The Winter That Wasn't!

If you're from the Central/Northern New York area you're probably wondering what happened to winter? Well, it's not over yet, and around here you never know what to expect.

We started off in October with a bang of a snowstorm, that melted. Got some more snow in November and that never made it to Christmas, and then another little snow about two weeks ago. And now that's all gone, too. As a matter of fact we just have a couple of little snow piles around here and there. Most of the snow is gone from the fields.

Our neighbors' (Sam & Nancy Weber) farm from their back field.

Of course I'm not complaining, but I feel sorry for those that love their winter sports of downhill & cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, ice skating, and photographing beautiful winter scenes. The snowmobile trails around our house were opened for a few days and then they had to close them for lack of snow. The ski slopes can not make snow when the temperatures are above freezing so there is not much of a base and they are lucky if even half of their trails are open.

It certainly must be an easy winter for the deer to get around. When we did have snow on the ground, my husband noticed several areas in our back yard where the deer had bedded down.

We've noticed several hawks, osprey and eagles in the area. As long as they can get food they will stay in the area. Same for some of the other smaller bird species. We've had Goldfinches that were around most of the winter.

Goldfinch (Male) in their winter plumage. They are much duller than they are in the spring/summer.

A frequent visitor for us this year has been the Tufted Titmouse. This was a surprise to me because we have seen them on occasion in the past, but they never stuck around. They would peck at some food at the feeder and you would never see them again, but this winter they've been around since fall.

Tufted Titmouse

We've also had some Purple Finches and House Finches visit the feeders. Last year we had the Red Polls visit, but they didn't stick around and I haven't seen any this year yet.

Purple Finch - Male

Top to bottom: Tree Sparrow, Chickadee, Purple Finch (female on left, male on right)

The woodpeckers have been feasting on the suet. We have the Hairy, Downy, and Red-Bellied Woodpeckers. We can hear the Pileated Woodpecker in the back woods, but he hasn't made an appearance yet. I have not known them to visit suet feeders too often so I don't expect to see them at the feeders, but they do like dead trees and we have a few of those in our yard for them to build nests in.

Red-bellied Woodpecker - Female 

We are expecting some very cold temperatures this coming weekend (Feb 13-14, 2016) and what concerns me is that with the lack of snow cover, which helps insulate your plants in winter, you might find that some of your tender perennials might not make it through to the spring. As a matter of fact, yesterday I found one of my purple primroses blooming in the backyard. They love the cold temperatures and will bloom in the early spring and then also may re-bloom in the fall. The cold temperatures won't bother some of your plants like the primroses and also if some of your spring bulbs have already started to show up.

Purple Primroses blooming in February 2016. 

Are we going to have an early spring? I'm thinking that we probably will. A friend of mine that lives closer to Syracuse has already had Robins and Redwing Blackbirds in her backyard. If you have any birdhouses around your place now is a good time to clean them out. Some of the male birds that migrate usually return first before the females and look for suitable nest building sites.

If you like to try your hand at starting your own seedlings now is the time to order or purchase your seeds. I usually don't plant many seedlings. I really don't have the room for them. It's much easier for me to purchase the plants from the nurseries in the spring. I have started perennial and annual seeds right in the ground in the spring after the ground warms up and the danger of a frost has passed. Don't start them too early or a late frost will kill them after they start to sprout. Some annual seeds take a long time to germinate so those wouldn't be feasible to start outdoors in this area. Check the package for the length of germination and the also how long before the first blooms appear.

Now that the days are getting longer, and there's not much snow around, I'm getting excited about spring. It won't be long now. Time to get all those indoor projects done that you haven't gotten around to yet. Once that nice weather comes you won't want to be inside!

"I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says "Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again."

~ Lewis Carroll 

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass

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Pathways

A new year, a new beginning. . .

 Just like everyday is a new page. Wiped clean. We can start over.

It's not only about how we feel, but it's also what we do about that feeling. We can be depressed and wallow in self-pity, or we can get up, get out, and do something. We're not limited to our physical capabilities, but we can expand our mental capabilities as well. If we can't get out, we can read, explore the vast Internet, or call a friend.

When I was a young adolescent, I can remember my parents explaining to me that they taught me right from wrong and it was up to me what pathway I chose to follow. And, as a parent, one of the hardest things for me to accept was the fact that my children, in their teens, were forming their own beliefs and creeds. I wanted and expected them to believe what I believed and practice those beliefs the way I practiced them. Well, that wasn't to be. They have their own thoughts and beliefs as adults and I respect that.

The paths that some of us follow are not always the short-cuts that we'd like them to be. Some have to struggle financially, physically. Some are dealing with discrimination. Some are experiencing the loss of a loved one.

Some pathways lead us to a friend's house, where we can enjoy the company of a neighbor, Sometimes we just need to have someone listen to us and be there for us. And it might be you that that someone is seeking out. And then the tables may change and we have to be the listener.

Sometimes along that path we might come across roadblocks, or

There might be obstacles in your path. . .

or encounter new friends along the way.

Other times we might have to take an alternate route.

And along the way signs to point us in the right direction

or disclose some hazards ahead.


Or sometimes you just might be out of control. . .

And several times we find ourselves going in circles. . .

There will be beautiful views along that path. . .








We never know what a new year will bring for us. I hope you see the beauty in all that comes your way in the upcoming year, and may you always choose the right path that leads you where you need to be.

Sending good health, 

peace, happiness, 

and blessings to you in 2016! 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Feel free to leave a comment~

More Fall Photos and Adventures

Continuing on from my last post of fall rides and drives, I thought I'd post some more fall photos.

About a month ago, my husband, son, and grandson took a hike up one of the mountains in the Adirondacks that has a fire tower on top of it. It was Wakely Mountain in the Moose River Plains.  It is not too difficult of a hike, and the views are beautiful from the summit.

Over the past several decades we have hiked up several mountains. I've been up Wakely Mountain in the past, but now I avoid rocky, uphill terrains.

My husband has hiked several of the Adirondack High Peaks. There is also a club called the 46ers and if you are interested and serious about climbing the High Peaks of the Adirondacks you can register and join their group on their website: ADK46ers.

The Adirondack High Peaks are those mountains in the Adirondacks of New York State that are over 4,000 feet.

On the trail up Wakely Mountain

The Adirondack Forty-Sixers is a club open to all who have climbed, or intend to climb, all the peaks and have registered with the Adirondack Mountain Club.

Wakley Mountain Fire Tower

If you are interested in hiking some of the trails that have fire towers on them here is a link to them. Adirondack Fire Towers. I have climbed three of them with my family that have fire towers on them: Bald Mountain, Snowy Mountain, and Wakely Mountain.

One of the many dirt roads found in New York State (Winona State Forest).

Railroad bed near our house in Mexico, NY

Dirt road in Winona State Forest

Winona State Forest is located in northern Oswego County in the Town of Boylston and in the southern part of Jefferson County in the Town of Lorraine. This is a recreational area that offers hiking, cross-country skiing, hunting, fishing, mountain biking, dog-sledding, horseback riding and other activities. It also offers over 8 miles of snowmobile trails that connect with other trails in the area.

Oak leaves and acorns

One of the roads in Winona State Forest

Salmon River Reservoir

Salmon River Falls, Orwell, NY 

In the above photo, we visited Salmon River Falls on a beautiful fall day during the Columbus weekend in October. It is a very popular tourist site this time of year because of the fall foliage. You can see several people on top of the falls. The falls is 110 feet high. There is also a trail you can take to the bottom of the falls, but it's quite steep so you need to be an experience hiker and physically fit.  The link below will provide you with more information on the history and rules of the area.

 Official Website of Salmon River Falls Unique Area if you missed my post on another Unique Area in New York State click on this link: Labrador Hollow Unique Area.

“He found himself wondering at times, especially in the autumn, about the wild lands, and strange visions of mountains that he had never seen came into his dreams.” 
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

May the trails you follow today 

lead you to peace, happiness, and solitude. 

Thanks for stopping by ~

Feel free to leave a comment! 

An Autumn Drive in Northern New York

Mirror Lake, Lake Placid, NY

We like to go for drives/rides this time of year - in the fall, when the leaves are turning colors.



The landscape is truly nature's beautiful palette. So many colors of reds, yellows, greens, browns, oranges, and against the background of the blue sky and white, puffy clouds the views are just amazing. And the smells, too! When the leaves have fallen, and they start to decay, you can smell the slight pungent odor of the leaves after a rain. That's when you know that fall is here and winter will follow soon in autumn's footsteps.

When we go for a leisurely ride in our car, it usually always involves a ride to either the mountains, a forest, or some type of water (that could be a river, a pond, a lake or a waterfalls, etc.), and usually we're lucky if we can get all three in on one trip.

And in the fall we usually head up to the Adirondack Mountains. From our place, in Mexico, NY, we can get up there in about 2+ hours. Of course that depends on how many times we stop for photos along the way of any of the above three mentioned items (mountains, forests, or water).

We're so lucky in New York State to be able to experience all four seasons of nature, and each with its distinctive qualities. The fall, as the days get shorter, allows for the transformation of the summer greenery in the landscapes of trees, flowers, and fields, to turn a golden yellow or brown, and other rich, glowing fall colors.

Whiteface Mountain (in back) from Lake Placid, NY.

The days can be brisk from cool mornings, to a warm and sunny afternoon. And then you have the autumn rains and wind that finish off the colorful leaves left hanging on the trees by disposing of them on the ground to be blown around the house and then to be raked up or left until spring. And you could even be surprised by a snow flurry or even an accumulation of snow this time of year.

Several areas of the Country experienced the effects of Hurricane Patricia as well as we did, too. In the last few days our areas have had high winds with some people experiencing power outages, and lots of rain. We were fortunate that we did not get as much damage as several areas of the south experienced. Personally, we just had some small branches come down.

Only in New York, in October (and no, that's not Ted)

So back to our autumn drives around the area - this year we headed up to the Lake Placid area. Home to the winter Olympics of 1932 and 1980. There is a museum there that you can tour for the history of the games as well as visiting the sites where the competitions were held. And you might be able to see some athletes in training for the next Olympics.

Lake Placid also offers some great eateries as well as some great shopping. We had lunch at The Cottage Restaurant, which is a pub-like restaurant offering wonderful views of Lake Mirror and the High Peaks. They have a woodburning fireplace both inside and out, and it was warm enough the day we visited so we were able to dine outside.

On a separate day, we took off for an afternoon drive on some of the dirt roads in northern Oswego and Jefferson Counties. With the heavy winds we've had the last couple of days, most of the leaves were down in that area, but the leaves scattered on the ground and in the woods make for delightful woodland fairy scenes.






Hope you are able to welcome in the "Trick-or-Treaters" or catch some of them in costumes at your local venues. I just love watching all the little goblins and ghouls running around the neighborhoods in search of their sweet treasures!

May Jack-o-lanterns burning bright

Of soft and golden hue

Pierce through the future’s veil and show

What fate now holds for you.

~Author Unknown

Feel free to leave a comment. 

Would love to hear from  you ~

A Blank Page . . .

As I stare at this blank page I'm pondering what I'm going to write about today. How technical do I want to get about "gardening stuff"? Maybe I just want to share some photos and thoughts on this page. Or some chores that you need to do this time of year.

One of my friends asked me a few months ago if I was worried I was going to run out of ideas to write about. I answered her, "Well, I can always find something to write about, even if it's about dirt." Well, here's the scoop on dirt! No, not really. I don't feel like writing about dirt right now. Maybe in the winter when there's not too much blooming or the skies are displaying their drab colors.

Actually we're getting closer to winter now. Can you believe it snowed in Mexico, New York earlier this week (October 18, 2015)? Yes, we actually got 8" of snow! I don't think it got above 38 degrees that day and we got our first frost. Not a very heavy frost, but a frost. I guess this is the end of our growing season.

I got quite a bit of my fall gardening chores completed the last few weeks with the help of my husband, Ted. I still have some hostas and other perennials to cut back and it's supposed to warm up this week, so I think I will still have time to finish most of gardening jobs before we get the big snows.

Today I write about Color! Color in the landscape and color in the sky! I'm not a professional landscaper, just a home gardener (and mostly flowers at that). I've learned by trial and error. Probably mostly error. But I try to keep my losses and mistakes to a minimum. When purchasing new plants for a garden I usually buy one and see how that does in my soil, climate, and environment. If the plant doesn't make it, and I really like the plant, I might buy another one and try it again. And usually after that I'll give up on a plant and find something else.

Plants with different color combination and textures make a garden interesting and can create moods of relaxation or excitement. But sometimes this can be very difficult to achieve. Especially when you have plants where the colors look great together, but in reality those same plants bloom at different times of the year. Some might bloom in spring and others in late summer. As an example, you can plant them together and even though they bloom at different times of the year they might compliment each other in their shape, color or texture of the leaves and stems. Many plants have more attractive leaves than they do flowers. Different colored leaves can blend your flowers and plants together.

When I'm planting perennials in my garden, I usually select a plant by it's color, size or shape. Not specifically for an overall plan, but that's usually my first priority. If it's visually appealing to me and it's the right height I'll try it out. Also, a lot of plants might look wonderful in a photo, but when you see it in person it could be much smaller or larger than you expected. Or it could also be a plant that is very much an aggressive grower and over grows its boundaries. Be sure to check labels on plants before you buy them for the size and requirements of that plant. Fall is a good time to plant shrubs and trees as well, as long as you can plant them at least six weeks before a heavy frost is expected so the roots can settle in. It might be a little late here, but trees do well when planted in the fall.

I'm also sharing photos from some of my friends and their beautiful gardens this past season.  And some of my favorite photos from this past year as well.

Also, as most of you have noticed, I haven't posted my blog lately. I had a busy and enjoyable summer spending time with my family and friends. Also, when it was too hot to do any gardening outside, I started a queen-sized quilt for us to replace a well-worn out one. I finished the quilt top a few weeks ago and now it's at the quilt shop being machine-quilted.

A garden "bed"! Created by Colleen & Phil McAllister. Photo by Colleen McAllister.

Photo by Cynthia Kresman Hatalak of one her gardens
with beautiful varergated New Guinea impatiens.

I think we had a very beautiful summer, and September was gorgeous as well.


While the fall colors have been beautiful, I don't think they have been as brilliant as they have been in previous years.



I hope you get the chance (if you haven't already) to get out and maybe explore your area for the fall changes in the landscape. The fall colors look so glorious against a bright blue sky.

And it's also a good time to go for a ride in the country and check out the fall produce at the farm stands. Pumpkins, winter squash & apples!

One of Sandy Nichols-Leinbach's beautiful garden borders (Photo by Sandy). 

A photo shared by Judith Lembree of one of her colorful perennial borders. 

Another photo from Judith Lembree.

A photo I took of my friends' (Jan & Jim Tighe) backyard retreat.

Here is a very extensive guide to color in your garden from UGA (Georgia) Extension: Landscape Basics: Color Theory


And a special thank you to my friends, Cynthia Kresman Hatalak, Judith Lembree, Sandy Nichols-Leinbach, and Colleen McAllister for allowing me to share their photos on this blog post.

I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, 

than be crowded on a velvet cushion.

~ Henry David Thoreau

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check out my blog post. 

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