Holiday season weekend

Nova

Santa dropped by the Twisp Grange Hall on Saturday and Amanda sent us a few pictures. Maya is conspicuously absent, being much less impressed with the jolly old elf than her older sister.

I spent yesterday, the Feast Day of St. Nicholas, decorating tree and house.  A big job,  and I was going to spread it over two days this year but got on a roll.  Done.

These cute little elves I bought in a Cripple Creek last spring look happy now that Christmas is here and they can finally come out of the bookcase.

The longest night

Woman Reading by Lamplight

Delphin Enjolras

The sun set at 4:18 yesterday and the length of day is now about 8 hours.  "Daylight" is relative, because this includes the murky twilight that begins around 3 pm.  We complained about the cold last week in Seattle but were spoiled by that string of sunny days.  We are reminded just how dark it is in December. I watched the waxing gibbous moon rise each clear night out on the deck, but we won't see the full moon. The weather is milder now, but wet and cloudy.

The world is getting close to the Winter Solstice. For all of Earth's creatures, from squirrels and birds to bears and humans, nothing is more fundamental than the length of day. Unlike the wild creatures, we have a warm, cheery house, good food and wine.

The solstice happens at the same instant, everywhere on Earth. In 2014, the December solstice comes on the 21st at 5:03 p.m.  That’s 23:03 Universal Time. This is when the sun reaches its farthest southward point for the year and the Northern Hemisphere has its shortest day and longest night of the year.

Today is the birthday of the Pre-Raphaelite poet Christina Rossetti.  The lines of this poem she wrote are now a well-known Christmas carol:

In the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter
Long ago.

Christmas preparation

There are advantages to living in an "urban village."  Yesterday was the last dry day for the foreseeable future, so I dropped by the West Seattle Nursery and picked out a Christmas tree.  It will be delivered free to the front door today. A nice service, although I suppose the fee was already factored into the amazing price of an 8-foot Noble Fir.   There might be times when we miss John's little old truck, like hauling home a tree or carting bags of potting soil.  But I could sure get used to this delivery service idea.  

Each January, when that fresh tree has turned into a dry needle bomb and I've cleaned up all the mess, I swear we'll get an artificial one next year, like all sane people. Then I forget about it.

So Christmas is starting to slowly shape up around here-- it takes the entire month to get ready for just one day. The first step is putting stuff away to make some empty space for the Christmas stuff.  A person can collect a whole bunch of decorations in 40+ years, and all those boxes have to be handed down from the attic this weekend.

I'm also starting to "think" about making cookies, but as John pointed out last night, I'd better do more than just "think" about my annual contribution to his holiday potluck:  A cookie for every Boeing employee.  (Not really, but it feels that way by the time I'm done baking!)

The Christmas dishes are upstairs, ditto the box of Christmas CD's.  Speaking of music, I've been working on learning a few of my favorite Christmas carols on the ukulele, and top on the list is The Holly and the Ivy.  There might be a little plinky-plink Christmas concert if I can just find enough time to practice.

Paperwhite narcissus

Nothing is sweeter than the scent of paperwhite narcissus blooming indoors at Christmas.  The bulbs are sold in the fall for about a dollar each, and it only takes five or so to make a nice pot.

There are just two types of bulbs for indoor growing: those you need to pre-chill and those you don't.  Bulbs like amaryllis, freesia, and paperwhites are tropical varieties. These zone 8 to 9 bulbs don't like winter, so they don't expect a cooling period like tulips or hyacinths. 

You can plant paperwhites in a shallow bowl and just use pebbles to hold the bulbs in place. No soil required, because this is a one-shot display. They'll usually bloom in a few weeks.

Mine never look this good-- the stems flop over right before they bloom.  I read this morning that to  keep the stems short and sturdy, the bulbs should have indirect light and temperatures of about 50 degrees for the first two weeks, then warmer, brighter conditions after that.

Or you could plant them in a tall vase like this clever person and they can flop around all they want.

The weather here is perfect for indoor bulb growing and I put my dish of paperwhites in the chilly corner of the kitchen green house window for now. They seem slow to sprout this time, which I think is a good sign.

It's still very cold and we've had snow on the ground of several days, which is unusual in Seattle. This is the first morning since Saturday with the temperature above freezing, and that California rain is headed north.

Maya

 

Sugar and spice, and all things nice...

Freezing olive trees

May 2010

I've been nursing this olive tree along in a pot for almost five years. It was finally root-bound so I planted it in the garden bed this fall to fend for itself.  



Nothing adds a touch of California like seeing an Arbequina olive tree outside the window.  This particular variety is the most productive and common olive tree in the world.  And yes, those little green dots are actually real olives.  In the Puget Sound region, these self-fertile trees can produce crops of high-quality fruit (according to the optimistic tag) but that only happens in summers with plenty of hot, sunny weather, and if the birds don’t get them first.

Arbequinas are supposedly hardy to around 15 degrees.  It's only 23 degrees this morning in Seattle, so we're pushing it.   I gave him a little blankie to help keep warm these past few nights.

Hard to believe December has arrived, and there are only 30 days until the end of the year.  With all the hustle of Christmas the month will pass too quickly.  We blinked, and 2014 is almost over.