Autumn

It is a grey blustery autumn day. The wind seems determined to tear the last of the leaves from the trees. I thought I would share a couple of photos I took in the garden and just down the road.

Can you see how the wind is blowing through the hasel?

Tried to get a good photo of these rose hips, but the wind just kept moving them around.

Just autumn goodness.

The pear tree is already bare, save for a few stray hasel leaves, caught in the branches.

No words needed.

The birch is still clinging to the last leaves.

The woods look dark and somber, the hops gardens are empty.

 This really looks like November, doesn't it?

Kiki joined me down at the field.

The last rose.

First frost

This morning, everything was coated with crystals. We had our first frost last night.

 

 

The leaves are all falling off the trees at once.

 

My husband has been cutting down trees in the forest, for our wood supply in one or two years. It will take that long for the wood to be sufficiently dry to burn. These logs still need to be cut into stove sized pieces.

 Just look at these gorgeous lichens, growing on one of the branches. Guess we have clean air in our rural area. Lichen is generally a sign of unpolluted air.

Sunday - but not a flea market post

"All the leaves are brown, and the sky is grey..."

 
Well, the leaves are not all brown, not really. But the weather has turned, it has been drizzling for 2 days and the temperatures dropped to around 8°C (around 46°F). Drab cold weather. I am glad we have the wood all stacked in the shed. The cats have all decided to turn into house cats again. There is something so cozy about seeing a cat curled up, happily asleep.

While it is Sunday, there were no really interesting flea markets taking place today, so I decided to stay home. Sorry - no flea market treasures today!

But I can share a couple of new pieces with you.
A necklace featuring one of Nan's (Spirit Rattles) beautiful ceramic hands. I combined it with bone, new jade, picasso jasper and a resin rose bead, all in muted shades of aged ivory to match the glaze of the hand. And, of course, a vintage mother of pearl button.

You might remember I brought home some moss samples a couple of weeks ago. Well, I was playing with resin and a couple of moss fronds found their way into some copper cups. Somehow, these make me think of mairedodd's inner sanctum.

Like a puddle of clear rain water in the woods, with submerged moss.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Sunday!

Goodbye to Ghost - but I am sure I will see her again

I found out where Ghost belongs and she went home today.

Yesterday, the weather was too wonderful and I was being inspired by some fall colour combinations. Now I am trying to think of a way to use these colours in my jewelry...

First fall inspiration

I just wanted to thank all of you for your sweet and inspiring comments on my wing necklaces. I am humbled by your generous praise. Thank you so very much!!

Those bright red rose hips out in the garden has gotten me inspired. Not that I have totally let go of those last summer days (in fact, I have something in the works right now), but the rose hips called out to me.
And this bracelet just happened.

Sponge coral, picasso jasper, serpentine, citrine, calcite, glass and copper. With a length of extra chain, this would also look good as a necklace.

Got to get back to some wings...

Still too cold

Does anyone know what this prickly thing is????

Well, most of you live in North America, so you wouldn't recognize it - it is a hedgehog! More particularly, it is a baby hedgehog.


He doesn't want to get too close to me.

He is still very small. That is not good in the light of this cold weather. Hedgehogs hibernate in the winter. This means they have to have a good store of body fat to carry them through the winter. They eat insects, slugs, frogs, toads and will also eat young mice, eggs or birds, if they come across them. They have very sharp teeth (believe me!) and are protected by law in Germany. Their greatest enemy is traffic, as their main protective strategy is to curl up into a very spikey ball and just wait. Or run. They are not necessarily as slow as the fables would have you believe, but they are no match for a car. They are so protected by law, that if you find an injured or sick hedgehog, you are required to take it in and care for it, or to bring it to a humane society or nursing station (people that have made it a personal cause to care for hedgehogs that are in need). However, it is prohibited to keep them as pets. To make it through winter successfully, hedgehogs should weigh about 1 kg when going into hibernation. They wake up considerably lighter.
I didn't weigh this little one, but I don't think he weighs more than 150 g at the most.

Here he is next to a dish of some cat food. You can see how small he still is. Hedgehogs love cat food. In the fall and even sometimes in spring, I find a hedgehog on my doorstep eating out of Casanova's dish. I do often put out a dish for them, so that they will be ready for hibernation.
But in some years, it gets cold too early. Or the young ones are born too late in the season. Then I have to take one of these little guys in. If I'm lucky, the weather will get mild again and after giving him a bit of "catch up", I can let him back out. In other years, I will find a little guy late in November or even in December, that will not make it on his own. So I take him in. I have an used rabbit cage (from the flea market - where else?) that serves as home. A box with lots of paper and tissue to make a nest (they are actually night active), lots of newspaper and wood shavings to soak up their mess and a bowl for water and for food. They behave like pigs, which is probably the reason for the hog in the name. Their digestion is fantastic (yuck!) and they eat like there is no tomorrow. Good thing they love cat food, I always have enough of that. Oh yeah, they are also full of fleas and ticks (make mental note to go get some of that Neem spray)!

I left this little one outside, they are predicting a rise in temperatures for the coming week. But I will be keeping my eyes open. If necessary, I will take him in and feed him until he has the right weight. Maybe even keep him all winter, watching over his hibernation. Wouldn't be the first time.


Honestly, look at that face! How can I help it?

Edited: Barbara was wondering how I would catch him, if necessary. That is the easy part - they just curl up into a ball of spikes, protecting their face and soft underbelly. You put your gloves on and pick them up. I guess this is part of the reason it is illegal to keep them a pets, they are so easy to catch. But most people are not aware of their diet necessities, thinking they are more like rabbits. Which couldn't be further from the truth.

On another note - yesterday evening, Socks caught a bat. Seems she was quite in tune with the Halloween feeling. Talk about what the cat drags in!! Poor little guy!

Sorry, no flea market treasures today. It was raining cats and dogs this morning - which usually means, extremely meager pickings at the flea market. So we stayed home.

Halloween season

There are Halloween parties going on this weekend in blogland! Although I am not having a party, I thought I would show a bit of my witchy side today. Anything to avoid thinking about the dreary cold and rain outside...

This lovely witch was a gift from Max, many moons ago.

My speedster broom - this one is much shorter that a regular broom, making it perfect for flying in the city. Back when I lived in the city, that is.

a yummy real pumpkin and one made of metal, so that I have one all year.

more yummy pumpkins - I get hungry just looking at these. And they will land in the pot eventually.

and wouldn't you know it, the mice are watching... these are very vintage and I have to keep them where my cats don't get at them! At least these don't nibble my gingerbread house!

The "S" word

looking out the window yesterday afternoon


outside just after dark yesterday evening
It's too early for this - someone, please, make it go away!!!

Captain is bringing his "friends" inside to play again - it's no fun outside in the cold and wet, I guess!

Winter left her calling card

It was cold last night. Real cold. When I left the house this morning, it was 1°C. My car were all covered in frost. Not that easy to stratch away kind, no, the kind that really takes some muscle to remove. The car looked like it was covered with great big frosty fronds of farn. During the day we had several snow flurries. Nothing serious, it won't stay on the ground yet. But it is early this year. I'm not ready for winter yet.
My cats are spending alot of time in the house lately. They are restless, but they don't stay outside for long. Apparently, they are not ready for the cold yet either.

I know some of you are glad the weather is finally getting a bit cooler. All a matter of latitude, I guess.

Preparing for the cold season

I ache and I'm not moving very fast today. Indian Summer is over and the days will not be very warm from now on. We need to heat the house. I hear you ask: where's the problem - just turn on the furnace?
Well, we live in a very old farmhouse - we don't know for sure, but we're guessing about 130 years old. It has, of course, undergone changes during the decades, but it is still an old house. It does not have a furnace. We installed a stovelike apparatus in the kitchen, which heats the ground floor of the house; like a central heating system. It pumps hot water through the pipes and the heating elements. So far, so good. This stove is a wood fired stove. Which means - we need wood for heating. So every year, we need to fill our wood shed with wood (Yes, I do really live out in the country, way out in the country). Yesterday our firewood was delivered (more like, dumped in our driveway), the forecast was predicting rain and we were moving the wood into the shed and stacking it. Want to see what approximately 20 cubic meters of firewood look like? See below:




Well, now my back and my legs are aching a bit, but I will be able to keep the house warm.
On a lighter note (much lighter, believe me!), here are some fall impressions around the house.




We did go to the flea market this morning (before hauling in the last bit of wood; it did start to pour yesterday, so we covered the remaining wood pile with a tarp), but didn't find any treasures. Better luck hunting next time.

On my way to work this morning

This stopped me in my tracks this morning - what a sight!

More fall impressions

This morning the sun was coming up through the mist again, looking like a big red ball of fire (now that I think of it, it IS a big ball of fire) and I couldn't resist. Anyone that has seen enough "sunrise in the mist", please move on to the next interesting blog!



Love the glow of the sun reflecting on the clouds here!



When I drove off to work a few minutes later, I drove directly into the fog.
Had to stop and take more photos!


More fall impressions on the way home.

Early morning pictures in the early fall

We have a lot of early morning fog and mist this time of year. When I looked out this morning, I saw the sun shining through the mist in the most lovely way and had to get my camera.






These pictures were all taken within a few short minutes. I love the way the light changes and gets more intense. I took about 50 pictures, but since they are all rather similar (I was trying to get some good shots with the birds in the bushes. I was thinking of you, Sharon!) I just picked out a couple of them to show. I think I need to get the paints out again...