Grounds

A glimpse into one of the beds in my garden.  Here you see the autumnal foliage of Summer Wine Ninebark juxtaposed against Brandon cedars.

The colourful foliage of Viburnum, Snowball Bush above.  Below is Virginia Creeper.

Below, the foliage of dwarf gold barberry in juxtaposition with the deep dark shade of purple of Summer Wine Ninebark.

Above sunflower, below leaf of Burr Oak

Above, Muttart Conservatory in the river valley, Edmonton and, below, another shot of the river valley east of Muttart Conservatory.

Above, hidden garden in her finery.

Above, collage of photos taken at the Legislature Grounds.  Below, Amur Maple leaves contrasted against the rock near our waterfall/pond.

Above, mountain ash berries.

Above, Swedish Aspen leaves beginning to turn colour and below, Ohio Buckeye.

  Above, amur maple and below mums in sale display.

This is an assortment of fall colour in the Edmonton, Alberta region for the 2010 Fall Color Project.  See more colour and join in to celebrate the season here:

http://www.growingthehomegarden.com/2010/09/fall-color-project-2010.html

CBC News - Toronto - High winds, heavy rains hit Ontario

CBC News - Toronto - High winds, heavy rains hit Ontario

Weather Bomb!

This satellite image depicts the weather bomb over our country.  Its impact is felt most heavily in eastern Canada while the western provinces have had snow and below normal temperatures.  See http://www.accuweather.com/canada-maps-satellite.asp?partner=accuweather&traveler=0&site=canm&type=ir&anim=1&large=0 for real time tracking of this weather system.

I heard this weather term for the first time, that I recall, this morning as I was watching the local weather forecast.  On the screen was a satellite picture much like the one above and viewers were introduced to the system as a term in meteorology known as a weather bomb!  A what? you say and I thought. 

Canada is in the grips of a winter weather system otherwise being called a "weather bomb".  Eastern Canada, especially the Great Lakes area, is more heavily affected.  The western provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and to an extent British Columbia are feeling the affects of this system with snow and temperatures considerably lower than the norms for this time of year.

Nor'easters/cyclones/weather bombs
An Extratropical cyclone, a kind of cyclone, (also known as "cyclones", "European windstorms", "nor'easters", and "mid-latitude cyclones")  is a large weather area of low pressure with rain and wind and clouds. It isn't similar to tropical cyclones or low-pressure weather areas from cold polar places. They are several masses of cold and warm fronts which produce rain, heavy wind, and sometimes hail and tornadoes.  Sometimes Extratropical cyclones derive from weak tropical cyclones that don't die when they move over cold water. At times, these weather areas can become even stronger than previous as they become Extratropical cyclones. When derived from tropical cyclones, they can still have an eye (a spot in the middle of a tropical cyclone that is calmer with less wind, cloud, or rain). European windstorms at times are made when wind from the northwestern part of the Atlantic take them east and north towards Europe.  Northeastern North America is often hit with nor'easters, typically when it is cold, and generally in late fall. Wind from western Atlantic shifts them north. They strengthen, delivering snow on the areas it envelopes. When a nor'easter drops in pressure and becomes more intense, by more than one millibar every hour, it is known as a weather bomb.

This explains the snow we received starting Sunday First Snow and the chilling temperatures! I am glad to see the weather bomb is lifting, at least here.  This afternoon the clouds broke and the sun shone, though it did little to warm anything.  -6 Celsius.  In October.  Now that's a bomb!

 
Check the following links for more stories about the weather bomb:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/10/26/toronto-weather.html
http://news.sympatico.cbc.ca/local/on/weather_bomb_heads_for_southern_ontario/306651ab

Watery Wednesday in my Garden

Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn.  ~Elizabeth Lawrence

Take the plunge http://www.waterywednesday.blogspot.com/

November To Do List

•Purchase plant and pet friendly ice melt and use as necessary to keep walks clear of ice.

•Keep walks clear of snow and shovel extra onto flower, shrub and tree beds for insulation.

•Keep birdfeeders filled.  Add suet feeders to trees or make your own.

•Order garden and seed catalogues.

•Go through garden journals and photos and plan projects for the next year.

•If you haven't already installed burlap barriers around, but not wrapped, cedars and tender evergreens, do so now.