Mid-Autumn - Monday, October 19, 2020

Last week on Tuesday Johnny of Krause Electric came and started installing the electric lines which will be finished after the drywall is installed. The two garage doors also were partially installed by Elite Doors. 

The leaves of red twig dogwoods in my north garden reminded me of one of Jon Parlangeli flower paintings but in more autumnal colors, magenta, maroon, dusty green, rosy pink. I always look forward to enjoying their red branches against the white snows of winter. Clicking on photos will enlarge them.

The workers were here on Monday and Friday last week and did some Hardie board additions, some more roof work, and added some more interior support for the roof covering the annex and garage connection. Today they're here from C J's Insulation in Applegate to start adding the insulation (cellulose and foam) to the office.

Although we've had several frosts at the pole barn (aka Sans Souci) which sits further back from the Lake Huron bluff than the house, we still have flowers in the gardens around the house - no frosts yet here. I think I appreciate the last flowers in the autumn as much as the first spring flowers.

Colder nights mean that occasionally at this time of the year the bumble bees are caught by the chilling winds outside before they can return to their underground nests. The small worker above and one of this year's queens below that shot. Workers die in the fall, queens find a safe place underground, often a mouse nest, to hibernate during the winter and then when milder early spring weather resumes, are among the first foragers looking for nectar to feed the newly hatching larvae of their  new colony. There are many species of wild bees that pollinate our native plants and have done so for centuries, indeed for thousands of years.

It's still possible to find the old fashioned garden chrysanthemums, like the pinkish one above, that can survive our Michigan winters. Many folks choose to buy the more tender mums that have been grown either further south or in greenhouses. Those beautiful mums rarely survive winters here. I prefer the tougher varieties that can often be found around older homes and farms. I cut back my chamomile in middle of the summer so that I can also get an autumn blast of flowers before winter. They easily self-seed and I've had this strain for years (so long that I've forgotten its true name; can it really be chamomile?). The Heaths next door to our family cottage on Silver Lake near South Lyon/New Hudson donated my first plant.

3 Generations of Icelandic Sheepdogs

Kria, Totty, Kit

Bear reminding me to bring in the geraniums

I like all the workers, however, Steve is a favorite perhaps partly because he actually uses my small picnic table to eat his lunch and he really enjoys the always changing view. Large flocks of Canada Geese fly from nearby overnight refuges to enjoy the cove near my home. Bald Eagles also visit that cove to catch fish and the geese as well.

The ship above was carrying blades for wind turbines.