Free Christmas Decorations

pine cones with metallic gold spray

Part one of three home made free Christmas decorations.

Use what is local, ask permission from neighbors to trim their trees, have fun.

Foraging for Free Christmas Gifts and Ornaments.

I found these small pine cones on the side of the road in Laguna Canyon.

I sprayed one side with metallic gold. Another half I am going to spray silver. These I just want a little shine. The branches are quite lovely

For the wreaths I cut Frazier Fir, blue spruce, cedar, magnolia, rosemary and herbs from my garden

Tools needed: garden clippers, wire, hangers, maybe gloves if you like and wire pinchers and cutters. For each wreath I used to coat hangers and casually wired them together in two places. The bunches of greenery are wired in a circular pattern  

Grateful For Glow of Love

Chat about the day.
You wait on me, dinner from La Serena grill.
Relaxation.
A movie together smolders into shared passion.
The sounds of traffic blur by the call of the surf.
Ocean dances rhythmically under the grateful firmament.
She gives Christmas lights, before the holiday, all free.
It is Fall.
Sweet gum leaves dry to take flight
only to be spilled crunchy into the fire.
We bake an atmosphere of crimson cinnamon.

I return home to an existence of frightening darkness. 

You have an early morning. 

I make my getaway on the spine of leaves 

or I will fail and stay within your rose colored bed.

Outside, the moon opens a bowl low 

waiting for the cereal of stars to fill her up. 

Dipper shines low in the northern horizon. 

Polaris finds her way over the glimmer of ocean. 

My car rear lights require new bulbs. 

Santa Ana winds whistle offshore. 

They paint the sunset dusty scarlet, 

make the night sky open deeper. 

Heaven grants seer ability to pierce through minds.

Grateful for the glow of love.

Happy Thanksgiving 

Caroline Gerardo

Paintings on left are Van Gogh Autumn Trees
The crescent moon was out over Laguna Beach last night
I wish you all a moment of reflection for the simple
gifts we are given.
Love,
C G

Pumpkin into a Carriage

Pumpkin spirit

You have the courage, magic, ability to change the pumpkin into a carriage.

Return to writing, exercise, work and savor beauty to create.

pumpkin lady

Jonah

Jonah

Whale released her from entrails
Ebola spreads on sheet sails
 
Behavioral Health misnomer,
a lie, do not admit your butterfly
into a belly of rotten flies.

Climb, swim, work ahead to change
There's no modern science for the brain.
Trust no pharma reducing mental pain.

So we will paint over
rework the canvas
Jonah resurrected

Come out turtle from your shell
Reject the call of hell

turtle dancing with koi

turtle in my koi pond

turtle planter

turtle and water plants

I'm dealing with dark issues. If I wrote memoir it might be horror. I pray your days are easier. 

Painting top is Albert Pinkham Ryder title Johah resurrected. 

Jam Recipe

The nights cool.
Bad dog ate a winter melon on Saturday.
The melon was larger than her four pound body.
I brought the last one to my sister - my nephews
ate it in their driveway without a napkin.
Juice running down their arms
Alex says, "I've never had one."
Every year I give them a few.
I hadn't planned on sharing with the dogs.

The last sunflowers
Gave to a friend diagnosed with cancer.
She asked me to talk about the
pros and cons of pursuing aggressive treatment.
The Japanese have an intense chemo and radiation that
either the treatment kills you or you recover.
Transfusions, lethargy, days by the toilet bowl are things
I never discussed before.
Surprised how open I could be.

The French plums
Mosquito netting over trees
Unattractive but effective - or
songbirds steal my crops.
I make balls of peanut butter and millet,
fill the feeders with black niger
and elaborate tricks to keep the mice away.
Funny there is barely enough to make jam.
I'll share the recipe with you below.

winter melon from the garden

French plums, perhaps they are Italian the first seed came from NONI

Wash then Cut in half and toss pits 12 lb of ripe plums
4 cups sugar
box pectin
tablespoon almond extract
8 pint jars - sterilized ( boil for 5 minutes jar and lid)

Put plum and sugar in large pot medium heat.
Allow to slow bubble for ten minutes.
Don't let it roll boil- stir to keep from getting a scummy top of bubbles.
Don't let it stick to bottom.
Use a pot with a thicker bottom.
Allow to cool
You are going to cook four times.
This may require a glass of wine and music
The last cooking add the almond extract.
Examine how thick the mixture is.
If it is dense as toothpaste you may not need the pectin.
There is natural pectin in the fruit -
all depends on the scientific qualities
of your soil, sun and water.
I'm an organic gardener.
I suggest you add half the box of sure jell
for the last bubbling to be certain the jam sets correctly.
Read about sterilization and keeping the jars and lids free of any bacterium or
molds.
(The complete jars can be placed back into near boiling water to super
seal them BUT sometimes they break and there you have claret colored glass
shards and sticky explosion...)
Label the jars and share the rich taste of homemade jam.

You can strain the skins with a colander on the second cook, (sounds
like Walter White lol)
but I prefer to leave them in. By the time you heat the plums the
fourth time the skins are tiny flecks of burgundy.

Indian Summer

Writer's desk

A clean desk

is no good omen.

Give me piles of notes

memos about preventing ants

Red sunrise 

Vane points hurricane

Barometric pressure between 

send in the fifty third Squadron

Hot Autumn nights 

Cautantowit caught off guard

Smoky destruction ahead

spells the fortune cookie.

Orange Red  Sunrise photo by Caroline Gerardo

Indian Summer by Jozef Clemonski 1875

Notes:

Yes I know it is so not politically correct to even say "Indian Summer." I'm part native and find no

offense in sports teams using the image. Lawsuits in general only benefit attorneys. 

Kautantowwit or Cautantowit is the Algonquin god from the southwest... 

Temperature here climbed back up. I long for cool evening walks. I can't wait to wear wool. My sweet gum is already turning, she is confused. When can I set a Fall hearth? Is it dry and hot where you live?  

Grave in The Rose Garden

Another Grave in the Garden

Hurricane failed to rain?

Leaving passion's steamy heat

whisper then whistle under the covers

like a smoke detector battery gone bad.

Broken on my doorstep

 there's a symbol on the knocker: 

welcome hearts lost in darkness.

If I patch your wings, 

if  I calm your despair,

give me pardon.

Your songs bereft and sad,

make healing grow.

Remember moments when the wind

whips up the canyon lifting chamomile seeds

she's making tea to ease your pain.

Tonight begin a life under the rose garden.

The sun blazes down across the sea.

You came home to me.

Photo of tiny bird on my doorstep this morning.

Flycatcher Fidalgo he was a character in my current

novel in progress. Unknown what happened to him.

 I have a southwestern willow flycatcher pair that

lives in the canyon below me and nests near my fountains. 

They are endangered and don't belong here.

 I wish I knew the cause of death...

This guy is buried under this porcelain plate below the

rose cultivar climber Blair Annabella, my patent 1992 named after daughter.

The rose is hearty. Flowers start pink then the petals blush to cream before they fall.

Hurricane Odile hasn't brought a drop of rain here. 

Are you living somewhere with drought?

 Let me know how you deal with it.

Thousand Steps Beach

Surf waves at thousand steps beach

Sharing my morning walk. Come rest your toes. 

We just climbed thousand steps beach stairs three times.

Star Gazing

meteor

Wanderlust 

star gazing though

I'm no astronomer.

Eyes are meteor tired this morning 

Sticking to my goals, worked late at the office,

ate healthy, edited twenty pages, hiked to the

canyon to see the Perseids shower alone.

How can I say alone when a crowd reached to see?

Strangers whispering and waiting for the sky to open,

sharing a moment with the ancients who sought answers.

Did the Greeks see the same gods as the Shosone?

Firmament reflecting earth, she delivered a 

few omens for us. A child spotted the most.

I'm sending you stars to light your way.

You know what bad habit to drop, execute the 

difficult chore first, don't waste morning on emails.

Get close to your dream right now.

I hand you the wishing star my friend.

antique star sky map poem

northern sky

Perseids Meteor Shower

This post was 2014 this year 2016 I experienced three shooting stars and a cluster of meteor storm right after 3:00 AM August 11, 2016. set your alarm if you live away from city lights or fog the shower can be seen with your eyes - no equipment needed

Here's a link to check when the moon falls or goes down allowing a darker sky to see the stars - enter your local city read the time it rises and add 12 

http://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/

Piero di Cosimo "Perseus"

Perseids Meteor Shower tonight-
Find a refuge away from city lights.
I'll be in Modjeska Canyon
facing due north.
Aries sits on the right of Perseus.
Perseus runs across in the sky.
Catch flaming comets falling -
sparklers from past 4th of July.
Did it burn your bare feet?
I wish upon the stars that
you won't have clouds and
the super moon don't meet.

Caroline Gerardo

My diagram to see the Meteor shower tonight at midnight for my children

Ending In Sight

End in sight on second revision.
This weekend:
worked Saturday with my friend Hillary
it wasn't a paycheck or productive, but we
enjoyed each other's company.


gardened, wrote, hiked, wrote, cleaned, wrote,
wanted to paint the sun shades but it sprinkled
enough to make the cars a mess
they say El Nino is coming,
go figure

edited forty pages but can't decide on the ending
realize I keep using certain words that when
I start the next novel I swear I will delete
here are my sinner darlings:
I think
and
that
sound
***
specific to this novel the repeater / recycled are:
dark
dust
devil

I'm using symbols and

images in the narrative to clarify

the voice that changes.

¥ § ҈ ‡ ∞

When I began this river, this rail
I thought the road was straight
I killed off a character who is sweet
let one get away with murder, again.
Does an ending have to be just?
It's 102322 words, I need to cut
more then send off to Dave Malone
for editing
Then another process of slashing
excess adjectives and adverbs
Sorry no punctation in this one,
just a long rain run on of what I think

© 2014 caroline gerardo

Misty and fog on California field

Rail fountain

waterfall

Read Haiku

Bookcase caroline gerardo

Grab a book enjoy ~ morning light touches this once ~ sit happy and read.

open window to breeze in the garden

reading  chair

#haiku

Abandoned House

Abandoned house

We were superb.
Memory makes things grand.
Pain of stiches after croquet mallet to the head.
Tulle scratches under a First Communion dress.
Under the fruit trees sisters gorged on peaches.
⁂


We were together.
Recollect bits of time, if you can.
Children played outside when Dad was manic, waiting.
Ride a bike to work, deposit the cash before you return.
How many stray dogs did we have? four five or six?

⁂
We had joy.
Go back with yellow tinted lenses.
Put iodine in the baby oil, spit at the sun.
Catch fireflies in Kerr jars, to light the graveyard.
Pray my children adventure to remember childhood.

Caroline Gerardo
copyright  ©  2014

Abandoned house

This morning

hiking trail to beach

I wake early.

A walk in the house in the dark:

the floors creek, the smell of coffee

steams the air, and I'm alive to face

a new day with joy.

May you jump up and yell,

"Yeah."

trellis arch over stone path

garden seating area in shade