HARD TO BELIEVE NEARLY A MONTH HAS PASSED since the last post, but December days seem to pass all too quickly and each day was filled with things to do as December 24th approached. Two days before the first day of winter we had a glorious sun filled day and stunning views of newly fallen snow in the Olympic Mountains to the west; an uplifting break from lots of rainy days. I even did some weeding and cold damage cleanup.

The first day of winter here revealed a beautiful full moon that set as the daylight grudgingly began around 7:30 a.m. Not the greatest photo, but kind of neat with Christmas lights on the fruit trees.

By moving the camera quickly I caught a more abstract composition of the moon and lights.

Plants continue to grow and show through the winter. The witch hazel, hamamelis x intermedia ‘Diane’  has begun blooming in the chill of December.

The fava bean plants, are growing nicely in spite of our coldsnap last month, as are some volunteer heads of raddichio ‘Castelfranco’, savoy cabbage, brussels sprouts and turnips. The broccoli plants really took a hit, so no more broccoli the rest of the winter.

ART CLASS finished up the second week of December and I finished a collage piece (below) in response to a poem received ( I also submitted a separate collage piece for the poetry class student) as a part of the annual Art/Poetry Show at South Seattle Community College. It is a collaboration between students in Poetry, Art and Photography classes. Students submit art and poetry and then create responses to those submissions. It is fun, creative and challenging. The show opens January 3, 2011.

AS DECEMBER wound down to Christmas Day I said so long to many jars of of jams, preserves, and pickles and little takeout cartons filled with cookies (decorated with art cut from Christmas cards received last year; thanks to Renée for the photo).

A FEW WEEKS AGO I hung up a suet feeder outside my office window for the flock of bushtits that pass through here twice a day. They were here this afternoon and mobbed the feeder; there are as many as twenty or more at times. They tiny, charming, and great consumers of insects (good!). It is also a treat for the Red-shafted flickers too.