How many days 'til ...................?

Every year when my Christmas Cactus starts to bloom at just the right time, I wonder "How does it know?" 

Tiny Tracks in the Snow

Tiny tracks outside our door say that we had a visitor last night.  It reminds me of the last line  of an e e cummings poem:   "nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands." 

Turkey Trot

Wild Turkeys hurry by the new pond this morning.  I opened the door quietly but they are wary.  Yesterday the group was relaxing in our driveway.  A  pickup skidded to a stop;  I opened the upstairs window as the guy jumped out while grabbing his bow and arrow;  I yelled  "Don't even think about it!!!!!"    He muttered  "All right" and drove away. 

An early morning walk

I am taking an  early morning walk around the field.

 

Just leaves.....

                                         I sit for a while

And enjoy the view.

                             Ferns provide some of the best colors of autumn.  

                  I walk beside the stone wall,  turn and see another favorite view.

                                   The sun peeks over the hill and through the leaves;

 buildings cuddle on a neighbor's farm.

                                                  

                    Music Mountain Road.  This way >>>>> HOME     

             

Pumpkin, Foliage and Fog

 

After a day of rain, it is warm and the sun came out.  So many leaves have fallen since yesterday, the colors have faded a bit.  The fog lifted itself out of the valley and in a few minutes was gone.

Peak Foliage

Wednesday 3 October 2012 

Today seems to be the peak of autumn colors on Music Mountain.  Other parts of the state are later but our leaves are beginning to FALL.  So that's where they get the name. 

ABC's of Autumn

Asters, Basil and Colorful leaves in the Distance.  My kitchen window is an alphabet book of fall.  Early Fog, Green grass, I could keep on going with this  but I want to get out there and go for a walk.  Bye!

Monarch's Migration

Many monarchs congregate in the flower gardens at this time of year.  Their favorite feast in September is Autumn Joy Sedum.  Soon they will make their journey to the mountains of central Mexico where they will spend the winter.

Paper Wasps!

Paper Wasps are amazing architects.  They make their building material by chewing wood fibers and making "paper."   What an impressive addition  the wasps have created under the eaves of our house. 

Succession of a Sunset

Baby Snapping Turtle

Rich found this baby turtle in the driveway.  He brought it in the house to show me.   Its shell is about the size of a walnut.   The  hooked nose and coloring  makes me think that it may be a snapping turtle.  We carried it out to the pond where there is a little bit of water and mud and he swam away.  

Tweed River Music Festival

This morning I heard the flute-like song of a  Hermit Thrush from the woods.    Later I heard  the vibrations of the Tweed River Music Festival drifting up Music Mountain from the junction of Routes 100 and 107.  I love to hear all kinds of music here on the hill : )

Queen Anne's Lace

The roadside is adorned with the wildflower 'Queen Anne's Lace.'   Walking up the road on this warm night of the first full moon in August,  the doily-like blossoms remind me of giant snowflakes!

Salutations!

 The cloud cover is heavy and  the sunlight so dim that it leaves no shadows. I snipped the spent blooms  of 'Hyperion' Lily and found a  spider clinging there.

Goodby Old Hello New

Dawn lost her picket fence during the flood from Hurricane Irene last August.   She also lost her house.   Her Nissan Pathfinder is fully loaded with 23 sections of fence and all but six of the posts are in the back!  Now I don't have to scrape and paint it. 

The remaining six posts were used with five sections of new Gothic style fence.  No, it's not plastic.  It's wood but maintenance time has been cut down by 16 sections. 

Zippity Doo Dah

 There's a bluebird on my...............................nest box!!  Yay!!!

Moonset, Sunrise, Surprise!

 

Friday night's full moon settles into the western sky early Saturday morning.  

A few minutes later, the sun came up in the eastern sky.  Hallelujah!

When I turned around to enter the house, the glass in the windows and doors were reflecting the sunrise.  That was my surprise!

Son Before the Father

My sister Faye tells me that this early blooming wildflower is also  known as the Son Before the Father because the flower pops up on a single wooly stem before the leaves.  Similar to a Dandelion,  the  Colt's-Foot, another common name for this plant, is a member of the sunflower family.  When the leaves mature, they have a resemblance to a colt's foot.  The leaves are known for their ability to cure a cough and when dried, can be used for a cup of tea.  These little drops of sunshine were photographed at the edge of MM road during March. 

Frog Blog

 Wood Frogs (Rana sylvatica)  perform reproduction rituals in ponds that are still partly covered with ice.  Not so this year.  The record breaking  warm temperatures of March have caused all the ice to melt in the Music Mountain ponds. 

 

The egg masses of the wood frogs are submerged around the edge of the pond. 

 

 

Wood frogs disappear into the mud immediately when you approach.  In order to see one, you need to sit very still and wait until they decide to surface.  Soon little frog heads are bobbing, their legs are dangling and the males resume their ducklike croaking.  

In summer, Wood Frogs leave the water and enjoy the moist woodlands of Vermont.

An interesting fact about the Wood Frog is that it is the only frog to be found north of the Arctic Circle.  

St Patrick's Day

I just love it when St Patrick's Day is on a Saturday.    Dinner tonight will be corned beef, cabbage, carrots and mashed potatoes. When we returned home from Savannah last month,  I danced a jig when I noticed that Andy left four cans of Guinness in the fridge.  One can I will use with a little brown sugar in the corned beef--the other three????  We'll see......

Happy Anniversay MMM

The watercolor that inspired the first blog--Sleeping in the Snow

Saturday 17 March 2012 is the first anniversary of Music Mountain Musings.  I have learned a lot about putting  images on the site, about Picassa, and even a little HTML.  Thank you Sally for sending me the watercolor and making me have so much fun.  My MMM blog has made me realize how much I love living here-----all year!  Thank you to my friends, family and followers for letting me know that you enjoy it and I will continue to keep it short.

An Evening in Times Square

Jigsaw Puzzle created from   "Alexander's World"  1994  Alexander Chen, Artist 

I started this 1000 piece puzzle on February 26th and when I returned home from the Boston Flower Show on 3/15, Rich was putting in the last few pieces.  It took many evenings on Music Mountain to finish an Evening in Times  Square but we had fun. 

Boston Flower Show 2012

This morning my friend Sue and  I got up very early and went to Rutland where we boarded Mr. Twitter's bus to the Boston Flower Show.  One of my favorite displays was this miniature of Winnie the Pooh having a picnic with his friends. 

Sunday Sundog

Just before sunset on Sunday afternoon, a sundog appeared in the western sky.  The scientific name, parhelion, means "beside the sun."  This one is to the left of the sun and at the same level  as the sun on the horizon.  If you are ready to see, something wonderful appears every single day. 

W is for WOOD

 

I think that he is looking at me.  And this is only the first load.  Oh well, in Vermont in the winter, a gal is as happy to have wood delivered as she would be if he were bringing flowers or diamonds or a horse.  If you believe that, then there is this an old green bridge in Bethel that I'd like to sell ya' ...........because he is looking at me for HELP.  : > (

 

Puzzle Time

The weather is snowy and blowy.  It's a good day for  a puzzle.  This one is an artist's view  of Times Square in NYC.     My strategy--  First I turn over all the pieces and sort out the four corners (in the lower left corner) and the border pieces in (lower right corner.)  All the other pieces are waiting for their turn.  What I love about solving a puzzle is how many details of the art that I see when I reconstruct it piece by piece.  

 

Door with heart wreath

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY 2012

Robins and Apples and Snow in February

When I first looked outside this morning, I thought that the apples were rolling around under the tree.  Then I realized that it was robins.

The next  picture reminds me of Where's Waldo?