What a difference in a month! It beginning to look like spring although it sure hasn’t been feeling like it. Temperatures have been mostly single digits C (seldom above 50 F).

The trees are still pretty bare, but the grass is green and growing and the daffodils that we actually sodded over last year have returned. This brings me much joy.

In contrast, a friend helped me plant close to 200 daffodil bulbs in this new garden last fall. They were meant to fill the garden with a swath of yellow, and spill out onto the lawn (which they have done.) What a disappointment they have proved to be.

What’s in your garden right now? Are the spring flowers in your part of the world all finished?

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I haven’t posted for six months. Mostly, it’s because I’ve been busy with many things including back surgery. But I had to compare this spring here in Nova Scotia with last spring – and any of the other 17 springs we’ve lived here. Yesterday morning was sunny! And warm! (well, relatively: nearly 10 degrees C / 50 F) It was a lovely day to spot clean a wool carpet and let it dry on the back deck.

The other (bigger) reason that I haven’t posted is that every time I thought I could set up a quick post, I ran smack up against the Word Press Block Editor. It frustrated me, angered me even. I tried all the tips from various bloggers who have found a way around it – but my screens didn’t match theirs and I couldn’t click on the buttons they said to.

Now I’ve determined that if Block Editor had been what there was when I started posting, I would have learned it. So I’ll learn it now. Please bear with me and forgive my mistakes over the next few weeks.

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Yesterday, there was more snow; today was icier. Regardless, all of it was gone by noon.

There isn’t much in the way of spring here on Nova Scotia’s North Shore. But wait until next month!

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On a cloudy afternoon, following a morning of drizzle, I can still see some autumn colour. It’s amazing that, after the winds of Hurricane Dorian, the remnants of Tropical Storm Melissa, and the mini-tropical depression that pelted us with heavy rain and high winds yesterday, so many of the trees are still holding onto their leaves.

It’s been a gorgeous fall here on the North Shore of Nova Scotia. And today, despite the rain and cloud, was another beautiful day: sweater-mild and glowing.

You might notice some differences in the landscape since, say September three years ago. We’ve chopped down that scraggly pear tree in the foreground, trimmed up the alder in the “rock” garden, and the spruce tree has grown up past the power lines again. But the biggest change is a result of Hurricane Dorian in late August. We lost the hard maple tree at the very end of the driveway, and half of one of the tamaracks. Friends helped us clean it up the very next day.

We also lost a pine tree at the parking end of the drive, a small willow by the barn and what amounted to a large limb (in bits and pieces) from the big poplar tree by the house. We (and the house) came through unscathed.

I hope you enjoy this little piece of nature. I’m not looking forward to the winter but, oh my, I do love the fall!

When I first posted this month for Nonfiction November, I implied that I was returning to my blog, after a break that started in May. Admittedly, it’s far easier to participate in prescheduled events than to actually create a blog post. But here I am.

Some of you may realize that before my break, I was using Exurbanis to list & describe all the books that I’ve read, as the years progressed. And you may also know that I was behind in monthly summaries – by about three years. In January of this year (2018) I posted my summary for January 2015 and determined to myself that I was going to be up to date by the end of the year. Instead, I stalled at October 2015, and am now a month further behind than I was in January.

The thought of trying to finish this project almost kept me from returning to blogging. So – I’ve rethought how I’ll keep my book records, and what I’ll use Exurbanis for. If you’re interested in my reading history, you’ll find it pretty much up to date in Library Thing or Good Reads.

That frees me up to post in greater detail about some of the books I read, the ones about which I have something to say to you, without feeling obligated to document them all. And it allows me to talk about other things that are going on in my life and (maybe) to return a bit to the intended purpose of Exurbanis which was to discuss country life.

For a start, here’s what my husband and three friends did yesterday afternoon with our winter’s supply of wood. It’s three stacks deep and there’s two rows stacked up on the deck.

Bill is repairing the ends as I speak, preparatory for tarping it against the rain and snow.

After the work was done, we sat by the wood stove in the dining room and ate chili and drank rum and Jägermeister and told tall tales. There’s nothing like a wood party to cement friendships.

I hope you’ll stay with me as my future journey on Exurbanis unfolds.

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The last day of November was beautiful with our first major snow, heavy & fluffy and clinging to to branches. December 1st was a bleak, chill day with a rain-like snow that the photo didn’t capture.

The Weather Network was telling me it was 3C (37F) with no precipitation but it was snowing, I tell you!

So dreary.

What do you see where you are?

I was wrong about all the leaves being gone by now. On sunny days (becoming fewer after a beautiful October), there’s still some gold in them thar hills.

I expect to see a drastic difference–and little evidence of life–by the end of the month.

What do you see where you are?

Last week when I made the trip to town I saw only a branch or two turned colour. This week, entire hillsides are red and gold. The trees I see from my window are late performers, I guess, although the green they’re wearing is looking mighty tired. Even the sky looks washed out.

The afternoon shadows are so long so early!

By the first of November, I expect the leaves to be gone, so you’ll likely miss the colour show.

What do you see where you are?

We were on a road trip to Ontario during the last week of August, so I missed getting my end-of-August photo. Here’s one from earlier this week.

I’ve heard dozens of flocks of geese pass overhead since we’ve been home. Flying south for the winter. Already.

Autumn is creeping in even though it’s been hot and humid (very UN-Nova-Scotia-like) for the past few days.

Is the sky as blue where you are?

Time for the monthly update on the view from my office window.

The past three weeks have been sunny and hot, as many other places have been. It was beginning to look as if we would have a “mini-drought” but yesterday the clouds moved in:

And then it rained – one of those beautiful summer rains that come straight down so that you can keep all the windows open and hear it drip from the eaves, and smell that wonderful warm-earth-meets-rain smell called (very unromantically) petrichor.

It rained gently into the night. Today promises to be sunny and hot again – perfect for the beach!

How’s the weather where you are?;

Time for the monthly update on the view from my office window.

In the photo, there doesn’t seem to have been much change since the beginning of June. But when you’re here, you can tell that the wild roses in the circle garden are blooming, and everything is just fuller.

The weather in June was crummy for the first two weeks: cold and rainy. The rain pushed back the fence-building work which, in turn, pushed back the tree trimming. That pear tree in the foreground has got to go!

It’s been lovely since and all the rain and then the sun has made everything lush. This long holiday weekend promises to be sunny and hot – perfect beach weather.

How’s the weather where you are?;

In April I decided to post a view from my office window on the last Friday afternoon of each month.

I was half-way across the continent last Friday afternoon (the last one in May) so I’m posting a photo from today. I didn’t want you to miss seeing the “May Effect”.

Nova Scotia came alive over the past month!

It’s still too cold for the beach (9C/48F now, at 10am, and the forecasted high for today is 15C/59C) but it’s gorgeous for yard work (like pruning that pear tree). And the lilacs are just beginning to open!

How’s the weather where you are?

A few years ago, I ran a series of pictures with the view from my office window every Friday afternoon. I stopped because I thought there wasn’t enough change week to week to bear recording.

What I’ve decided to do now is to post a picture from the last Friday afternoon of each month.
We’ve had a milder winter than a lot of places but April has been cold and spring is still slow to come. I maintain that it’s only the first three weeks of May that are spring in Nova Scotia, anyway.

I’ll be in Ontario for a couple of weeks in May, so I’ll miss a lot of it. Buy–hey!–it’ll be summer when I come home!

And what a difference a day makes: this was yesterday.

How’s the weather where you are?

A year or so ago, I ran a series of pictures with the view from my office window every Friday afternoon. I stopped because I thought there wasn’t enough change week to week to bear recording.

What I’ve decided to do now is to post a picture from the last Friday afternoon of each month. Since tomorrow I have a Giveaway Hop post scheduled, I decided to start for April with this Thursday view.

It’s April in Nova Scotia. We’ve had a milder winter than a lot of places but spring is still slow to come. The tree in the right foreground is a pear. No buds. The trees at the end of the driveway are tamaracks. No buds. There’s a birch tree across the driveway. No buds.

But just you wait. May is coming – and May’s the month that summer comes to Nova Scotia. Be sure to check in for the May 31st photo!

I don’t know who is the genius behind Wordle but I’m sending out a big THANK YOU!

At Wordle, it’s free to create your own word clouds – and then you can change the orientation, colour, and font. It’s a little tricky to copy the image, but there’s lots of valuable FAQs to help you along.

This Wordle is Exurbanis at the end of January 2013.

One of the percs of country living is being able to see the stars. Countless nights, we have arrived home and stood outside our vehicles, head back and jaws open in awe. In the city, such viewing was impossible and limited to annual vacations in the ‘north’, or visits to a friend of a friend’s country place. (That didn’t happen often.)

Tonight is one of the best nights to have a ring-side seat to the stars because, of course, it’s time for the annual Perseids meteor shower, the best of the year – here in North America anyway.

So, just what is a shooting star? My research tells me that comets orbit continuously throughout our solar system. As the earth passes through a comet’s orbit on its way around the sun, some of the debris from the comet falls to earth as meteors. A meteor is a solid chunk of ice or metal that heats up the same way a space shuttle does when it passes through Earth’s upper atmosphere. They attain entry speeds of 12 – 18 miles per second and get hot enough to begin to vaporize. The evaporating gas from the meteor emits light, making the glow we see “shooting” by as the meteor falls toward the earth.

Unfortunately for me, today is the first rainy day in two weeks here and there will likely be too many clouds to see any stars at all tonight. But if you’re some place where you can observe this year’s show, here’s some tips I’ve picked up from country star-gazing.

• Get comfortable. A reclining chair, chaise or blanket on the ground will provide the best view and prevent a sore neck.

• Sitting or standing still outdoors can be a chilling experience, even in the summer. Bring a jacket or sweater and perhaps some blankets. This is especially important if you are accompanied by children who will be stretching out on the grass to watch the meteor shower.

• In many areas, you’ll want to use insect repellent to keep away mosquitoes and other pesky critters.

• Ten to 20 minutes before going outside, turn off all the lights in the house to help your eyes become accustomed to the dark. Of course, all of your outside lights should be off. If you find a lot of light in your neighborhood, you might organize a shooting star party, encouraging everyone to turn all of their inside and outdoor lights off for the evening and join you in watching the sky.

• While you’re waiting for the shooting stars, take a look around at the rest of the night sky. Next to the sun and moon, the planet Venus is the brightest object in the sky in the Northern hemisphere. You’ll see appear it above the western horizon just after sunset and may recognize it as the poetically named “Evening Star.” Or find Polaris, the North Star, around which the whole northern hemisphere sky seems to revolve.

Check a star map for what planets, stars and constellations are currently “showing” in your area. The trick to using a star map is to read it while holding it over your head. Suddenly, the ‘north” at the top and the ‘west’ to the right make sense!

• To see the Perseid meteor shower, look high in the northeast sky in the direction of the constellation Perseus and let your eyes relax and wander. The later you stay out, the better your chances are of seeing lots of shooting stars. After midnight, the earth turns into the direction of the meteor shower and you will see more meteors from the leading edge of the earth.

If you can’t get out tonight, when the Perseids shower is at its peak, there should still be some activity in the sky tomorrow night as well – and there’s always next year!

Are you going out to look for shooting stars?

I’m sitting here by my office window drinking in the smells and sounds of the first rain in several weeks.

I remember learning the word petrichor several years ago. It’s said to be the only English noun that means a specific scent: that distinctively pleasant fragrance of rain falling on dry ground after a long, dry spell. This gorgeous word was coined by two Australian geologists, I. J. Bear and R. G. Thomas, in a 1964 article that appeared in the journal Nature.

Whatever it’s called, I’m loving it!

And the cat seems to be enjoying it too!

We’ve been having a warm, sunny summer, conducive to the growing of lavender. The plants at Seafoam Lavender Farm 20 minutes from here are thriving (although I’m told they could soon use some rain).

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books.

Lobster fishing season opens Tuesday!

Last week the boats in Toney River, Nova Scotia were lined up ready to take on their traps (seen piled on the wharf in the background).

The meme Snapshot Saturday is hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books. Visit her blog to see more great photos or add your own.

The Saturday Snapshot meme is hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books. Visit her blog to see more great photos or add your own.

I took this on Wednesday in beautiful Malagash Nova Scotia. The water of the Northumberland Strait (part of that same North Atlantic that sunk the Titanic) really was that blue.

Could you tell that it was was only 5C / 40F?