My 366-day photography project: week sixteen

Monday, November 16th was a sunny warm late autumn day. It was a good day for yard work. I went to Jean's house to rake the leaves, which were plentiful because she and her husband Paul have a very tall red oak tree in the yard. The winds of the previous week blew down the leaves that remained on the tree. I put on headphones, attached to a digital Walkman and raked to the danceable sounds of jazz broadcast from a Toronto radio station.

Despite the wind and cold, a few flowers continued to bloom.

Lately, I've noticed a large number of ladybugs. They seem to be everywhere... the garden, the laundry room, the bathroom, the porch... everywhere you look, there's another ladybug. Some have spots and others don't. 

Ladybugs like photo ops, too. This one, with its large collection of spots, is very photogenic. 

Here are a few more late blooming flowers.

On Tuesday, I finished raking the leaves. After I finished doing that, I went to the garden, where I cut down the perennials, removed the annuals, planted bulbs, and covered the whole thing with leaves. In the garden, I found another cute critter. I remember being warned when I was a kid not to pick up a toad because it would give me warts. Not a very good listener, I have, over the years, handled a fair number of toads. Fortunately, I have avoided developing toad-induced warts.

This is another view of the garden toad, on his rounds.

Jean and Paul's cat. She has lovely long fur. She is friends with Snickers, the dog. She likes to get outside and explore the neighbors' yards. She also likes to roll on the driveway. Her humans love her very much but she probably has them (and the dog!) wrapped around her little paw.

On Wednesday, it was time for me to put my own garden to bed. I removed the annuals, cut back the perennials, harvested the parsley, and covered the little garden with old leaves. I left the pumpkins to sit on the porch and an anticipating cutting them up and making pumpkin bread next week.

I also brought the garden ornaments inside and placed them in the patio. The garden will sleep. I am grateful for the months of enjoyment that I got from the garden, for the bright colors and the feel of the soil in my hands, for the smell of the soil, especially after a rainfall. 

In the Village of Lewiston, attention was being shifted from Halloween to Christmas. Wreathes and other types of decoration have already started being placed in visible spots, where people are likely to see them, photograph them, and enjoy the season.

On Thursday,  I went for my twice-a-month painting class at Stella Niagara in Lewiston. Here is one of the surviving plants.

Here is yet another late blooming flower.

Still life with bear.

Winter scene with critters that don't normally get along (bear and fox).

One of the lovely stained glass windows at Stella Niagara.

On Friday afternoon, I noticed that the moon was visible so I took its picture.

On Saturday, I walked to the library. This Thanksgiving decoration was quite adorable.

The Friends of the Grand Island Memorial Library were running their book sale, which raises money for programming at the library not covered by its budget. This is library director Lynn Konovitz. He has been at the library as librarian for at least 30 years and will soon retire. He has done a great job and will be missed.

Saturday was the day for the monthly "sketch crawl." It was too chilly to draw outside so I did my drawing at home. For models, I used a pair of Polish dolls. I placed them in front of a window. They are waiting to be called on to the dance floor.

As I mentioned in last week's update, John Pickwell had brought in a bunch of glass bottles. He had turned them into wind chimes and is selling them to raise money for Zion House, located in Avon, New York, which provides female veterans with safe and supportive housing. According to Zion House's website, there are approximately 15,000 homeless female veterans in the United States. For more information about Zion House, take a look at this website: Zion House

Here are a few more views of the wind chimes.

John is a stained glass artist and this is one of the decorations attached to the wind chimes.

Here is a floral decoration at church.

Today, I saw that just a few apples continue to cling to the tree. The leaves are all gone. Most of the apples are gone, too. The old, bruised apples were tossed into the wooded area to feed the deer and the good apples have become applesauce or are about to become applesauce.

Early in the afternoon, it started to snow, the first snow of the season. It was fun to watch through the window. There wasn't enough of a snow cover to photograph. The snow looks like powdered sugar on a cake. Mmmm. Cake...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Next week: pictures of delicious Thanksgiving food!