Early this morning I watched a great blue heron wading in the last of the fire prevention pond. A rare siting – white egrets are far more common at the ranch. Nonetheless, watching the heron take to the air was a magnificent site.
I pruned back the butterfly bushes and will supplement the water to them. I removed the spent blooms periodically during the summer, but I do not recall doing a full pruning last winter. I will see how the butterfly bushes winter over.
Speaking of pruning, the grandmother oleander outside the kitchen window is flourishing in the late fall. A profusion of pale pink flowers. Last January MJ and I trimmed off the suckers and outliers and cut it back to half its size. It responded gratefully and is now as full as it ever has been, but fuller and in a better shape. Originally I believe it was a dwarf oleander but not any more. I need not be shy about pruning this coming winter.
The white and pink geraniums have come to life with profuse blooms. The spent blooms are Spots’s favorite snack above anything other than bread. Sadly, the asters are almost spent. Their blooming season appears to be only a month in the fall.
I spent a good part of the day painting the barn stirs, absorbed in my work. The property is unusually quiet with only the occasional farm truck on the road. I was in a contemplative space and did not even hear Mike drive up and leave mail at the house.
A Year at the Snake 