29 November 2016

Cold mornings, short days

Today is a big test for the new greenhouse. The outside temperature is just below freezing. A few minutes ago, I checked the thermometer inside the greenhouse and it read something in the low 30s in ºF — barely above 0ºC. I hope none of the plants we've put in there is too sensitive to the cold.


Yesterday morning it wasn't so cold, but the temperature outside didn't get above about 45ºF (7ºC) during the day. Inside the greenhouse in the afternoon, with the sun shining brightly, it was a pleasant 60ºF (15ºC). It was sunny when I went out to walk with the dog at about 4:45, so I took my camera with me and shot this series of photos pulling away from the house and the lean-to greenhouse.


Earlier, Walt gone and spread out the leaves we raked up a week or more ago and hauled out to the vegetable garden. The layer of leaves will keep weeds and grasses from taking over the garden plot during the winter, and make it easier to till in the spring. I'll till the leaves into the soil at that point. Those are apple trees that still have a few golden leaves on them.


I took the last photo from outside the back fence. The vineyard is right behind me. You can see the three big conifers that stand in our yard. The sun was going down quickly — it rises at about 8:20 a.m. and sets at 5:05 p.m. right now. That makes for short days, but at least the sun will be shining some this week.

7 comments:

  1. It's still so green. Around here, the wheat is sprouting. We still have tomatoes and peppers growing.

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    1. The grass and hedges stay green all winter. Sometimes we have a thin layer of snow that hides the green and turns the landscape all white. We're supposed to have even colder temperatures tomorrow morning. My walk with the dog was pleasant despite the cold, because there was no wind.

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  2. I am hoping that I can get out to cut the grass one more time. It's so wet now.

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    1. Walt talked about mowing one more time, but he might have given up on that now. It's supposed to be dry for another week so maybe we can rake up some more leaves.

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  3. I love the color of your house and well, everything else too :) My husband got so sick of the leaves and clean up that he finally broke down and hired some young man starting out his own landscaping business and let him do it .. for about 6 weeks we were able to get through the worst of it. Our property was lined with massive oaks and pines. You look at a lovely house on a pretty park like property completely framed with tall trees and you fall in love with the look of it. Reality is not as lovable :)

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  4. We liked this house because of its big windows (you need all the light you can get in this climate) and big yard (compared to what we had in San Francisco) where we could have a decent vegetable garden. And it's on flat land, not on the side of a hill but on top. The setting was attractive because its on a quiet little road which turns into a gravel path right behind the house, and the big hedge seemed to promise a lot of privacy. The big trees were just here already, so we've adapted to life with them. Well, we've had two taken out over the years, and two small plum trees blew over in a windstorm along the way. We also have a big apple tree that isn't long for this world at this point.

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  5. That greenhouse looks like it was always meant to be right there. I love the way it looks.

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