Sunday, January 1, 2017

new year


New Year's Eve day was heavily overcast and wet, sometimes sprinkling, sometimes raining heavily up until mid-afternoon though still overcast, still damp but warmer than I expected. We didn't buy any fireworks this year. The daughter and fam were going to come out for the usual fireworks extravaganza but the weather put them off and another person was killed on 59 at Rosenberg this morning and what with the construction, the weather, and the drunks it was just as well to stay home. So far this has been a very quiet New Year's Eve.

Nearly 10 and I haven't heard any racket or seen any aerial displays out the window. The Tee Pee Motel behind us usually has something going on and one or two other neighbors usually have aerials but so far nothing more than a firecracker or two and a few muffled booms from when I was outside earlier. Nothing loud enough to be heard inside. As if no one is particularly anxious to go forward.

Ten minutes to midnight and there goes one loud pop and the dog is an instant quivering panting mess. Looking out the window I see our neighbor on the next street over is making an effort. I'd stay and watch but the dog is torn between quivering at my feet or hiding in a dark corner. Finally I take her into the back bedroom where I think the noise won't be as loud but it is. I climb into bed but she hides in the closet and I listen to the loud booms and crackles imagining the colorful display in the sky. Still, this is the quietest New Year's Eve that I can remember since moving out here. At some point I fell asleep and later the dog climbed in bed with me.

the Little Backyard on New Year's Day

New Year's Day is heavily overcast and wet but not especially cold. I walked around the yard looking to see if there was anything particularly interesting to photograph but not much.


a disintegrating cardinal nest from last spring



I noticed this tight mass of spider silk and when I looked closer I saw dozens of baby spiders hanging out within. They are about the size of the head of a pin.


Usually I write a post on this day about the past year but scrolling through my archive for 2016 I see that last year was mostly dominated by the A&M job, the yard, my trip to Scotland, and the election. I think we've all already heard enough about those.

So, nothing planned for today besides mimosas, brunch, and watching a movie from Redbox though later I might work on a wax model I started last Friday.

Happy New Year!





13 comments:

  1. You found a fair amount to photograph, though the light did nothing justice. The sun is shining mightily here, but too cold to go out.

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  2. I spy a little black and white dog? cat? climbing the ladder.
    It was quiet here too. I went to bed at a quarter till midnight. Fell asleep and woke at 11:am. Perhaps I didn't want to enter this new year. But here we are.
    Happy New Year, Ellen. Here's to success and beauty in your life in this next episode.

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    1. yes, a little black and white dog, a dog the size of a cat. she runs out every morning and up the ramp to either look for the turtle or bark at her if she's already out on her sunning spot.

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  3. All sounds good to me except the fireworks. My weenie Emmy is deathly afraid of them and I wished I had had a firehose truck to annihilate the firework poppers. Next year I think I'll buy some roman candles and aim them at the perpetrators.

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  4. Happy New Year. Hubby does not drink and since we spent the evening alone it seems a waste to buy champagne for just me! Have a great 2017!

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  5. very nice the spider crop looks interesting

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  6. Love the spiders. Outside, of course! Quiet day here, too.

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  7. New Year was overcast here, too. We stayed home--the Little Princess was a bit sick. We watched movies, played with LEGOs and colored. Our outside was not quiet, like yours. As it happens every year, there were fireworks and about three fights at a nearby Irish pub. The rest was just cool.

    Hope 2017 is not as crappy as I suspect it will be.

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  8. Yay for baby spiders! Let's focus on the positive, the burgeoning new life, in the new year! I'm going to do my darndest, anyway.

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  9. Happy new year to you too! Love the spider web - very artsy. And a little bit yikes-y - I want to be happy for the baby spiders, but I'm kind of having a moment where I imagine that they're crawling all over me... (Note to self - go around cleaning the spider webs out of the corners)

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  10. Happy New Year Ellen! You had a busy and productive 2016, and you do an excellent job of documenting in real time. I enjoy seeing your work and your gardens, and you and I are on the same wavelength when it comes to politics. We are in for a horrendous year(s) and I am grieving the loss of sanity in the people who govern at the highest levels. Those of us who honor intelligence, morality, and integrity are going to have to stick together. May the force of good be with us....

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  11. Its was quiet around here also and I only heard a couple of fireworks which seemed to come from about a mile away in a new housing development. I guess many of us felt like Mariah Carey that night when she walked offstage and basically said "screw it".

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I opened my big mouth, now it's your turn.