That Was October

 And it was full of a whole lot of fall goodness.

There was Ida (and I believe Mommy and Daddy's too) first trip to a pumpkin patch. I desperately wanted to take her to one last year for her first Halloween, but with the demands of a newborn's schedule coupled with the fact that all pumpkin patches were at least a half hour drive from our house in Seattle, it just wasn't feasible. So it was pretty wonderful how relatively easy going was this year!

Pre-pumpkin patch sustenance. While coffee options in Toledo are much better than expected, pastry options are a bit lacking. But these doughnuts almost do too good of a job making up for the wanting categories: scones, croissants, maybe-not-healthy-but-some-redeeming-qualities.

The haul from Hoen's Garden Center. They have a big fall festival the second weekend in October every year with lots of activities for kiddos and a humongous pumpkin patch. I think we'll make going there a tradition. They are open all year and it's just an all around nice greenhouse. I can see going in the dead of winter for a green fix as they have a nice houseplant selection too.  

I got the mums there the week prior. And despite the fact that chrysanthemum blooms are apparently a delicacy to deer, they are still going strong. In fact I think the deer eating them has been equivalent to pinching back the blooms because they are loaded up with buds again.

That's the front porch pumpkin pile from every angle. Ida has greatly enjoyed waving hello to the pumpkins several times daily.

And here's the back, but only from one.

Fall really suits our new dwelling I dare say. I took this pic on a rainy day when Greg's parents were visiting and I was desperately trying to plow through some yard work despite the weather. 

It was kind of a shame to say goodbye to this one, but I wanted to breathe some new life into the hanging baskets on the back porch for the remaining frost-free weeks. 

 And so far we haven't had a hard freeze. In fact it was in the 70s last week! So these specimens have grown a little and are still looking good. 

I also, only about four months after I initially started working on it, finally managed to plant up this bed out at the far corner of River Road and the little side street we're on. It had become a weedy mess over the course of the summer, though the shasta daisies tried to hold their own. The soil in the bed was really compacted and I found a ton of coal as I was trying to turn it over. I suppose from the old roadbed?  Looking at some old documents that actually pertain to the house next door that were given to us by the people we bought our house from, there was originally a right-of-way reserved for an interurban rail along River Road. Then when the plans for it fell through, the right-of-way was given over to widening the road. Maybe they went back and reclaimed part for the sidewalk? It's a theory. Some rusty bolts, a few shards of glass, some chunks of concrete, and a piece of terra-cotta waste pipe were the only other artifacts to report. Anyway, none of that explains the real mystery which is why our front walk ends where it does.

Overall it has been an absolutely beautiful fall, one that's made me appreciate being back in the midwest. Though I may be singing a different tune here in a few months when we're in the freezing depths of winter.  

In toddler news, this one is now pulling up on everything and I would guess is only a few weeks (or days, who knows!) away from first steps!

We became members at the Toledo Museum of Art, which is a really wonderful institution. And I say that even though we've barely scratched the surface, having only gone to the cafe and to see a couple of the galleries including the new Degas and the Dance exhibit. To promote it, the museum has installed murals of dancers from Degas's work all over town and it just so happens one is right next to our neighborhood coffee shop.

Some of the fall color in the ravine at the back of our neighborhood.

We are still plugging away on the house, working mostly on decorating at the moment, and a little trying to make the place more winter-proof, nothing too crazy. My dad came to visit while Greg was away on a business trip and we tackled painting the first floor powder room. I got slightly artistic with the coat of color, hand brushing it on, helped along on one wall at least by this tall glass of pinot noir. I will share some before and afters eventually, we are having an electrician come to properly install a new (old) light fixture next week, and I am still searching for a mirror. 

We've been working in the dining room too, not sure if I mentioned, but we painted it back in the summer (also with my dad's assistance during his first visit). Then he and my aunt gifted us some furniture earlier this fall including a china closet which now resides in the space and has helped it significantly to feel less cavernous, along with these curtains which were hung with the help of Greg's dad during his parents most recent aforementioned visit. When I saw these panels, which are from Anthropologie, online I knew they were the ones. We decided rather than wasting money on temporary window treatments, we'd go ahead and spring for forever ones in the living and dining rooms this year after we tore down the late 1980s monstrosities that were there. And I'm glad we did. You can't beat how the morning light filters through those cutouts. 

Finally, we topped off the month by hosting a Halloween party on Halloween Saturday for neighbors before trick-or-treating hours. We invited everyone around our block and up and down River Road a little ways as well as the most recent two previous owners. And we had quite the turn out, probably somewhere around 45 people! We originally intended it to happen out in the backyard around a crackling fire, but the weather had other ideas, so everyone had to migrate inside to get out of the mist. It was a great time, though a little bit of a blur of faces. But we really wanted to at least meet people besides just in passing, especially the other neighbors with little kiddos, and on that count it was a success and I think there will be some playdates in this pumpkin's future. Another piece of furniture that was gifted to us was my family's cedar chest and in it was that jolly jack o'lantern, circa early 1980s, worn once upon a time by yours truly. So that made costume procurement for Ida this year easy. I grabbed a cape and a hat from Target the day before and was the least original thing ever, a witch. I got a bat costume (not Batman, just bat, he would have been much more pleased with the former) for Greg that he never even got the chance to put on.
And that about sums it up!

1000 Words

The last half of July was a little on the stressful side. We had family then friends visiting two weekends in a row. Greg traveled quite a bit for work around their visits. Then last week after having appointments in the evening two of the three nights he was home, he left on Thursday, not to return until Sunday morning after taking the redeye back from Seattle. By the time he left for that trip, I was in survival mode. Meaning because I hadn't had a break from baby care in days, because we were struggling and failing to keep our heads above water when it came to routine house and yard work, let alone make progress on the mile long list of projects both inside and out, and because I had let all my self care slide (which at this point pretty much consists of actively trying to drink water throughout the day and trying to go to bed before midnight, not exactly unrealistic goals in theory anyway), I was not in a good place. I was in a horrible funk. My head was filled with negative thoughts that were spilling freely out of my mouth. All of the reasons I should be feeling gratitude were abundantly clear as I looked around, but I couldn't internalize them. Like puffy clouds they just went away when I tried to grasp them and actually feel thankful. I couldn't focus on anything, it was the Buddhist/meditation/yoga concept of monkey mind in full effect. My eye was twitching.

When Greg got home Sunday morning, he took Ida for the day, which allowed him to not only get to spend time with her, but participate in nap time too to help him recover from his night spent in the air. Meanwhile, I got some time to myself. I ran errands then came home and worked outside cleaning Greg's car (in an attempt to make up for the bad attitude I directed at him before I left), mowing and gardening. I should state explicitly 1) Greg is a great father, he's a great husband. He helps me with all the things constantly. And when he's not being those things or doing that, he is immersed in his career, making it all possible for us. 2) I love being a stay at home mom right now. Ida is amazing and she could not be an easier baby in every way. And I am so grateful for her and that I get to be with her every day during these early years. But I am an introverted person and after all that's been written and discussed about introverted people in recent years, I finally understand that I recharge mentally and emotionally by being alone. Just me and the thoughts in my head without having to interact on a meaningful level with anyone else, not even my bright, sweet,  easy-going 11 month old. And if I don't get some alone time, my proverbial cup drains dry. And by last Sunday, that's exactly what had happened.

Crossing things off my to do list especially if that involves physical work, always helps me to feel better. Wrapping up for the day, the funk had lifted away, my mind had refocused, the gratitude came back inside.

My point in all this being that all of the perfectly focused, cropped and filtered photos presented on social media never tell quite the whole story for anyone. Everyone probably knows that deep down others not only have nice houses and pretty things, go interesting places, eat delicious looking food, and have adorable children, they struggle too, with any number of things, daily. But it's easy to forget when you're looking at the heavily edited highlight reels that there are hundreds of outtakes for every shot deemed worthy of sharing.  I've seen efforts by others in the past to acknowledge this, and so I just wanted to say "yeah, me too". I enjoy the pursuit of aesthetics and photography and writing, that's why I'm here and why this spot looks and sounds the way it does. But I do have even bigger problems than cutely deer-nibbled hostas. Generally, they are pretty minor as problems go, but that doesn't mean things don't stack up and overwhelm me from time to time. 

Greg was home all of this past week and now we are in Columbus having a little family mini-vacay. So things are definitely looking way up over where they were a week ago. Stay tuned for the highlights. :)

Oh and these are highlights from Sunday out in the garden 1) love this heuchera/begonia combo I came up with for a hanging basket, will have to repeat next year 2) Ida's sunflowers from seeds I put in her Easter basket on the verge of blooming 3) end of day boot wash 4) hoof prints as evidence

Spring, Take One

Where to begin? February, March and most of April have flown by during which we: got our house ready to go on the market, lost our beloved doggy, spent two weeks desperately searching for a house in Toledo, sold our house, went on vacation, packed up all of our belongings, flew across the country (with a seven month old and an agoraphobic kitty), finally closed the deal on our new home, and our now renovating it before we will at last get to move in a week and a half from now. That's about it. 

But it's all good. A little on the stressful side, but really good. Little Ida is doing awesome. The house that we bought is well, pretty crazy. But more on that later.

We left Seattle two weeks ago and have been staying in a hotel while we work on the new place. These were some photos I took in our yard and around the neighborhood in our last few weeks in the PNW. Spring was in full swing there when we left and when we arrived in Ohio, it had barely begun. As of today, the weather still isn't on board (snow flurries!?), though things are starting to get greener and bloom.

Hoping that the most hectic part of this transition is almost over and more posts will follow shortly!

Good Things in Small Vases

Happy Day 50 
This was the point in the summer when things got a little hectic. I was trying to finish up with my last bit of work before baby-induced retirement which I was hoping to begin before we played host to a series of summer visitors. Though there were plenty of happy moments and things, I just didn't always get the chance to document them. And then came baby. But I do have lots of pics from the rest of the summer and fall, some I actually tagged, some I didn't. So I'll just keep counting happy days here and am going to try to resume formal daily observation of the good stuff till I hit 100. Gratitude seems like a good thing to be reminded to practice regularly this time of year anyhow.
I think I'd been without flowers on the dining room table for awhile so I decided to fix that right quick by gathering this tiny little arrangement of astilbe, cosmos, and salvia from the garden. 

Best in Show

Happy Day 43
My favorite garden in the neighborhood. (Just a reminder I am still catching up on my Happy Days. This was taken round about the first half of June, lest someone think we moved to the southern hemisphere.) The house sits on the corner and all the area between the sidewalk and the curb has been turned into beds with the best mix of perennials, and bulbs in the spring too. It is full of blooms all season. Envious. Especially of the roses and peonies. I am still hoping to get some peonies in place this fall/winter. I read they do better when planted fall vs. spring. Hopefully, as the ones I planted earlier this year all succumbed to something. Maybe some bulbs too, if I can find the time. We've been having unusually crystal clear days for the past week or so, but hands have been too full (happily) of baby for gardening. If I don't get around to things this year, I suppose there's always next. Hopefully I'll be training a helper by then! :)

Glow in the Dusk

Happy Day 39
It was one of the first really warm nights of the summer and I was out walking the dog and these daisies really popped out at me. White is the best choice for evening garden attire. :)

Sprout

Happy Day 35
When we got home from our visit, I was really excited to see that the dahlias I planted had come up. I got a good little bunch of tubers as a thank you for donating to Sunny Meadows Flower Farm's greenhouse campaign. (Sunny Meadows is located in Columbus, OH, we toured the farm two summers ago when I was dabbling in the flower farming thing.) After one of their greenhouses was collapsed by too much snow this spring, they crowd-sourced some funds to purchase and put up a new one. 
Unfortunately this year's planting didn't measure up to the  big, bloom-laden ones I grew back in Ohio. Ironic, considering this is the Pacific Northwest where growing flowers supposedly couldn't be easier. But it was really due to my own negligence by way of not preparing the soil well enough before and not watering enough after this photo was taken. One variety, Barbarossa came through with some lovely flame-y orange blooms despite my gardening failings. Photographic evidence will eventually be provided.

Noted for Next Year

Happy Day 27
Admiring alliums on an evening walk. Going to have to get some of these worked into my space.

Back to the Beginning

(Happy Day 25)
of summer that is. Freshly planted window boxes.

Another Day...

(Happy Day 10)
another nursery, this time West Seattle Nursery, a great smaller garden center, nice and close to home. All these wee little maples, I did manage to choose one for one of our window boxes and a few other things, got them home, and with some help from husband got them in the dirt. Even though it wasn't as much time as I was hoping to spend gardening today (or this week for that matter, given it was in the upper 70s and sunny every day), I'll still take it and be happy for it.

Too. Many. Plants.

Happy Day 9
After work today I visited Swanson's Nursery up on Seattle's north side at Kelly of Botanique's recommendation for the diversity of choices on offer. Even though I was armed with the plant list she provided me post-cutting garden consult, and an idea of what areas of the garden I wanted to tackle next, I still ended up getting totally overwhelmed by the massive selection spread over such a massive area. And I didn't even venture out of the annuals and perennials into the trees and shrubs. So overwhelmed that I walked away totally empty handed! Planning to regroup, sharpen my focus even more, and try again next week. :)

Tidied Up

Happy Day 5
I've observed that, more often than you would think for Seattle, when the forecast calls for a 70% chance of rain, it actually means it will be partly to mostly sunny. Such was the case today, so we made hay, i.e. finished some mulching, trimmed back bushes, cleaned up beds, did a little planting, and swept up walks and patio and deck. This side of the house needs a color intervention, the plantings are almost all one uniform shade of green. A month or so ago, I had a cutting garden consultation with Kelly of Botanique and she provided me with a plant list to add more variety to the established landscape. She gave me a bunch of great suggestions for this stretch, so now that it's all neat and tidy, I can't wait to get started with a little make-over to make it more interesting!

West Seattle Garden Tour

Not exactly a seasonally appropriate subject, in fact as it's pretty much the opposite of the height of the growing season and smack in the middle of the holidays, it's not really timely at all. But as I'm trying to progress chronologically through my backlog of posts and thoughts of what to do garden-wise next year are already creeping into my mind, what the heck. It was still fun to look over shots from warmer days and dream.

Back in July we got tickets for the West Seattle Garden Tour. We saw a talk and arranging demonstration by Debra Prinzing, the queen of "slow flowers" and then made it around to a few of the gardens.

Beyond that, I guess the pictures speak for themselves.

Below are just down the street. Let the record state we scored the smallest house on the smallest lot in the neighborhood. We've been here just long enough I don't feel totally out of my element anymore. :)

Going to try to take some photos of our holiday decorations today and break with the chronological order to bring something that pertains more to December.