Nightime temperatures in the low teens and snow are in the forecast for this coming week. Old Man Winter is knock, knock, knocking.
The last two Knockout Roses (no pun intended) have been pruned and covered with leaves. They have been blooming right up until we had the first hard frost so I had to wait to prune them. Everything is as settled as it can be for the upcoming winter months, and, yes, I ate that last frozen raspberry. It was cold and crunchy, but it still made me smile.
The sewing machine has been humming for a couple of hours most days while I work on small holiday items – table runners, mug rugs, table toppers, and a wall hanging. For some reason, I’m hooked on buffalo plaid and the red pickup truck with the Christmas tree this year. Are you creating or crafting? Baking something yummy this pumpkin season?
I’ve read a couple of books including John Sanford’s “Bloody Genius,” Michael Connelly’s ‘The Night Fire,” and James Patterson and Howard Roughan’s “Killer Instinct.” Virgil Flowers and Harry Bosch are always enjoyable reads, but Flowers, in this case, was kind of dry, and Harry seems to be on the way out. Sad state of reading affairs when you love Sandford’s normal sarcastic, snappy dialogue and Harry’s dogged determination. “Killer Instinct” is a heck of a story about terrorism in NYC. Three current books, zero cost, no storage – I love my library. Read a good mystery lately?
Today is Veterans Day so I send a sincere thank you to each and every Veteran and the families who supported them.
Freedom is never free but earned by the very brave.
NewEnglandGardenAndThread 
The roses are beautiful, Judy. I’m not looking forward to the cold temps.
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Me neither, and it certainly decrease photography opportunities. After a while, white is white. 🙂
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Yeah. I hear you. Luckily, I have a good supply of photos to use this winter.
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The photo of the rose with the tiny ice crystals is stunning – a little scary, but stunning. I am cherry picking the warmer days this week to try and make some progress outdoors. Low in the teens is not what I was looking for.
Also, this morning is the last time Mercury will transit in front of the sun until 2032 – “visible without aid (with proper filter)” the article said. I got nothing but clouds here.
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You definitely need to take advantage of every day above freezing because they are becoming fewer and fewer. Maddie is definitely going to need her coat this week. 🙂
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I managed to get the big bottom step done today. Later in the week, I can do the next ones. No need to work in the frigid temps.
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That’s right – pick and choose and keep the caution tape up. 🙂
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Will do
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Pam rescued rose blooms just before the frost hit here.
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YES! It is amazing how 99% of the perennials succumb to the cold weather, and those Knockout Roses keep producing right up to a hard freeze. 🙂
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Your pun disclaimer was too late — I’d already groaned. And groaning is certainly in this forecast. It’s too early for this kind of cold! But you certainly timed your photos well, especially with those little ice flecks on the rosebuds. Lovely image! And I think I can hear your sewing machine humming from here!
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Sorry about the pun. I considered taking out the ‘Knockout’ but decided it was Monday, you needed a groan. 🙂
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And you were very right!
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Of course you ate that last raspberry–that would be a sin, to waste it! Are you getting snow tonight? We are supposed to get a foot or more–that is just wrong. I’m doing all kinds of last minute prep for a craft show we are participating in in a couple weeks–left things a little late, didn’t I? Do you ever read memoirs? I don’t usually but recently read both “Hillbilly Elegy” and “Educated” and was blown away by both. It was a nice change of pace from all the mysteries I normally read.
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A foot of snow the second week in November is definitely wrong. 🙂 Unless a person has ever worked a booth at a craft show, s/he has no idea how much work goes into it. It’s a wonder the person can still stand up straight and carry on an intelligent conversation once the day comes. I hope it’s a HUGE success. I have not read those two books, but I will definitely check them out. Thank you!
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Hah! Glad you ate that last raspberry. Amazing shot of the frosted rosebud. Just beautiful. So sad though that so many months will pass without their beauty. We have some snow moving in tonight and tomorrow….not a lot…..but temperatures are going to plummet so it may be with us for some time!
I just finished Bloody Genius and was very disappointed in Virgil. If this had been the first book I read by John Sandford, I would not have read any more by him. The Night Fire is on my library hold list.
I join you in thanking our veterans and their families for their service, and remembering those brave men and women who lost their lives to keep us free.
🐾Ginger 🐾
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I feel guilty saying it, but I’m with you. “Bloody Genius” had a decent mystery, but all the BCA folks we’ve come to love because of their comraderie and snappy conversations woven throughout the book just weren’t there. Every once in a while towards the last third of the book, there were a few chuckles. It wasn’t exactly boring, it was just plain dry and definitely not the normal John Sanford book.
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It’s alway bittersweet, those last few rose blossoms, or raspberries, or even cherry tomatoes. Lovely photographs! Now’s the time to adapt to inside activities, at least until the snow comes if you are a skier.
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I use to be a skier, but haven’t tried it in many years. The skiers are going to be happy with this early snow being added to what they’re already making. 🙂
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They certainly are, the ski areas too. Whenever we get snow before Thanksgiving they do their happy dance!
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The frost on the roses is beautiful. Those temps headed your way sound frigid! Stay warm and let your sewing machine hum away!
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In between, I may make that delicious pumpkin mousse you showed. 🙂
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You just brought a smile to my face! Hugs!
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Would love to see pictures of your finished projects, if you would like to share. Stay snug, warm, and safe. Bad weather coming to Maine, too.
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Can definitely share. 🙂 Hope Little Green is all prepped and ready for a whole new season of snow blowing. 🙂 Our riding mower is parked and covered, and the John Deere snow blower is front and center waiting for the call to duty. 🙂
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Little Green is ready and will get the season’s first workout.
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I like buffalo plaid so I think you can’t go wrong with whatever you make with it. I haven’t read a good mystery lately and that’s a pity. Sometimes I wonder what has become of me, letting important things like getting lost in a book go by the wayside while carrying on like an adult. 😉
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That’s right – you need to find some time to kick back and relax. 🙂
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Nice frosty pix, Judy. We seem to have turned the corner on late autumn as we drift toward the snowy season. I was late in planting some bulbs yesterday and was astonished to see the ground already partially frozen. Seems early to me.
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This winter is starting off early and with a bang.
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Freezing cold here, plenty of snow, slippery roads, and both me and grandpa have bad colds. Today we’re grateful to be retired and have nowhere to go! I’d be quilting, too, if I had a bit more energy.
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When the weather is bad, it really is a good feeling to know you can choose to just not leave the house. But, I’m sorry you’re both under the weather with colds. Rest up and feel better because turkey day and a full house is heading your way. 🙂
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It’s been non-stop snow since last night and the accumulation is depressing. Yet again Mother Nature has ignored my request for a non-snow / minimal snow season 😤
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It’s starting really early this year. I’m hope this isn’t an omen for what’s to come.
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It’s very unusual in these parts too. I’m sure the ski operators are rubbing their hands with glee while I’m looking outside and thinking I really need to clear all that snow.
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Sounds as thought you’re ready for the snow, Judy. We’re getting some and although it hasn’t accumulated too much yet, but it hasn’t stopped either. Cold and windy and tomorrow is going to be even colder. We’ll see what happens. I’m re-reading both Charles Todd series which take place during and after WWI. I’m also partway through the new Jack Reacher book and have just finished the latest Deborah Crombie book. I love her series.
janet
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I’ve got the Jack Reacher book on hold. I really enjoy Lee Child. I haven’t read any of Deborah Crombie’s books, but I’ll be checking out her series. Thank you!
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Your frosty photos look so pretty …from a distance, just as I always think of scenes of snow looking so picturesque …my excuse is, the first time I saw snow was when I was 18, in Europe for a holiday. Then I realised JUST how wet and cold it is….never mind the winds with it!!
I admire all who live through snowy winters.
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If you are engaged in winter hobbies like skiing, skating, etc., it is a wonderful thing. Once you get past those years, it is just somewhat a pain in the backside literally from shoveling. 🙂
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Just what I thought!
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We got close to 7” of snow today. It was snowing when we got up and snowed all day. I was going to cut back by roses this week. Waited too long. They’re covered in snow.
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That’s quite a bit of snow, lady. Here’s hoping you get some melting, and you can still prune away. 🙂
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It has been a strange year. We do not normally give “large” gifts at Christmas. Just small stuff. We go shopping — if we need anything — AFTER the holiday!
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It’s roasting hot here today and 34C, so I’m loving your frosty photos. I’m re-reading Colleen McCullough’s The Thorn Birds. I read it the first time years ago and I’m really enjoying it second time round.
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Roasting hot sounds good to me right now. 🙂 I read and watched The Thorn Birds years ago. Good reading.
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Brrrr! Your sewing projects all sound beautiful. I’m not crafty at all so I stick with photography. Thanks to one of your posts, I have been joying th a Robert B Parker books. Two of the last four books I’ve read are by him. I just finished the latest Longmire book “Land of Wolves.” Currently reading the latest Mitch Rapp Book “Enemy of the State”. Stay warm!
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Photography serves you well, and your readers thank you. 🙂 You are reading some good books, friend. Enjoy.
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Thanks Judy. We read a lot of the same authors.
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It took me years apparently, but I finally read my first James Patterson book recently (“Step on a Crack”). I didn’t care for it, mostly because those incredibly short chapters I’m told he’s known for; I found them distracting. But he’s so popular, I suppose I should try another.
Stay warm! – Marty
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My husband says the same exact thing – those short chapters drive him nuts. I guess I just keep turning the pages and don’t pay attention to them. I enjoyed this recent one, but some are too light, but I guess that happens when you churn them out like his group does. 🙂
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Yeah, we had several inches of snow fall over the weekend. It’s melting now, but I take this as a sign that this winter will be long and cold.
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You wrote Norm 13 degr.?? Brr, I rather have snow then – here it’s in the 60ties, but the nights drop to 40ties. I know that probably would be summer for you. My goodness, Judy, not only do you garden, but also sewing all these gifts. Stopped sewing a long time ago, because most of my friends like ultra modern stuff. They would not have any cloth on the table, or curtains, etc. Happy sewing to you!
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I make small gifts for folks who still use things on the table, but I certainly understand that your generation and those younger prefer more modern. I certainly try not to make the mistake of giving something I’ve labored for days over to someone who will drop it off at Goodwill. I’ve learned that lesson. 🙂
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Judy, you are so kind in making these gifts, and not everyone understands the time and skills it takes (and money!).
I bet I am of the same, or older generation as you are, Judy! But I was used to city life (now I live on the country side, I know), but I worked mostly with people half my age.
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I am NOT a crafter but have many photography projects under way so I suppose that’s my rainy-day preoccupation. Fortunately we almost never are cold enough for snow but honestly this past week has been the coldest, rainiest, windiest I can remember in a very long time. I am NOT looking forward to winter! Loved your flowers this week – a touch of sunshine. And especially laughed at the raspberry comment. As for the books, I find if there’s a co-author the stories are never as good. I read once that well-known authors just add their name to co-authors’ books to help them sell more. Have to try the Sanford tho – love him.
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If you like outdoor mysteries, you might want to try a C. J. Box Joe Pickett book. 🙂
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I’ve been reading Agatha Christie for months now. It takes me two weeks to get through a book these days.I had bought 6 and my mother ended up mailing me all of hers which are 20-some in number, so at this rate, I will be reading Agatha Christie into spring. They are all good. So far, The Clocks is my most memorable read.
We had daylight single digits and teens already (odd) and have settled back into freezing overnights and cold days. I took some trash out in bare feet, bit of sleet, my VERY Georgia Peach Daughter gasped. My husband asked what all the fuss was and I told him and he shrugged. She’s not like us.
I would have enjoyed that raspberry, too 🙂
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I have never read an Agatha Christie book. I think I need to correct that. Winter girl, and we all know it. 🙂
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I haven’t read a bad one — I prefer the Hercule ones, tho, just FYI.
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