OUR HILLTOP ABODE

Welcome to our hilltop abode. It is a modest home tucked into the forest and it's cozy. We still have many leaves to rake up but why bother until they have all fallen, right? Oh, I go out occasionally and rake a few but there really is no sense in trying to do it every day. Most days it looks as if it is raining yellow leaves as they go floating down to the damp green below. I often wish that I could capture one of them in the process of falling. The red door is one of three on our house. This one goes to the workshop and the front red door is hidden currently by the storm door to the right of the greenhouse glass. I wish that storm door could be painted red too. Maybe one of these days...B? Could you?
Step into the front yard and look at a few things before you have to leave. I've left the gate open for you. You are welcome to walk around my cottage garden and take a peek. Up there on the deck is a ceramic pot filled with a corkscrew willow. Willow...do you have one of these at the Manor? If not, you need one. It has the most wonderful, crooked branches that create winter interest once the leaves have all fallen off.
This wonderful hand-made bench was a gift to B and me from our friend Dennis. He makes all sorts of benches and furniture and loves to use old recycled wood. This one has legs made from cedar and the seat is made from redwood slats. I could have more than one of these in my yard and be quite happy.
Here is my green house or sun room. It is in the front of the house and gets southern exposure so all winter long it is cozy warm. Soon, it will be filled with all the plants that are not winter-hardy. I put them outside in the spring and they get a good dose of sunshine and vitamins before having to winter-over.
This guardian woman came to me from an artist at California State University at Sacramento. I love how she is perpetually looking for something. Reminiscent of me. She sits in the front yard and watches over the plants all summer long and in the winter I bring her in to the greenhouse where she has the same job. I bring her in to the safety and warmth of the greenhouse so that she won't crack from freezing. She occupies the same spot in my garden each year. It's as if that space in the yard is just not "right" unless she is there. When I finally bring her inside it is as if I am finally admitting to myself that winter is here.

There are things I enjoy about winter (the sound of the rain hitting the roof, the smell of the wood smoke in the air, the pile of heavy quilts and comforters on my body, the ability to finally wear clothes that are cozy and cover my legs and arms, the warm foods that fill my tummy and warm me from the inside). But then again, there are things that I don't really look forward to. Some of these things are power outages, earlier darkness, rain and gray skies for weeks on end, slippery ice, and my inability to stop eating when my tummy says "full". It is much easier to eat and eat, especially when there are "clothes that are cozy and cover my legs and arms".

I bid you adieu, adios, but not adipose. No-----never adipose. Not unless you have "clothes that are cozy and cover [my] legs and arms".