Monday, November 04, 2013

swirling leaves, twinkling lights

How windy is it, you ask?

...So windy that the bedside window, opened just a half inch, lets in gusts strong enough to make me yank the quilt from under Isis and push it firmly against my chin. (Ed rightly points out that keeping a window open, even a tiny crack at times when you're either running the heat or the air conditioning makes no sense at all. He is correct. Except that I love fresh air that much, especially when it gusts inside and makes you feel like you are out in a forest. Of course, in the heat of July or the dead of winter, my infatuation with fresh air bows to sanity and the window is shut until March or April, when the temptation to crack it just a little hits again.)

...So windy that we spend the breakfast minutes staring at leaves, branches, spent flowers, swaying, moving, flying about outside.


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...So windy that I abandon any idea of biking anywhere today. Good weather to stay rooted at the table with my work.


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So windy and yet...

...this is the day that I decide to go out on the porch roof to sweep off the leaves. Why? Well now, that's a hard question to answer. Ed suggests that I wait until all the leaves have fallen (or not bother with any of it), but I want to develop a feel for the project: I am only allowed to step on the strips of wood (which are clamped over beams). How does that feel?  Will it be easy to sweep off snow? And so I step out. Through the bathroom window.

My, it's windy up here!


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...But good! And there's a reason to clear and clean those glass panes -- Ed finishes putting up our chain of lights.


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You want them year round, don't you?
Uh huh!


Our farmhouse is ready for the long winter.

In other news, well, you know the scoop on a Monday (or Tuesday, or Wednesday) -- there is no other news. Plenty of work instead.

...and a supper of cabbage/potato/kohlrabi soup.


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And after dinner, I head for a talk at our local library -- interesting, sure, that, but what I want to show off here is the utter deliciousness of the finished porch project. Built, painted and now twinkling away forever and ever...


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