Back home looking around

 How about wordless Wednesday?

Heavy frost at dawn, but the moisture from the river is rising into the air.

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The Black Mountain Christmas Parade was December 6, 2025. here's the Black Mountain News coverage of it.

Yes we have a great Ukulele Band!

Sharing with My Corner of the World

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Today's goddess:

The Venus of Hohle Fels is probably one of the most famous goddess figurines. carved of mammoth ivory about 35,000-40,000 years ago. She was found during excavations at Hohle Fels Cave in southwestern Germany, and is just 5.9 cm high. There's a loop for hanging her as perhaps a pendant rather than her head.

Remember craftsmen and women only had bones and rocks like flint to make carvings with at that time.

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11 days till Winter Solstice

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Today's quote (do you want these again anyway?)

We often don’t ask people what matters to them. We ask how they are doing. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It may be perfect for getting a conversation going.

Maybe the better question is what engages you? And what do you know enough about that you know you need to learn more?

I don’t love putting people in boxes. I’d rather be there when they opened up.

Keith Kron "What Really Matters" newsletter

First freeze

 Last week the flowers on the porch had 3 days of rain (off and on). So I waited as long as possible to heft the ones I wanted to save into the living room for the winter.

Lavender has lots of fallen leaves gracing it...but it's always a joy to touch its leaves and have the scent floating about.

The geranium was left outside, as it's been a rather sad addition to my garden this year...mainly few and skimpy blossoms. Probably because I forgot to fertilize.

At dawn on Saturday (still daylight savings time of 8:33 am) the frost is starting to melt on the nearby roof. I'm thrilled to see the mountain ridge across the valley again! A bit of fog is rising from the river area in the valley.

Mums are supposed to be hardy, and these are definitely past their prime. I'm thinking of just planting them in the ground outside my porch...we shall see if I feel like getting on my knees.

The winter view for now. The orchids may not like quite so much direct sun. But the Kalanchoes/Calandivas? will love it, since they've just had reflected sun since solstice. The old oak table now is covered with plastic as I know watering these will result in some spills. Blinds are closed to the cold at night.

After 3 days of rain, the blooms are a bit sad.

The  only trouble with these is the frequent shedding of the dead flowers.

Sharing with Tom's Tuesday's Treasures and My Corner of The World.

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My other blog, Inner Workings covers Robertson Work's substack post yesterday. "An Elder Awakens on an Autumn Day."

Survivors

 

There's even a new lavender blooming at the top of this shot. The tint of red behind the spiky rosemary is a last gasp of the geranium.

While nightly there has been frost on all the cars and rooftops, these little plants on my balcony have continued to thrive and stay blooming.

It's a mystery.  

At 32 degrees F this morning for about 3 hours, I didn't want to even open the door to capture these hardy souls...so this is through the glass shortly after dawn. Later on I did do my walk, and dug out a wool hat to wear too! It really helped, though it admittedly was in the high 40s by then. I admit I love cold weather when it's a dry humidity level. If it's wet at all though, I don't enjoy it as much. (I wrote this on Nov 24)

I'm adding this shot of the flowers hung above the balcony last week for Thanksgiving and the day following. Then frost was again forecast, so it went back on the floor!

I took this photo as the cloud/fog was finally dried up by the morning sun. You can just see the clouds over the valley, and what I was most trying to capture, the drops of dew on the branches of the trees with sun hitting them. I guess having 3 aims in one photo is asking a bit much!

Maybe this one is better for the water droplets in the sunshine...and that one lonely leaf!

Nearby beauty

It may be grey and damp outside, but my windowsill had lots of succulent greenery to break the monotony.  I say "had" because I just moved these plants into the living room.  Hope they survive a week without watering while I'm trekking off to visit family.

Frost on the windshield had leaf-like patterns one morning this week.

 Some Christmas decorations that I drove by.

 You either get the lights as a blur and  can see the tree...or

You get to focus on the lights which float in the air. Such is camera on a phone.

Morning has broken - though shade keeps the frost alive

So spring is officially here.  Lovely morning for it.  There's frost on the roof of the building downhill from me again.

Some trees are casting shade and the sun doesn't seem to be doing the melting line like it did a few days ago. (Here.)

Oh there it is, where the higher roof shades the lower one, and the frost melts back as the sun hits it.

Isn't it nice with all the word's trauma and news that I can focus on how the sun melts frost on a neighbor's roof?