Pinecones and Cardinals Spend Time With my Japanese Larch (Larix Kaempferi)

 I have a couple of newcomers to my garden: Pinecones!

They are on my Larix Kaempferi! 

A partial view of this evergreen tree can be seen in the image atop this entry.

Close-ups of the pinecones who have made their home in her branches can be seen in the next two images. 

I was so intrigued by the presence of these pinecones that I researched on pinecones and found lots of interesting content.

Friday Follow Up: "Oh, Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree ...."

The nearly one year old photo atop this entry features Christmas tree sellers from Gaspé, Quebec, Canada; and it is one I featured in my Christmas Day post for 2017.

I'm including it again within this entry because I've reconnected with JM, the woman in the middle of this image.

My rescue tree rescued me.

THE STORIES IN MY BOOK SERIES ARE SET  MY GARDEN

Twas the night before the night before Christmas; and I found myself disappointed about having no tree. For the past several years, I've had one in my rooftop garden and in a number of cyber venues, (including posts here on Blogger), I have discussed how I've decorated it with white lights as well as  bird feeders.

I think my not having a tree when it was the night before the night before Christmas would have come as a surprise to Juan V, because the last time that he was here to help me do our winterizing ritual in my garden, he firmly predicted that I would get one. He even left a space for a Christmas tree with an easy to access a power cord to use for any lights that I might hang on it. All of this can be seen in the image atop this entry.

The thought of having no Christmas tree for the array of wild birds who visit here and who have used my various Christmas trees to keep warm over the years made me sad. And I dare say that members of the avian community have come to count on it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR JAMES MIRANDA (HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!)

Today is my nephew James's birthday. He can be seen in the photograph (which was taken in 2014) atop this entry. It features James checking out a garden hose that I had mailed to him. James's hose is a custom made one in the sense that it was made from my garden hose which can be seen in the picture directly below,

where it is indicated by an arrow I've superimposed over the image; which was also taken a number of years ago. It's an old story, but I'm featuring it today in honor of my nephew's birthday; and, also as a suggestion for what one can do with a garden hose that is too long or cumbersome.

Tuesday's Truths: WK 23: Ten Lords A Leaping

Welcome to the twenty-third week of my Tuesday's Truths series! Today also happens to be the Tenth day of the twelve days of Christmas! [This post is in the process of being updated.]

Christmas's Ninth Day

It's the ninth day of Christmas!  [This post is in the process of being updated.]

Tonight is The First Night of Chanukah Moreover, it's also Christmas Eve!

Tonight is The First Night of Chanukah. There will be a menorah lighting ceremony on 59th Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City, at the southern most point of Central Park. According to a NYC-related web-page, the menorah to be lit is 32 feet tall and weighs 4.000 pounds! The menorahs pictured in the image atop this entry are just a little smaller than that (-;

Be that as it may, in spite of having Jewish ancestors, I know very little about Chanukah or the lighting of the menorah, but I have read that "Chanukah means 'dedication,' and commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after its desecration by foreign forces and the Jews' victory over the Hellenist Syrians in the year 165 B. C. For the rededication celebration, the Maccabees desired to light the menorah and looked everywhere for oil, finally finding a small flask that contained only enough oil to light the menorah for one day. Miraculously, the oil lasted for eight days. The message of Chanukah may be found in the name of the holiday itself: dedication —not only of the temple building but of individual lives to the pursuit of high religious and human ideals." This quote is something I discussed in bygone years in an entry here on Blogger where I wrote about a parallel between Advent and Chanukah.

Follow-Up Friday: Using Christmas Tree Parts & Other News Re "Words In Our Beak"

The reindeer figurine (Alexie) featured in the picture atop this blog entry is sitting in my apartment, engrossed in her reading a proof to be submitted to Small Editions for the soft-cover version of Cam's book, Words In Our Beak Volume One.

A Pants Rack Is A Dining Spot For Jays In The Know

BLUE JAY

A blue jay enjoyed a peanut from atop a new perching place in my urban (NYC) garden, a re-purposed bamboo pants rack!

Info @ https://www.facebook.com/TheLastLeafGardener/posts/847349885314386

Just a heads up: many antics of the bluejay bird type will be featured in Words In Our Beak, Volume Two, the sequel to Words In Our Beak, Volume One, which is written in the voice of a female cardinal and is available in Apple's iBooks' Store @ https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/words-in-our-beak/id1010889086?mt=11 

As you may know, the goal of the series, Words In Our Beak, is to open readers to a simple understanding of the winged world and their environment. Set in a rooftop urban garden in New York City, the stories are told in the voice of Cam, a female cardinal, who visits it. Words In Our Beak is directed to children and adults who are curious about birds, and want to learn about them from a unique perspective. The book includes hundreds of images of flora and fauna, links to movies, as well as to informative narratives that have been created by the author.

ADDENDUM FALL 2018: 

The non-hardcover version (or versions)  of volume one within the Words In Our Beak book series that are mentioned in this entry may only remain available for a limited time, but hardcover versions of volume one, two and three can now be found wherever books are sold.

MY BOOK SERIES

Please click here to go to my blog post that provides details as to where you can get these books. Additionally, I have rendered some images from these books into other formats and they are available via Fine Art America (FAA). Some of my other photographs (Black & White Collection, Kaleidoscopic Images and the famous Mandarin duck who visited NYC) can also be found on my FAA pages.

The Sixth Day of Christmas

The last time I posted here on Blogger was 12-5-13, twenty days before Christmas, and, now it is already the sixth day of Christmas, a day when someone's true love gave to them among other things) six geese a laying . . ."

While I do have a true love, he did not give me six geese a laying, but my visiting crocodile (pictured above with six Christmas trees atop his back) reminded me that on this sixth day of Christmas, I do not need six geese a laying because in the main room of my studio apartment, I have six Christmas trees a standing . . .  

My crocodile is correct, for in the main room of my apartment, I do have six trees a standing. Three of them are in my armoire as seen in the image below.

And you may recall, dear reader, (from previous posts here on Blogger), members of casts of characters "hung" out for the Halloween and Thanksgiving seasons in my armoire for it has become a place where whimsical characters have designated as a place to meet 'n greet, to network with one another, and to save me from taking myself too seriously.

A Lesson from Reindeer!

The three reindeer seen in the image atop today's blog entry are enjoying a good laugh about the antics of yours truly (as well as the antics of my visiting candy corn fraternal twins). For as you may recall, dear reader, in my last post here on Blogger (which was this past Wednesday, November the twenty-seventh), I was in full agreement with the candy corn twins' "not-so-fast-advice" when it came to the preparation for the Christmas holidays; and rightly so, for at that time, it was the eve of Thanksgiving and the corn twins had every right to tell the Peppermint People to hide their faces until at least December (which they ultimately did as seen in the image below which was featured in an entry on hometalk).

But now it has been a week since Thanksgiving and the Christmas season is in full swing in New York City. The famous annual ritual of the lighting of the Rockefeller Christmas Tree took place last night, less than one week after the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade; another annual event, one which I covered here on Blogger in 2012 (in posts that you may refer to by clicking here as well as here)  because it was the first time I had ever seen the entire parade.

"The Monday After Thanksgiving" (in 2012)

Look up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's a Christmas ornament — "floating" near some trees! Christmas is one month and one day from today, the Monday after Thanksgiving, and of course the stores and the media have been cashing in on this fact since Halloween. 

Moreover, a big portion of Macy's Thanksgiving Parade had (as it always does) a good number of floats and balloons "dedicated" to the Christmas holiday, including the ornaments seen here against the "back drop" of Central Park.

Tonight the neighborhood tree lighting at Lincoln Center will take place, and on Wednesday the Rockefeller Center Tree will be lit. "Normally" a tree lighting ceremony at The South Street Seaport this week, but, as per info on the web, "South Street Seaport's annual holiday traditions have been hampered due to the aftermath left behind from the enormous impact of storm flooding in our neighborhood."

New York City seems like several different cities at this time, as several areas are quite devastated by Hurricane Sandy, while others continue to go about business as usual. If one cannot donate monies or time directly to hurricane relief efforts during this holiday season, there is always something one can do locally for their friends in need, such as visiting the elderly, homebound and those that are in assisted living centers such as the one I have volunteered at for nine years.

But reaching out to others does not have to involve a lot of time or money, as every little bit helps! For example, yesterday, a man from my hood, helped me pull my Chelsea Larch (AKA Japanese Larch or Larix Kaempferi), out of a "high-end" container in which it had been planted in my urban (NYC) garden, as I wanted to donate the container to his garden at our parish, but, because the larch was root bound, I was afraid I would break the container getting the tree out, hence my need for his help.

It gets dark so early now that I was not able to get my tree into its "replacement digs," a container which has been awaiting my wonderful larch! 

Therefore I had to prop it up in the container without planting it properly and hope that it would survive the cold night in order for me to plant it today, which I plan to do (with Michael's help) later this morning or early afternoon on this Monday after Thanksgiving.

"The Monday after Thanksgiving" may be a "phrase" that will remain with me throughout my life as it was one of the last things my father said before his death in 1995. On November 22nd of that year, my father recorded a tape from his hospital bed stating, "The doctor hopes to have me out of here by the twenty-seventh . . .  that would be Monday. The Monday after Thanksgiving,"  but alas that was not meant to be, for he took a turn for the worse and ultimately died on November 30th, 1995 — three days after "the Monday after Thanksgiving." This is something I have written about in prior posts here on Blogger, including an entry which may be found by clicking here.

In any event, seventeen years later, on this Monday after Thanksgiving, among other things, I hope to be successful in giving my Chelsea Larch a comfortable new home!

As for this day also marking the count down for Christmas, I won't start writing cards or decorating my home as I do not like to rush the season — or any season for that matter — as I have indicated before when folks were rushing the onset of spring, the onset of fall and the onset of events in general! 

However, I do confess that I've put a number of "pre-Christmas" figurines (deer) in my indoor succulent garden as it is an "installation" where I frequently change decor. In this instance I wanted to remove my Thanksgiving figurines, yet not fully decorate for Christmas at such an early stage, so I "replaced" the Thanksgiving figurines with a deer family until I "officially" decorate for Christmas. Photo-ops of this lovable family enjoying my succulent garden as well as the back story on the man who created these deer will be posted some time this week, so please stay tuned! Meanwhile, a "sneak preview" (image) of one, a "member" of my deer family can be found below.

By the way if this adorable guy looks familiar to you, his "extended family" were a part of my terrace garden decor last season.

Oh, Christmas Tree, Oh, Christmas Tree: How Good to Use Your Branches!

Oh, Christmas Tree, Oh, Christmas Tree: How Good to Use Your Branches! The branches of Christmas trees make great winter blankets for an outdoor container garden.

Friday Follow Up: "the reindeer effect"

It is TGIF (Thank God It's Friday) on TLLG, and, as you undoubtedly know from a plan I posted this past October, I try to dedicate Fridays as an "opportunity" to follow-up on things which are in the news or which I have discussed, hence the clever post title, Friday Follow-Up 0-8

This past Tuesday on tumblr, (where I "send" TLLG Blog Spot followers on Tuesdays), I wrote about "the reindeer effect" in relation to a reindeer figurine, who lives in my indoor succulent garden, and I accompanied what I said with the following image of that particular reindeer.

Today's post has to do with some reindeer that are new arrivals  to my urban (NYC) terrace garden, and who can be seen in the photograph at the top of today's blog entry.

Easter Season Decor Ends (for the year) in the Indoor Succulent Garden

This past Sunday was the Feast of Pentecost, which ends the Easter Season, and, even though the Easter Season is a fifty day celebration, I am already feeling a bit unfulfilled —  despite my participation in the intense Easter observances as well as the preparation for them during Lent. 

Therefore, I was consoled to read the following comment by the blogger, Emily L. Hauser who is referring to her experience with her 2011 Passover celebrations.

Hauser writes, "It really does seem that every year, Passover goes by faster. One minute I'm hyperventilating over the inhumane amount of cleaning, the next minute I'm saying 'what, it's over?' But here we are. Tonight is the start of the second holiday, the one that closes the week, and boom — its back to bread." I realize that Passover 2011 ended quite some time ago, and that for Ms. Hauser the festival of Shavuot (which is symbolically and historically related to Pentecost) was last week, but it is aways comforting to be reminded of the fact that my emotions are hardly unique to me, and that, in fact quite often, they transcend cultures and belief systems.  

Additionally, as this Easter Season comes to a close, I am also reminded that it is probably time to remove the Easter decorations that are interspersed with my indoor garden of succulents which grow  (under a special lighting system using cold/hot bulbs) in containers that have been lovingly and strategically placed on top of humidity trays (that are laden with pebbles), which are resting on a space 

I've created for an indoor garden on top of my kitchen armoire. (Please see this past blog entry for details.) You may recall, dear reader, that I initially created this indoor garden during wintertime (a few years ago) to have a home for some of my plants that would not withstand winter temperatures and conditions. (Yes, this does happen with my outdoor plants — on rare occasions —  in spite of my attentive winterizing methods — methods that I have described in a previous blog post which can be found by clicking here.

In any event, indoor gardens are quite nice to have — even if you do have the space for an outdoor garden. You may recall that in an earlier blog entry I wrote about a neighborhood indoor garden, a garden that is a celebration of the textures of succulents; and if you'd like to reread it, you may refer to by clicking here.

As for my "armoire-top" garden, it now contains a variety of succulents found at the Greenmarket at Union Square in New York City. 

My NYC Terrace Garden Spring Cleaning: Opened 62 Presents, Welcomed 2 New Arrivals

BEFORE:

AFTER:

AND A LOT OF FUN IN BETWEEN:

Yesterday, April finally relented and gave into Spring. Perhaps she heard me bring up the "cruelest month" quote from T.S. Eliot the other day, and said, "oh not that  bit again . . . " because yesterday's spring-like weather certainly made up for any ill feelings regarding April. I was able to unwrap all my herbs, plants, shrubs, and trees that had been fitted in winter-gear early last December when they were winterized. It was like unwrapping Christmas presents — 62 of them.

Home for the Holidays

As part of this year's winterizing my roof-top garden, my Fagus sylvatica (Beech Tree), 'housed' in a lovely container, was removed from where it had been placed in what had been a frame for a table.

You may recall what I wrote about this in an earlier entry and if not, please click here. In any event, the reason for moving the Fagus sylvatica was that it was located at the extreme northwest corner of my garden and very exposed to nature's elements.

With winter-like temperatures setting in, I had to protect it by having the container wrapped twice in bubble-wrap, then 'sealed' with burlap (from on-line fabrics) tied tightly with jute, and then butt it up against the southeast portion of my roof extension garden. All the plants alongside where the Fagus had been located were treated in the same way and moved as well, where they could all huddle together, but placed in such a way as if they were sitting in an audience and each needed a good seat to see what was happening.

Turning the Tables in Garden Decor

A SCENE IN MY ROOFTOP GARDEN

The ability to define my goals in salient points does not come easily to me. It never has. I tend to view most matters in layers and get caught up in possibilities. As a young junior high-school student, I agonized over the standardized PSAT when it came to multiple choice questions. The traditional choices for those test questions was usually something like this: Sometimes option "a" but never option "b" when "e" and "f" are present. On one occasion, when I questioned the teacher about various scenarios (which were delaying me from being able to go on to the next page), I was put out in the hallway, with masking tape bound over my mouth, and told "when you are ready to stop asking questions and make a quick choice you, can come back to the classroom."

This problem of taking too much time to weigh the answers in multiple-choice test questions occurred in test-taking again, when I was in high-school and took the SAT. There was a test question about how many clothes-pins it would take to hang laundry on a clothes-line. I found myself thinking, 'hmmmm, that depends . . . is the clothing heavy jeans and towels, or is it something light such as under garments?' I lost all my test taking time on those types of test questions, and since SAT scores are based on time as well as knowledge.

Fortunately, I passed the SATs with a score high enough to get into college, and I used my layered thinking to my advantage, graduating from the university with honors. My graduating from college, and my deliberating over option A and option B in relation to test questions, was a number of years ago, but the inclination to consider various scenarios of a given issue still prevails. 

Juan's Breathtaking Installation of Trivets Allows Donna's Legacy

The blooming of my Sweet Autumn Clematis in my urban garden, is in full swing; the vine and its flowers are playfully wrapping around Juan's Installation as evidenced in the image posted above this entry.

The precious delicate flowers against the rough brick provide a legacy to Donna, the grower from Cheerful Cherry Farms (whom I posted about in an earlier post). Donna sold me the Clematis paniculata plants a couple of years prior on that hot May morning, when she wore a wool cap and winter coat. I say legacy, because a few weeks ago I went down to Union Square (USQ) to tell Donna about the growth of my Clematis paiculata, but I only saw her husband, Jim.It was unusual not to see her with him, and I suspected that something had happened to her, but I said nothing. Recently I returned to USQ again, and Donna still was not there. This time I asked Jim about her.

Juan's Installation

I now have a vine trailing up that wall, and it is jumping on trivets that have been placed on the wall by the artist, Juan. I had seen Juan’s “installation” of trivets on a wall at a shop on the Upper West Side of New York some years ago and had long admired their placement. 

This year Juan has been working with me in my urban garden because, in addition to being an artist, he is a gardener extraordinaire. Since I had so many trivets from years gone by, I asked him to do an “installation” on my brick wall so that my Clematis paniculata (Sweet Autumn Clematis) would have a place to play. The Clematis is loving it! This vine is somewhat of a newcomer (one year old) to my outdoor space.