Outdoor Mom's Journal - October 2018

During our outdoor time this week we went..outside to enjoy sunsets. One of my favorites was on October 16th at 5:21 p.m.

In a matter of minutes, the sky changed colors.

Interestingly, to the northwest, the sky was still light.

Here's another view from around the same time.

During the day on October 28th, the sky was so blue. The clouds were pretty as they floated in the sky and were reflected in the pond.

The most inspiring thing we experienced was...the sunsets. Here's a sunset on October 30th. I really like the blues, lavenders, and magentas of the sky and clouds.

Our outdoor time made us ask (or wonder about)...if there are more typical colors of sunsets at different times of the years. Do you see more yellows, reds, and oranges in the summer; and blues, purples, and magentas in the winter?

In the garden, we are planning/planting/harvesting....October is the time of the year when there's not much planting and not much (if any) harvesting. I did manage to plant over 100 bulbs in the garden by the back door once everything was completed in that area from construction/repair and residing the house due to the fire.

I have a variety of bulbs that I planted; and I'm hoping that the squirrels and voles don't eat the bulbs. Before planting the bulbs, I put down black dirt since a lot of that area was sandy fill that was brought in.

I also planted bulbs under the pine tree - mostly tulips in reds and purples.

There are a few bulbs planted under the apple tree. Not many, though. The ground was getting harder to dig in and get the bulbs planted.

 It was a rather meager year in the garden. I don't think I'll be planting vegetables next year. They don't seem to do well in the gardens by the driveway. Maybe I'll try bulbs or flowers next year. 

I added nature journal pages about...again, nothing. I am thinking of getting a pre-designed nature journal where I can fill in information and observations. Maybe I would have more success then.

I am reading...pottery and clay books, and getting ideas about how to incorporate natural elements into pottery. On October 11th, I picked some leaves and pressed them into clay.

I cut them out and let them dry for a week so that the imprint of the leaves would be left in the clay.

In a couple of weeks, the leaves will be fired, then glazed, and then fired again. They should be done by the first week of November.

I am dreaming about…seeing more beautiful sunsets. They never get old.

A photo I would like to share...this is the last Halloween that Sophia will be at home. Next year she will be at college. This year, on October 31st, she wanted to be a bat. Interestingly, her first Halloween she also was a bat. She didn't realize that until she looked at her Halloween bag. Each year we trace the girls' hands onto their bags, write the year, and note what costume they wore.

Speaking of bats, we haven't seen too many this year. We have a bat house and had hoped they would have moved in. Maybe next year.