Red Leather Chair

Lately I have been getting up in the morning just as the sun is coming up over the trees. The past mornings have been bright and sunny, and when I come out of the bedroom just before 7:30 a.m., the east windows are brightening and the whole house begins to fill with liquid light.

After coffee is made, the best place to sit and enjoy it is in the big red leather chair. From 8 to 9 on a January morning, this is the place to be.

Visitors

We had visitors this morning.

The turkeys are back. I knew they were still around, but hadn't seen them in a while. There is no question that birds are descendants of dinosaurs when you see these big primitive goons walk.

And a coyote spent most of the morning on the hill up by the road edge.  It looks too big to be a coyote, so we thought it might be someone's dog, but it looks too wild.

Think it's a coyote? Yeah, I do too.

Even Colder

It was 5 degrees officially this morning, no breeze, very still. On my own thermometer here at the house it was 0.

Zero.

We've always been in a little cold sink, a dip between the two ridges that surround us, and a frost will hit the plants at the edge of the meadow when it doesn't affect any others. When it is still, it can be four or five degrees colder in the meadow.

The porch is down to 34 degrees. It has never gotten to freezing on the porch, but this is awfully close. The plumbagos that are overwintering in pots are probably not going to like this.

Thank goodness for the blanket of snow protecting everything, especially the rosemary.

Coldest So Far

It is rare to get winter temperatures below zero any more. This morning was the coldest so far this season -- 15 degrees at 6 a.m.. Plenty chilly.

Why Am I Always Cold?

Snowing today, 30 degrees. We had a white Christmas here, with a little bit of snowfall but not enough to make the roads bad.  Since then it has snowed off and on, with a very steady snowfall today.

I love the way the arched bridge looks spanning a white blanket.

Christmas was wonderful -- trip to LA with Tom and Joanna, then to Denver with Greg and Sass, back here when Hope and Steve came down. A pre-Christmas lunch with Ellen and Angela and Mary Alice, and Christmas dinner at Pam's.

It's full on winter now, though we have passed the winter solstice and days will now get longer. But I can never, never get warm in the house. Why?

On a still day outdoors a temperature of 68 or 70 degrees is really pleasant. In the house it is chilly, surfaces you touch are noticeably cold, and skin that is not covered with clothing or a scarf gets goosebumps. It's uncomfortable and it's relentless all day long.

The heat cranks all day and the inside temp registers 70.  I wear heavy socks, layers of clothing, bulky sweaters / sweatshirts, and make sure to have my neck covered. Why is it so uncomfortable at 70 compared to the same temperature outside? Even upholstered chairs are cold to sit on!

Sigh. Brrr.

Colorado Christmas

California Christmas

Our Tilted Wobbly Tree

Today was sunny and really pleasant, up into the low 60s. Very little breeze. Just a nice day.

I cleaned up some more of the nepeta, and then did a little Christmas arrangement of greens and birch stems in the now empty pot in front.

We put the tree up yesterday. It is on its last legs. Literally -- two of the four wheels broke off leaving just a screw sticking out of each socket, so it is precariously sitting on shims. It totters when you walk by and it lists, seen from certain angles. The connector for the top half went missing so the heavy top third is duct taped on, and very wiggly. I had to twist the wire stem S-shaped to overcome its tendency to flop to the right.

A string of pre-lit lights in the middle won't light. I added a separate string, but there is still a blank spot in the lower part, and now I have all those unlit little bulbs still attached along with the added string.

Jim says this all gives the tree character. I think we need a new (smaller) one.

We put up Bob's little wooden advent tree, a couple days late.

Snow Globe Weather

Snow this morning. Wet flakes, looking much bigger and fatter and falling more thickly after I took these shots.

I put up the wreaths yesterday and a little grouping of snowmen on the garden cart in front of the den window.

It really was snow globe weather, fat wet flakes softly tumbling to the ground -- and me surrounded by the swirl as I sit inside looking out the windows.

An Early Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was early this year. The day was sunny and mild, in the 50s.

I was surprised when I took a tour of the yard that the zenobia I transplanted under the blackhaw viburnum has turned a gorgeous rich russet. It usually keeps its glaucus blue-green leaves well into winter, but this year it is golden and coppery.

But I could not get a good picture of it. The russet brown  fleeceflower below does not offer enough contrast to take a good picture.

It's a really beautiful color and it has shaped up into a round but loose shrub. This is the older of the zenobias, the original one I planted. I'm really pleased with it.

The two others that are under the birch tree by the patio are still blue green (one has serious leaf spot) and are not very shapely yet. Maybe zenobias take three or four years to look like anything.

The other wonderful surprise is how beautiful the comptonia is in fall. It has kept its feathery leaves and they have turned golden. This small shrub also has formed a nice shape, kind of umbrella like.

I'm really pleased with this too. It has shaped up within a single season, and in future years I think it will get quite big.

In some light the golden color of the comptonia is really deep rust red.