Autumn and moving on

I have begun to wake up around 7 am, a very peaceful time of day. There is some noise outdoors--garbage collection, children crying because they don't want to go to daycare--those kinds of things. Nothing that is irritating. We have had a wonderful summer--sunny, warm, and pleasant. There have been intervals with rain, but they don't last very long before we're back to sunshine. I've loved every waking minute of it. When I wake up, I thank God for another day of life, and then putter about until my husband gets up. I get an early start on most household chores, which I like a lot. 

I love this time of year--the transition from summer to autumn. It's still warm during the day, but chilly at night. Great for sleeping. I don't always sleep straight through the night until morning, but no matter. I know that I can catch up on some sleep during the day. My first thought upon waking is often my garden. I so look forward to being there. Today is one of those days where I know I can be in my garden undisturbed by obligations and chores. I'm done with most of the garden chores--harvesting, pruning the berry bushes, cutting the grass, and planting new perennials. I'll plant garlic cloves at the end of September as well as some tulip bulbs and the like. The major garden cleanup can wait until spring; that way the birds and insects have plants to feed upon during the winter months. There are so many birds, bees, and butterflies in the garden at present. I love seeing them there. 

When the sun shines like it does today, I feel happy and free. When I get to the garden, perhaps I'll continue reading one of the books I started months ago. I did that on Sunday when we had Visitors Day in the garden. I haven't felt much like reading since my operation, but the desire is slowly returning. Visitors Day was enjoyable; I met many people who visited my garden, and we talked about plants and being on the waiting list to get an allotment garden. Several people commented on how beautiful my garden is. I thanked them. It is a beautiful garden that I've poured my heart and soul into. I'm proud of the results, but I know that none of it would have been possible without God's help. He has been with me every step of the way, and I feel that even more since my operation. Just knowing that I could return to working in my garden was a major goal during my recovery. It waited for me and took care of itself while I was ill. That's the beauty of a (mostly) perennial garden. Eventually the only thing you really need to do is water the garden a few times a week. 

I could focus on a few negative things that have happened recently, but I won't. Suffice it to say that I've learned who my real friends are, and I'm intentionally moving on from those who are not. People show you their true colors, especially when you are ill. My husband commented recently on the few friends here who showed up for me. It's not that they could help me very much--he has helped me the most--but they visited, took contact, sent get-well cards or bought me flowers. It meant and means a great deal to me. Just to be able to talk about what I went through and to let it out, has been a relief for me. A relief that some people would actually listen to me without wanting to jump in immediately and tell me that it's all going to be fine. A relief that some people made time for me. I will forever treasure how I was treated by the doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, and the health personnel generally. Their kindness stands out and washes away the carelessness of the so-called friends who are not friends. I choose to focus on the positive, and have support for that approach from Matthew Kelly's book The Fourth Quarter of Your Life: Embracing What Matters Most. It is truly a wonderful book about how to approach getting older/old, and I recommend it for anyone over fifty years of age. The wisdom contained in its pages is priceless. Old age is often referred to as the autumn and/or winter of life. It's fitting that I finished the book as we prepare for the autumn season. Reading the book freed me from worrying about how to deal with certain situations. I've made some intentional decisions and have let go of what hurt me or made me sad. Life is too short to focus on the callousness of others. I am not callous nor will I ever be. Society encourages that now, but it hasn't changed me. What matters most is how we love others, and also ourselves. What matters most is integrity and remaining true to our values and the voice in our soul that guides us onward in life. 

Autumn poem

 

Autumn garden update

Autumn is upon us. In truth, it was already upon us at the end of August in terms of how the garden behaved at that time. The pumpkins, potatoes, and tomatoes were finished growing by then. I've never had pumpkins turn orange that early; they were however quite small. I think the plants understood that there had been too much rain this summer and not enough warmth and sun. In order to grow in size, vegetable plants need warmth and sun. Not this summer.

The perennials and annuals did well, however. I'm not even sure why, because we had so much rain in July and August that I felt sure that there would be a lot of root rot, problems with mold, and other similar problems. There wasn't. Of course I'm very happy about that. The flowers grew quite high and seemed to do quite well. Go figure. Every time I think I understand how it all works, I understand that I don't. The old adage is true--you learn something new every day. 

Walking along the Akerselva River on a beautiful autumn day

My daily walk today was along the Akerselva River, walking on the path that parallels the river. I try to vary the trips; sometimes I'll walk to St. Hanshaugen Park, sometimes up along the river, or sometimes just around the neighborhood. When spring comes I'll do some biking as well and try some of the new routes along the Oslo fjord. I try to walk one to two miles per day; it varies depending on the route and on how energetic I am. Today was another beautiful autumn day in Oslo, so I took some photos as I walked. The color contrasts are lovely. It will start to rain as of tomorrow and will continue to rain steadily for at least a week. By then we're into November and the temperatures will be chillier. I've pretty much finished prepping the garden for winter, so when I visit the garden now it's nice just to sit there and enjoy the warm sun on my face. I'll miss it during the winter months. But when days are like today, all's right with the world. These beautiful days are gifts from God. 

A beautiful autumn day in Oslo

This past Saturday was a beautiful autumn day in Oslo, and I spent a couple of hours just wandering around the city as I often do on nice days. I walked to and through St. Hanshaugen Park and then made my way down Ullevålsveien and walked through Vår Frelsers Gravlund (Our Savior's cemetery), out onto Akersveien and down Telthusbakken where I crossed Uelandsgate and walked along the Akerselva River on my way home.

We have had a very rainy fall so far, so it was good to experience a few sunny days this past week. Today we're back to rain and the rest of the week will be rainy on and off. So when the nice weather comes it's just to make the most of it. 

A very good Italian deli in the vicinity of St. Hanshaugen Park

in the park itself

Vår Frelsers Gravlund (cemetery)

Gamle Aker church at the top of Telthusbakken

The Akerselva River 

The waterfall at Honsa Lovisas house

Autumn in the garden

Each year I try to post some photos from the garden once autumn is upon us. I watch the changes in the garden with fascination: the growth of several kinds of mushrooms at the base of the dead cherry tree covered in wild ivy, grass that begins to turn yellow, the summer aster that has started to wilt, the blackberry bush still loaded with blackberries that have begun to mold, likewise the wilting tomato plants that still have a lot of tomatoes on the vines. The krossved tree is shedding its leaves, as are the rosebushes and black currant bushes. I've already harvested the potatoes, pumpkins, cucumbers, and zucchinis, as well as the gooseberries, black currants, and raspberries. The yellow raspberry plants are still producing fat yellow berries, but now the daily temperature is around 40 degrees so plant growth is slowing. My neighbor had a bumper crop of grapes that she shared with me, so I was able to make grape jelly. The bees are still happily buzzing around the autumn aster and the sunflowers. I've learned that daisies prefer cooler weather; they are blooming beautifully at present. I cut back the hollyhocks and covered the plants with a thick layer of leaves to protect them from frost and cold; my attempt to get them to grow again next year. I've tried to utilize most wilting plants for compost; that seems to be working out well. I'm using the fallen leaves as mulch for plants that need protection for the winter, and I have not cut the lawn short as recommended by garden experts. My wisteria tree grew by leaps and bounds this year, using the steel fence behind it as support for its branches. I hope it blooms next year; it will be beautiful. Wild ivy (turning from green to a lovely golden-red color) and hops have also grown up along the fence; for the first time I harvested some hops for drying. I'm not sure what I'll do with them yet. 

Unfortunately, honey fungus mushrooms (the fungus Armillaria) that attack and kill the roots of many woody and perennial plants began to grow at the base of one of my blackberry bushes and at the base of one of my rose bushes. Both of these bushes have had problems in the past few years; the blackberry bush developed cane rot two years ago and I had to cut it down to the base, and the rose bush was infested with aphids during the past two seasons and this seem to have weakened the plant permanently. In other words, both plants were weakened and vulnerable to attack by this destructive fungus. We had a lot of rain this year as well, and the area where these two plants are was continually wet--ideal conditions for moss and fungus growth. Honey fungus is not a mushroom you want growing on living plants. There is no chemical that can kill it, so the only way to get rid of it is to remove the infected plants. I dug up and removed the blackberry bush, and cut the rose bush down to a stump. It was too large a stump for me to remove alone, so I'll have to tackle this job next spring when I can get help. 

I've never seen so many cobwebs as I've seen this year, in the garden and elsewhere. The spiders must have had a great year in terms of the numbers of insects that got trapped in their webs. There were a fair amount of mosquitoes at the beginning of the summer; they were replaced by small gnats toward the end of the summer. Otherwise, there were plenty of honeybees and bumblebees, and some butterflies and yellow jackets. The sparrows are still hanging around, but most of the other birds (especially thrushes) are gone. That is perhaps the most noticeable change once autumn comes--the absence of birds. They prefer warmer locations; I wonder how many of them migrate. 

I look forward to the change of seasons, even though it means that I won't be able to garden for some months. I understand that the garden needs to rest, gardeners also. It produced so well this year; it was a wonderful summer with enough sun and rain. It worked hard, as did the gardener who tends it. But that is all part and parcel of gardening. There are no results without hard work; the rewards are worth the investment of time and energy. But the rewards are not just the fruits and vegetables that are harvested. Gardeners find peace and serenity in their gardens, as has been written about often. That peace and serenity help our souls deal with the dark cold winter months. As Thanksgiving approaches, there is much to be thankful for, among them my garden and its bounty. 

Lovely pumpkins

A lot of grapes from my neighbor's garden

Autumn colors 

Wisteria growing up along the fence, wild ivy to the right of it

Mushrooms growing at base of dead cherry tree

Wild ivy covering dead cherry tree

Autumn aster (pink-purple flowers) growing along fence--the bees love it

Mold growing on a dead red currant tree branch

The garden as of this week

These destructive mushrooms are called honey fungus

Pachysandra to the right, under the krossved tree, still going strong

Coneflowers (rudbeckia) still going strong

I made grape jelly for the first time and it came out well

Autumn's call

 

I love this beautiful illustration and text about autumn. The illustration was done by Danielle Barlow; she has done illustrations with accompanying texts for each season. I just checked out her website and it is so worth visiting:   https://www.daniellebarlowart.com/    

Enjoy!

Autumn last year was also lovely

And this was my post last year on this date--Saturday October 21, 2017, also about the colors of autumn in Oslo.........

https://paulamdeangelis.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-colors-of-autumn.html

Lovely autumn in Oslo

I went for a long walk along the Akerselva river last Sunday afternoon, and yesterday I spent a couple of hours in the garden raking leaves and taking up some plants that need to go indoors for the winter. The fall colors this year are striking--some really beautiful reds and golds. I took some photos as I walked along the river last Sunday, and some photos of the garden yesterday. And one photo taken last week of a building that is located on the grounds where I work. Autumn in Oslo--this year, it's lovely!

a covered bridge over the Akerselva river

leaves and more leaves

gorgeous autumn colors

a path you want to wander along

Akerselva river 

the beautiful Akerselva river

so many leaves 

the wild ivy has turned red

the mushrooms are back--these are Pholiota squarrosoides 

the daisies are still blooming 

a building not far from where I work