2014 Reading Challenges: FINAL POST

This year was one of mixed blessings.

It was a difficult one health wise, but that actually resulted in my having more time to read.

It has been a difficult year for so many people, and my complaints are minor compared to most. I hope to go forward into this new year being mindful of this and looking for ways to make my world a little bit better for my having passed through.

Below are links to my 2014 Reading Challenges and the final posts.

New Years Resolution Challenge 2014   {Final Post}
Mental Illness advocacy Reading Challenge 2014   {Final Post}
Dive Into Poetry: A Reading Challenge   {Final Post}

These Challenges are all on the same post and my thoughts will be there {That post is HERE}.

2014 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge.
2014 Audiobook Challenge.
2014 ebook Challenge.
I Love Library Books Reading Challenge 2014.
2014 Women Challenge.

These Challenges are perpetual.

Kinsey Millhone Reading Challenge  {My Link}
The Stephen King Challenge: A Perpetual Reading Challenge  {My Link}
The Nero Wolfe Not-so-Mini Challenge  {My Link}

These challenges ended before I could complete them, but I continued on to try and reach the goals anyway. I completed the first, but I believe it will be a while longer for the second.

• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Book Challenge 2012. {My Link} (COMPLETED 1/4/14)
• The Dark Tower Reading Challenge. {My Link}

I don't really make New Year's Resolutions any more. But if I did, this would be the one. 

This is how I would like to spend the bulk of my year. 

Anyone else?

Saturday Farmer's Market - Winter Wonderland

Created by Heather at Capricious Reader, and now hosted by Chris at Stuff as Dreams are Made on.

The Saturday Farmer's Market posts have been non existent for quite a few weeks due to injury and chronic illness. My yard, which is mostly orchard and garden now, looks a bit wild and abandoned at the moment. But there are still quite a few gems scattered throughout.




But before I start . . .

Here I am decorating Christmas cookies with the grandkids.

I worked my fingers to the bone preparing for the holidays.

I planted two small packets of Marigolds in the spring and harvested about a quarter of the resulting seed.

I moved my pots to that area for the fall and winter only to see fallen seed sprouted all around the pots.

The Morning Glories that covered the cooler came back as well, but as we had our first frost last night, they will not be blooming.

So far, they are the only frost damage.

My first fall bulbs, Snow Drops, are beginning to bloom.

Since California rarely gets actual snow . . .

My large Rose bushes

are still blooming.

Floribundas are wonderful.

This little one was a Christmas present from the Birds.

At two feet high, it is the smallest Sunflower I've ever grown.

Here I am taking a few moments to rest with my cat 'Joon-bug.'

Most of my Poppies didn't make it through the summer, but a few did.

Even when I couldn't make it outside I was still able to do some work in the 'conservatory.'

I'll share more about it at a later date.

And finally, some artwork.

A fallen leaf perches on the point of an Agave plant with a backdrop of Lilacs.

Merry Christmas everyone, and May Your Holidays Be Safe and Happy.

                             From My House to Yours

Don't Forget to Leave the Milk and Cookies!

From Our House To Yours . . .

Saturday Farmer's Market - And the Garden Hangs On . . .

Created by Heather at Capricious Reader, and now hosted by Chris at Stuff as Dreams are Made on.

The name of this lovely Rose is Strike it Rich.
(Wouldn't that be lovely?)

These are probably the most numerous Birds in my garden. 

This Lesser Goldfinch says, "Can I help you with something?"

This is the bed I always refer to as the Grass Bed. 

The original Grass didn't make it through last winter, but it didn't look bad so I left it in all Summer.
Big plant sales netted me a Bougainvillaea and some Iceland Poppies, so I finally pulled it out and replaced it.

The Lady Bugs are still working hard.
This little one is sitting on a Rose called Pillow Fight.

I have to say, "What is wrong with this picture?"

Irises and California Poppies - in the fall?

As I was watching out my front door, this Squirrel ran down the sidewalk and into the Crepe Myrtle,
where he sat watching the cat eat his breakfast.
(The cat was not the least bit interested.)

 Hens

 &

 Chicks

 

A Mourning Ringneck Dove eating homegrown Sunflower Seeds out of the newly revamped feeders.

 

Where there is one Mourning Ringneck Dove there is usually another. 

They always visit me as a pair.

 

The Cape Honeysuckle

has more flowers every day.

 And finally, we have a Rose known as Camelot.

Darwin’s Finches
- Deborah Digges

1
My mother always called it a nest,
the multi-colored mass harvested

from her six daughters’ brushes,
and handed it to one of us

after she had shaped it, as we sat in front
of the fire drying our hair.

She said some birds steal anything, a strand
of spider’s web, or horse’s mane,

the residue of sheep’s wool in the grasses
near a fold

where every summer of her girlhood
hundreds nested.

Since then I’ve seen it for myself, their genius—
how they transform the useless.

I’ve seen plastics stripped and whittled
into a brilliant straw,

and newspapers—the dates, the years—
supporting the underweavings.


2
As tonight in our bed by the window
you brush my hair to help me sleep, and clean

the brush as my mother did, offering
the nest to the updraft.

I’d like to think it will be lifted as far
as the river, and catch in some white sycamore,

or drift, too light to sink, into the shaded inlets,
the bank-moss, where small fish, frogs, and insects

lay their eggs.
Would this constitute an afterlife?

The story goes that sailors, moored for weeks
off islands they called paradise,

stood in the early sunlight
cutting their hair. And the rare

birds there, nameless, almost extinct,
came down around them

and cleaned the decks
and disappeared into the trees above the sea.

Saturday Farmer's Market - Nature & Poetry

Created by Heather at Capricious Reader, and now hosted by Chris at Stuff as Dreams are Made on.

It is believed that the "apple" from the Bible was actually a Pomegranate.

I can believe that.

Mine are about the size of softballs.

The Pomegranate
 - Khalil Gibran

Once when I was living in the heart of a pomegranate, I heard a seed
saying, “Someday I shall become a tree, and the wind will sing in
my branches, and the sun will dance on my leaves, and I shall be
strong and beautiful through all the seasons.”

Then another seed spoke and said, “When I was as young as you, I
too held such views; but now that I can weigh and measure things,
I see that my hopes were vain.”

And a third seed spoke also, “I see in us nothing that promises so
great a future.”

And a fourth said, “But what a mockery our life would be, without
a greater future!”

Said a fifth, “Why dispute what we shall be, when we know not even
what we are.”

But a sixth replied, “Whatever we are, that we shall continue to
be.”

And a seventh said, “I have such a clear idea how everything will
be, but I cannot put it into words.”

Then an eight spoke–and a ninth–and a tenth–and then many–until
all were speaking, and I could distinguish nothing for the many
voices.

And so I moved that very day into the heart of a quince, where the
seeds are few and almost silent.

The program I use to crop my photos updated recently, and as all too often happens, it has become far less user friendly. At this point I still can't even do a simple crop. 

The upshot of this is that I have some bird pictures to share with you that will not be very good. 

That being said, here goes . . .

We moved the Bird Bath to the house side of the Fortnight Lily, in the mailbox bed. The plant had grown high enough to obscure the it, and my hose was just barely long enough to fill it. 

There. All better.

When we moved it we found a big toad hunkering down beneath it. (Sorry, forgot to take a picture.) 

I fixed one of my broken pots over him and filled in around it with dirt. 

That should keep him safe until he decides what to do. 

There is plenty of loose dirt in the bed, near the fence and beneath the bird bath. And he has several choices of where to make his home. 

I hope he stays.

At first the birds were mystified. 

They kept going from the fence to the sidewalk and back like they were lost, and chattering among themselves as if to say, "Where'd it go? It was here a little while ago."

Birds aren't generally known for their intelligence. After all, the phrase 'you are such a bird brain' is not a compliment.

They finally figured it out, though, and picked up where they had left off in their revelry.

 

I added larger trays to my feeders to hold the bird seed. I just had to fill the smaller ones too often. 

Now they look like strange flowers in my garden. 

But the birds are very happy.

And after all, isn't that what really counts?

 

This little beauty is a Lesser Goldfinch, 

male, I believe.

In this (lucky) shot, a female Anna's Hummingbird is checking out the Tomatoes.

And here is another of the indigenous creatures, the Fuzzy Traveler, returning to his den.

Toad Dreams
- Marge Piercy

That afternoon the dream of the toads rang through the elms by Little River and affected the thoughts of men, though they were not conscious that they heard it. - Henry Thoreau

The dream of toads: we rarely

credit what we consider lesser

life with emotions big as ours,

but we are easily distracted,

abstracted. People sit nibbling

before television's flicker watching

ghosts chase balls and each other

while the skunk is out risking grisly

death to cross the highway to mate;

while the fox scales the wire fence

where it knows the shotgun lurks

to taste the sweet blood of a hen.

Birds are greedy little bombs

bursting to give voice to appetite.

I had a cat who died of love.

Dogs trail their masters across con-

tinents. We are far too busy

to be starkly simple in passion.

We will never dream the intense

wet spring lust of the toads.

from: Stone Paper Knife. Copyright 1983.

Saturday Farmer's Market - Mum's the Word

Created by Heather at Capricious Reader, and now hosted by Chris at Stuff as Dreams are Made on.

This is just a small part of the Crepe Myrtle bed. We've expanded the bed twice so that most of the lawn is now gone, and I would like to replace what is left of it with some kind of paving. 

The plants are not all native to my area, but they are all drought tolerant. The Bees and Butterflies are happy with the plants, and the Birds are keeping the pests in check. 

My biggest complaint about the bed at this point is that the Lantana, as a tender perennial, dies to the ground over winter and that area it covers is empty. I need some ideas about what to add that will give me some interest in winter. Whatever I put there needs to be drought tolerant, disease and pest resistant, and easy care. That's not too much to ask, is it?

 

I have a new Garden Cat.

Say hello to George, a scrawny old cat with a snaggletooth.

He's calling loudly for breakfast every morning when I turn on the plant lights.

It's nice having company in the garden again, but his knowledge of horticulture is a bit lacking.

There don't seem to have as many Pomegranates as last year. I've read that it is very common for fruit trees to have a heavy year followed by a light one. This year's fruit is quite large, though. Most of them are at least as large as a softball, and some are larger.








The Budleia is growing nicely and very popular with the winged set.








This is my Mint. (It was hard to get a good angle on it.)

I have four different kinds, each in its own pot, even though it looks like one single hedge.

There is Peppermint, Spearmint, Chocolate Mint, and Orange Mint.

Harvest time!

I plan to make Mint Jelly so I'm looking for a good recipe. Does anyone have a family recipe that they'd like to share?

The Chrysanthemums are just a little bit closer to blooming this week.

The Last Chrysanthemum
- Thomas Hardy

Why should this flower delay so long
         To show its tremulous plumes?
Now is the time of plaintive robin-song,
         When flowers are in their tombs.

Through the slow summer, when the sun
         Called to each frond and whorl
That all he could for flowers was being done,
         Why did it not uncurl?

It must have felt that fervid call
         Although it took no heed,
Waking but now, when leaves like corpses fall,
         And saps all retrocede.

Too late its beauty, lonely thing,
         The season's shine is spent,
Nothing remains for it but shivering
         In tempests turbulent.

Had it a reason for delay,
         Dreaming in witlessness
That for a bloom so delicately gay
         Winter would stay its stress?

- I talk as if the thing were born
         With sense to work its mind;
Yet it is but one mask of many worn
         By the Great Face behind.

Saturday Farmer's Market - I'm Pretty Sure It's Autumn Now

Created by Heather at Capricious Reader, and now hosted by Chris at Stuff as Dreams are Made on.

We had some rain this week and it made my garden quite happy.

Nothing about this year has been normal in my garden. Spring started early and kind of slid quietly into Summer. My plants haven't been sure of the seasons at all this year - and they still aren't. That's okay, though. It's still been an adventure.

So, here's what Autumn looks like this week in my garden:

These are my Cherry Tomatoes.

The vine is filling up and I get enough ripe ones for a tasty pasta dish every few days.


(My Sauce Recipe is not too exact but: Heat oil and butter, on low heat, in large pan; add onions, cook until translucent; add chopped garlic & simmer while cutting cherry tomatoes in half & add to pan; simmer 2-3 minutes; add grated parmesan cheese & optional sour cream; salt and pepper to taste. Dump in drained pasta, toss, and serve.)

My Daisies have only had a few blooms at a time, but they've been pretty constant all season.









 

I planted a ton of Marigolds right after the last frost and they looked great among the Onions and Garlic.

After they gave up the ghost I harvested plenty of seed for next year.

But the surprise came when I moved my pots into that area.

As I watered the pots new plants began sprouting, and should look nice until frost time. 

I lost some of my Crepe Myrtle canopy due to a combination of climate change and reliance on help with questionable communication skills.

(Who's passive aggressive?)

Because of this, I'm letting a couple of new suckers grow to replace the butchered limbs - and they're blooming like it's Spring.

That's one of the great things about Crepe Myrtles, there is always a replacement.

Here's one of my "Bee Baths."

Some dollar store finds have been turned into safe drinking for exhausted Bees tired from all their pollen gathering.

This is my Mum.

It helped ring in Spring, and after a long rest, is getting ready to welcome Fall with open arms.








 

My Aloe has given me a ton of young plants.

I just need to pot them all up.

This Fountain Grass was tiny when I planted it this Spring.

Now look at it.







 

I've been pulling up 'volunteer' Tomato plants all Summer, and they just keep coming.

The Kumquats are back this year.

Here's hoping I can nurse them through the Winter and actually get a harvest.








 

Bananas!

No. Not yet.

I got them in the ground late so there will be no fruit this year, but If I can keep them alive over the Winter, we should have some next year.