A Moveable Garden

Weekly recap of my ritual of existence in this liminal space called life. (See here for more info.)

• Weather

Our part of the state is “abnormally dry” now and this week didn’t improve matters much with only .13″ rain falling (and no snow). There was a 46-degree difference in temperatures overall this week, from a low of 24.8°F on Sunday to a high of 70.5°F on Wednesday. Highs ranged from 70.5°F to 41.9°F, averaging a pretty seasonal 55.6°F, and lows ranged from 24.8°F to 56.5°F, averaging 34.8°F. Almost all the leaves have fallen.

Just before it rained one evening:

• Beginnings/Firsts

As everyone knows, we had an election here in the U.S. on Tuesday and there will be regime change in January.

• Wild Things (Flora, Fauna, Fungi) in addition to others elsewhere in this post

In order: opossum (Didelphis virginiana); yellow-legged flower fly (Syrphus rectus); mountain mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum); mountain mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum); hawkweed; common earthball (Scleroderma citrinum); perennial mums with raindrops; long-tailed aphideater complex (Complex Eupeodes americanus); calendula; calendula bud; white snakeroot (Ageratina altissima); white snakeroot (Ageratina altissima); striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis); Bruce spanworm moth (Operophtera bruceata) on tulip poplar leaf; red fox (Vulpes vulpes); spotted cucumber beetle (Diabrotica undecimpunctata).

• Wandering 

I took a couple of walks on Tuesday (including to the polling place and to get my flu shot), we walked at the bog on Wednesday (the warm day; took only two photos) and I took a longer walk afterward, we took a medium in-town walk on Thursday, I took a medium walk on Friday, and we took a little longer walk on Saturday in town.

photos from walks

• Curiosity & Discoveries

We participated in a virtual birding Zoom via Maine Audubon on Thursday, which took us to Ontario Canada, Lancaster PA, Poland (near Carpathian Mountains), western North Carolina, Austin TX, and near Sedona AZ.

Some interesting birds, in order shown below (click photos to enlarge): pileated, red-bellied, & hairy woodpeckers (Ontario); evening grosbeaks (PA); brown-headed nuthatch (NC); black-crested titmouse, sparrows, white winged doves (TX); Bewicks wren, white-crowned sparrow, lesser goldfinches (AZ); acorn woodpecker (AZ); and great spotted woodpecker with various tits (Poland).

We also saw two muskrats at a local pond on Saturday! Here’s one:

My car, a Jeep built on a Fiat frame, started communicating in Italian to me when I started it on Monday. We finally learned (via YouTube) how to change it back to English. That’s never happened before.

• Creating

I created some Christmas gifts on Snapfish and ordered them on Thursday. More to do along those lines.

• Repairing and Maintaining (everything but the house & yard)

Body/mind: I worked out three times this week (3) hours and walked more than 9,000 steps on five days, including two days over 13,000 steps. I had my 6-month dermatology appointment on Monday afternoon, and a negative Covid test before that. I got my annual flu shot on Tuesday morning, and on Wed. I scheduled my first shingles shot for next week. I participated in Dharma Sunday via Zoom on Sunday, led by Lama Willa. Mostly, I lay low this week and didn’t do much.

Cat: I cleaned the cat’s litter box in the primary bathroom on Wed. My husband took a stool sample in to the vet on Friday (part of Bumble’s annual visit from last week — it was negative for parasites, etc.)

• Gardening/Yard 

We did some clean-up in the yard this week. On Thursday, my husband took down the vegetable garden fence and mulched the remaining leaves that had fallen. I harvested a handful of Sweet Millions (the compost tomatoes), probably the last harvest of the year, other than maybe kale or parsley (and thyme, which I harvest year-round). On Friday, he mowed for the last time this year and mulched those leaves. On Sunday I cut back all the crocosmia (so much biomass!) and cut back and pruned a bunch of other shrubs (mainly dead branches), small trees (mostly to give more light to the garden), and perennials on the side and front of the house, and my husband dumped those piles.

Birds in the garden on Tues. and Thurs.

• Nesting 

Cleaning/Maintenance: I did clothes laundry on Saturday. We probably vacuumed something and I’m sure I cleaned a toilet or two, kitchen and bathroom sinks, stovetop, shower floor, etc., but I forgot to record it.

Food: My husband made sourdough pancakes on Wednesday. Dinner Mon-Wed. was leftover takeout Indian for me and other things (unrecorded) for my husband. On Thursday we had veggie burgers, mac & cheese, and sautéed broccoli (from the local farmstand). Friday I made Martha Stewart’s potato and herb risotto, using our garlic, parsley, thyme (and added shrimp to it), and we had that on Saturday, too. I made bucatini with eggplant (farmstand), artichoke hearts, canned tomatoes, and (our) garlic on Sunday.

I really enjoy these Bells & Stars cookies every Nov-Dec. I’ve stocked up but more are always welcome! 🙂 (They are difficult to find locally.)

Supplies: I ordered two pairs of Darn Tough socks on Thurs., one for me and one for someone (tbd) for Christmas. Ordered some Christmas gifts from Snapfish on Thursday and another Xmas gift for a friend from Amazon on Friday (which arrived Saturday morning!).

Financial/Admin: On Wed. I started working on my ACA health insurance application for 2025. My renewed drivers license was delivered on Friday, yay. Made some privacy and security adjustments to my online presence on Wed.-Saturday.

• Sleeping & Dreaming

Sleep was fine until Wednesday night and pretty poor the rest of the week. I got an average of 7 hours 15 min sleep per night, with an average FitBit sleep score of 83.7, helped by a 90 on Monday and an 87 on Tuesday. I had 11 hours 33 mins of REM sleep and 8 hours 45 mins of deep sleep this week.

• Reading / Words & Ideas / Listening / Watching  

Reading

BOOKS:

I finished two books this week, both good in their own ways, though I really loved the first one: Plain Bad Heroines (2020) by Emily M. Danforth – gothic, intense, nuanced, witty, and “dark, sweet, and addictive.” In 1902, two girls at a boarding school died, killed in the woods by a swarm of yellow jackets. This novel is two alternating stories: one is the story of Libbie, the headmistress of the school — Broadhants, in Rhode Island — and her partner Alex, a woman, in the aftermath of these deaths and that of another student that follows, all of which seem connected with an illicit book of the time, The Story of Mary MacLane; the second is the modern-day story of Harper, Merritt, and Audrey who haven’t met before but now are all involved (heavily involved) in making a film about the 1902 events.

The second was Blue Sisters (2024 ) by Coco Mellors, a novel about three grown sisters in their 30s — Avery, Bonnie, and Lucky — trying to find a way to live with the grief of their other sister Nicky’s death through overdose. The story was interesting, though the kind of novel where you cringe at many of the poor choices the characters make, but it didn’t really click into gear for me until a little more than halfway through, when the sisters meet up in NYC and the fireworks and truth-telling begins.

OTHER

Listening

Mostly FIP-Paris radio, also local radio

• Connections &  Community – local support, relationships, donations

Local Support: I bought groceries from the regional co-op while I was nearby for an appt. on Monday. I bought a watermelon radish at the farmstand on Thursday and some wine (for Thanksgiving) there on Friday. Bought treats at the local café/bakery on Friday.

Relationships: I chatted with three friends (LM, LL, MC) at the polling place on Tuesday morning. Bought some items for a friend (RL) at the co-op on Monday. A friend (ED) offered to pick up some things for me on Friday (but they weren’t available). Skipped permaculture meeting on Thursday but attended Salon on Friday for 2.5 hours in person with five of us present. Texted and emailed with friends a lot this week. Set up new social media (let me know if you want to connect on Bluesky or Signal) and deleted other accounts.

Donations: I made a donation to the Alzheimers Association for my sister’s “Walk to End Alzheimers” team on Thursday and to Pro Publica on Friday.

• Endings 

Potentially, so many things. Time will tell.

• All This Useless Beauty