Category Archives: The Urban Porch

Gone to Seed

Posted on September 29, 2023 by daeja's view

September quickly steps aside, leaving us with those cool nights where having the window open just a bit provides for a good sleep under cozy blankets. The other morning the heat actually kicked on, just for short while. I bought … Continue reading →

Posted in Autumn, Daeja's Garden, Gardening, nature, Perspective, Seasons, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather | Tagged autumn food, autumn weather, autumn weeds, end of september, last gasps in the garden, slow ripening | Leave a comment

Stepping Out of Limbo

Posted on September 13, 2023 by daeja's view

Mid-September. I’m awaiting a burst of productivity to occur, but it’s not happening. Earworm of the day, recorded by Jimmy Cliff in 1971: Sitting here in limboBut I know it won’t be longSitting here in limboLike a bird without a … Continue reading →

Posted in Autumn, Cooking, Daeja's Garden, Earworm of the day, Gardening, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, summer, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather | Tagged almost fall, colors of early autumn, easy recipe for the unmotivated, feeling in limbo, late summer colors, no motivation, stagnation, waiting for Autumn, zucchini for dinner | Leave a comment

Hit the Road Jack

Posted on August 31, 2023 by daeja's view

What a beautiful, breezy, blue-sky day! I sit here on The Urban Porch ™ with Rudi, watching the busy proliferation of bumble bees, honey bees, black wasps, Blue-winged wasps and swallowtail butterflies hovering about. There are all sorts of smaller … Continue reading →

Posted in Are you kidding me?, Autumn, Coping, Earworm of the day, nature, Perspective, Rant, Seasons, summer, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Wildlife | Tagged aggressive hornet, earworm, hateful hornet, most hated insect, nasty insect, stinging insects, wasps, wasps i have known, yellow jackets | 2 Comments

In the Last Week of August

Posted on August 26, 2023 by daeja's view

The late August flowers growing around The Urban Porch ™ are a haphazard medley of tangerine, apricot and marmalade shades, interspersed with fuchsia, magenta and bubblegum pinks – all of it entangled in a mass of weeds gone rampant. Amidst … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Daeja's Garden, Gardening, nature, Photography, Seasons, summer, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Wildlife | Tagged almost autumn, cinnabars, colors of late summer, giving up on the weeding, injured while weeding, late summer flowers, late summer palette, pinks and oranges, too many weeds, woodlands | Leave a comment

Close to Over

Posted on August 15, 2023 by daeja's view

In a few more weeks the school busses will be back on the roads again. Meanwhile, the kids are buzzing with anticipation as they await the news of who their teachers will be this year. It feels almost surreal how … Continue reading →

Posted in Daeja's Garden, Gardening, Mushrooms, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, summer, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, treasures, treasures, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™ | Tagged almost time for school, August, down another rabbit hole, Earworm of the day, late august, late summer palette, the colors of late summer, unpredictable mushrooms | Leave a comment

Aurora

Posted on July 14, 2023 by daeja's view

If anyone in the immediate neighborhood had looked out their window shortly before midnight last night, they might have seen a woman standing in the center of the street in the middle of a lightning storm, wearing only a long … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Are you kidding me?, Daeja's Garden, Divorce, Flashback, Friends, Gardening, nature, Perspective, Seasons, senior musings, summer, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather | Tagged aurora borealis, bee magnet, garden neglect, hosta, lack of inhibition, lightning, Memories, neighborhood, neighborhood colors, Neighbors, northern lights, rose of sharon, strobe lightning, summer bees, summer insects, summer storms | 1 Comment

The Heat is On

Posted on July 6, 2023 by daeja's view

It’s really the humidity that can get to you more than the temperature. Just in case that clammy, uncomfortable feeling isn’t enough, the frizzy hair barometer is letting me know it’s in the upper ranges. A quick check confirms it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Animal Stories, Daeja's Garden, Food, Gardening, Mushrooms, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, summer, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather, Wildlife | Tagged Earworm of the day, July blooms, kitchen implements, moth plagues of the past, moths everywhere, neighborhood flowers, no mushrooms, orange blooms, raccoon family, spongy moths, The Heat is On, too hot to cook | Leave a comment

Oddballs and Mishaps Around “The Urban Porch ™”

Posted on April 26, 2023 by daeja's view

So what’s happening on and around The Urban Porch ™ this week? Some lovely rain, prompting the grass to suddenly get so crazy high that I actually mowed for a second time. That might be an April mowing record. Inspired by … Continue reading →

Posted in Daeja's Garden, Gardening, nature, Regrets, Spring, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, Weird | Tagged garden idiosyncrasies, I shouldn't have planted that, invasive garden plants, shade garden, shade plants, The Urban Porch ™ | Leave a comment

Unspooling

Posted on April 18, 2023 by daeja's view

I can’t believe I’m back again posting so soon, but it seems the season is suddenly unspooling so quickly that I can’t keep up with it and feel the urge to share my somewhat nerdy excitement about the flora/fauna explosion. … Continue reading →

Posted in Birds, Daeja's Garden, Gardening, nature, Perspective, Spring, The Urban Porch, Uncategorized, Vent, Weather | Tagged dealing with irritation, neighborhood, rapid onset of spring, spring blooms, The Urban Porch, transcending frustration, turning to nature | Leave a comment

Where I Stand

Posted on April 17, 2023 by daeja's view

There are a variety of flags displayed on the front of homes in this area. A few blocks away there is even a street unofficially nicknamed “The Street of Flags,” where just about every house has (or used to have) … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Perspective, The Urban Porch, Uncategorized | Tagged art flags, flags, house banners, making a statement, neighborhood decor, urban porch | 2 Comments

Boom!

Posted on April 14, 2023 by daeja's view

Boom! It’s only mid-April and already the grass on this little patch of front yard suddenly got so dense that I realized I better mow it now, before it gets too difficult to push through. Has Spring come on with … Continue reading →

Posted in Daeja's Garden, Gardening, Photography, Spring, The Urban Porch, treasures, Uncategorized, Weather, Wow! | Tagged high on spring, spring flowers, the season of Hope, The Urban Porch, warm April | 2 Comments

Departures and Arrivals

Posted on April 8, 2023 by daeja's view

The population in the vicinity of The Urban Porch is experiencing many changes. My wonderful neighbor who has been renting the upstairs of the house directly next door for the last two years just moved out last weekend, on to … Continue reading →

Posted in Are you kidding me?, Birds, Daeja's Garden, Gardening, nature, Perspective, Spring, The Urban Porch, Uncategorized, Wildlife | Tagged good and bad neighbors, homemade yogurt, neighborhood changes, neighborhood vibes, relief, spring flowers, trauma from bad neighbors, using up the harvest, what to do with celeriac? | Leave a comment

Out of Focus

Posted on March 31, 2023 by daeja's view

Everything feels out of focus this week. Making order of the thoughts in my head has been almost impossible – an inability to hone in and complete most things without becoming distracted. Events occurring in the news are probably a … Continue reading →

Posted in Birds, Cooking, Deafness, Food, Hearing Impaired, nature, Perspective, Spring, The Urban Porch, Uncategorized, Wildlife | Tagged cooking fail, disconnecting, distraction, external reactions, internal feelings, low-end hearing loss, RSHL | 1 Comment

Arising

Posted on March 23, 2023 by daeja's view

People are coming out of their houses, shoots are pointing up like green arrows from beneath the melted snow. The crocuses and daffodils are lending pops of happy brightness. Birds are returning, winter jackets are coming off, rain is soaking … Continue reading →

Posted in Birds, Cooking, nature, Spring, The Urban Porch, Uncategorized, Weather, Wildlife | Tagged returning of the birds, skunk in the yard, Snakes, spring menu, urban nature | Leave a comment