December Notes

The season for a retired person, such as myself, to enjoy indoor hobbies is definitely here. Outside work is on hold until Spring and indoor entertainment can enjoy full blown indulgence. Tomorrow my friend Willis (the family's 1929 Willis upright piano) should be playing a sweeter tune after it's session with Tom the piano tuner. Reading, bird watching, long telephone chats with friends and dabbling with water colours while listening to podcasts are at hand. And of course there is the delight of touring favourite blogs from around the world. Trips without leaving the farm, so to speak.

On the practical side, now that summer chores are suspended, I know that I've promised myself to tackle the boring task of de-cluttering shelves, tables, cupboards and closets. This battle against my inter pack rat is always a challenge. Too often 'stuff' accumulated over decades only gets shifted from pile A to pile B. Nostalgia and sentimentality are the enemy of my good intentions and items long past their employment (like my reference books, largely ignored for the more convenient resource of the internet) get to live and collect dust for another day/week/month/year/decade. But, it's all too daunting for now. Time to gaze out the window and see what's more interesting outside!

The plumes of my Siberian bamboo indicate wind direction.

A northern cardinal snacking on a wild cucumber vine seed.

Chubs, the cotton tail rabbit hopping over my garden's frosty lawn.

Thomas, a local tomcat, sneaking into my garage to check on the handout dish.