Back in NJ.

11-15-25 SHORT HILLS: The trees have been gradually shedding leaves and now most of the leaves are down. I don’t think there has been a frost yet, certainly there has not been a hard frost. We have had rain, but the rain gauge is put away so I don’t know how much. It’s been windy, but today is calm. The aurora put on a show that was visible at our latitude and further south, but it was overcast here both nights. The color here has been good, but is mostly over at this point.

Before we left Vermont, there was a day of rain that washed away all the snow, leaving not a single flake behind. Subsequently a little new snow has fallen there. 

We had dinner with Lynn and Bill. Thanksgiving is on the horizon.

 

Snow all gone.

Color here, chokecherry in orange and burning bush in red.

New neighbor.

November Surprise.

11-9-25 VERMONT: I woke up early this morning, before the sun, and yet things seemed very bright. A glance outside showed me a November surprise—an inch of snow. It’s in the mid-thirties and raining now, so the snow will be melting soon. The first snow is beautiful. By January, it’s not beautiful, it’s a pain. We go back to NJ tomorrow and normal November weather.   

The dogs are fine with the snow.

White world.

Neither pond is frozen.

The apple tree hasn't been white since May.

The horses take it in stride.

The burning bush shows through the white.

Viburnum berries.

Return to Vermont.

11-7-25 VERMONT: We’re back in VT, and it’s noticeably colder, down to 23° last night. The leaves are almost all down, the grass is still green and the little pond was ice covered this morning. That pond, the upper one, is now back to half full, the lower pond is full and not yet frozen. 

Lafayette is snow covered, and Moosilauke has snow on the north peak. Today it’s in the forties and the high winds from yesterday are gone. The sky is overcast. The horses are getting furry. 

I have been doing more chores. The last hose is put away, the outside water is off. Bed borders are put away. The furnace intake is winterized. The plumber was here this morning and repaired several faucets and snaked the slow drains.  

We have dinner with cousin John tonight, and tomorrow with Shari and Dave.

In bloom: last aster, witch hazel, forget-me-not, fever few. 

Mt. Lafayette in winter clothes.

Moosilauke is also snowy.

Last aster looking very purple.

The delicate flowers of witch hazel.

Yesterday at sunset at 4:30 PM. Pink clouds.

The dogs in orange collars for hunting season, and the upper pond recovered to half full and ice covered.

Judy's new bird house on the right and some color in the burning bushes. [I know they are non-native.]

Fox caught by the game cam.

America Speaks.

11-5-25: SHORT HILLS: Wow!! Election Day was yesterday, and we were very, very pleased with the results. If anyone is not aware, the Dems cleaned up, electing Spanberger, Sherrill, and Mamdani and winning many smaller races, including the California proposition to redo their Congressional districts. In NJ the Assembly will be more than two/thirds Democratic. 

It was a repudiation of Trump’s policies and actions over the past year. His administration is sexist, racist, bullying, abusive, mendacious, viciously retributive, disregarding of the Constitution, extortive, features thievery and thuggery. He has torn up the White House. He has murdered people in boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, all that in less than one year. I haven’t forgotten about the tariffs, the bailout of Argentina. Do you think that he has some big investment in Argentina, a golf course, maybe? 

I can’t wait for the mid-terms next year. Millions of Americans are being hurt by the inflation and soaring health care expenses that he has ignored, as he has ignored the government shut-down.   

Mikey Sherrill, elected NJ Governor.

BD Party and Nor'easter.

10-30-25 SHORT HILLS: It’s another Nor’easter. The rain started during the night and, we have had two inches so far. The wind hasn’t been an issue, so far, and it’s not cold. The weather map shows plenty of storm left even though the rain has stopped for the moment.

The feeders are seeing lots of bird action including the first swarm of grackles. They travel in large packs of fifty or one hundred and descend on the feeders like a street gang and drain them in no time at all. They chase all the other birds away like a pack of bullies. I suppose I should let the birds work it out, but the grackles are too much.

Emmett’s birthday party happened last Saturday, his second BD. It was attended by many local rug rats and family from near and far. There was music, singing, dancing, painting, eating and cake decorated with train tracks and trains. There was very tasty blue icing.

I took some pix of color in the neighborhood.

A brief look at an old favorite.

The trains have been side-tracked for the slicing.

Intact cake with rolling stock.

Maple color with electric wires.

More maple.

More color.

Flicker in a Tree.

10-23-25 SHORT HILLS: We did have more rain, 0.6 inches, now it’s 40° at night and 70° in the afternoon, everyday. Last weekend we had dinner with Lonnie and Bette and brunch with Elaine and Richard. We are caught up with med visits, but are still waiting for the dryer repair to be finished. Both cars have been to the car doctor.

I sat out front watching the feeders today and took new bird pix, including a flicker, who is probably passing through on his commute.

Northern flicker, male, perhaps thinking about the feeders.

Juncos are usually here for the winter.

Mourning dove has just turned up.

Downy woodecker, male, working the suet feeder.

Downy woodpecker, female, doesn't have that red yarmulke.

White-throated sparrow, is another winter resident.

What do the robin and finch talk about at the local hangout.

The holly trees are full of new red berries.

The burning bushes still have the best color.

Hawk in a Spruce.

10-17-25 SHORT HILLS: The first Nor’easter has come and gone. We got a bit more than an inch of rain with some gusty wind that brought down a few branches, but was no problem for us. The coastal areas had flooding and damage. Slowly we are getting cooler, but no frost in site.

The parts for the dyer repair have arrived, and it is being fixed as I write, but not usable til next week. The water sprinklers have been shut down for the season.

We had dinner with Trina and Jeffrey earlier in the week. 

As I drive around on errands, I see the fall color is getting pretty good in NJ. The exciting thing here was this afternoon, I sat down on the porch to watch the feeders and saw something white on top of a spruce tree across the street. The tree is about a hundred yards away. When I zoomed in, the white thing was a hawk. After a ton of pix, it flew away, revealing a red tail.   

 

The burning bushes know how to say red.

Zooming in on the tree top showed a hawk.

More zoom, more hawk.

When the hawk left the spruce, in the middle of the shot, the tail shows red, making this a Red-tailed hawk. The most common hawk we see. All the song birds were in hiding until the hawk left.

A pair of house finches, male on the left and female on the right, in their winter clothes.

There's a lot of berries in the fall, food for the birds to find on their own. These are beauty berries, in vivid purple.