Some color

Fall color in our yard.
Piss Popple looks great in the early evening.

Other trees/shrubs are pretty too.

The S word has been spoken many times in the past few days.  An S storm...I am not ready.  Fall is NOT over yet as the leaves still hang in the trees.

I cleaned out the baking cupboard and the spice drawer after I did grocery shopping...I made some good guesses for what I needed.  I now have three bottles of cinnamon.  Threw out the baking  powder that was outdated by a couple of years...and recycled the baking soda into a  jar on the cleaning shelf.  Mission accomplished.

It did not rain yesterday ...the sun came out and nearly blinded me.

Far Side

Garage sale

Getting ready for a garage sale amongst all the reunion “stuff” was a challenge.  But I got er done.

I could be more ready…but today I will open for one day and then finish gathering “stuff” during the week and continue the sale next weekend.  Then maybe another day or so in October, I will see what I have left!

Fall is coming along strong here.  This is a peek out our window…I have the start of leaves to chop up.

Right now, I am thrilled to have a really clean garage!

I have a few other things on my Fall Project list…which was actually a summer project list…but I am old and slow.

Woodbine

The Woodbine or it’s real real name Parthenocissus inserta is coloring nicely.  This vine loves to grow up the Oaks.  Woodbinds send out tendrils that attach themselves into cracks in the tree bark.

The bugs that have eaten holes in the foliage make it appear quite lacy when the sky shines through.  Lately it rains two days and the sun shines one.

Rain is good for the trees.

Fall Color at Guyles Lake

It is not a great year for Fall Color.  The drought we had last spring must have carried through showing up in so so fall color.

Guyles Lake has very little water.

Fall color at Guyles Lake.

We went for a short ride, Chance had not been for a ride in a couple of days.

I worked on Christmas Ornaments outside until the wind and chilly 57 F or 13.8 C eh got to me.  I may have to move to the greenhouse/woodshop to finish up.

I gave up at 5:50 PM and turned the furnace on…I was just cold…and even my sweater and slippers didn’t warm me up.  I guess furnace season is here.

Zinnias

Zinnias are a Fall flower here in Minnesota.  With cooler night time temperatures  their colors become vibrant.

Nothin’ prettier than a Zinnia in September!

Happy Fall yall!  I hope you have Zinnias blooming near you!

Orange and not in a good way

We have been watching a stand of Pines the last few weeks.

They seem to be turning orange all over. Will they recover and live…I am not hopeful.

Here is what they should look like.  This is a similar stand just down the road.  Note the amount of needles turning color are toward the inside of the tree….not all over the tree.  Pines normally drop some needles every year in the Fall.

My best guess is that someone who knows who that might fly around in a helicopter spraying crops got his chemicals all mixed up, or there was a heck of a wind…just a guess of course.

If I were the property owner I would be pissed very angry.

 

“One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds.”   Aldo Leopold

Colorful

The woods are getting more colorful.  We still have not had a hard freeze.  In my opinion the best Fall color happens after a freeze.  It rained a bit yesterday.  There might be some snow in the air on Saturday…it should melt when it hits the ground.

I have taken to napping in the afternoon with an alarm clock, so I don’t sleep for hours. I am feeling less tired which is an great improvement from the total exhaustion I have been feeling for months.  Lyme’s can kick your butt.  My cold is better too, not totally gone but much better.

One of these days I might wake up and feel like a real person again.  I am hopeful.

I put some things on the calendar that were totally me, one evening next door neighbor Jo and I went out looking for colorful trees. Girl time, we took Chance along ..he loves Jo.  We saw 18 deer.  

Yesterday I met fellow blogger Judy who is a volunteer over at Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge… we had a nice lunch at Ice Cracking Lodge.  It is always good to meet fellow bloggers!  Soon she will be headed to a warmer climate in Louisiana and then Texas before heading back north again next spring.  She is kinda stuck in limbo right now waiting for a repairman to fix her fridge.  She wants to escape the snow…I can’t blame her I want to escape it too.

Today I have more museum business to take care of, it seems never ending.  I will set up my office upstairs later in the day and after that we will probably look for more pretty trees:)

Mystery Monday : A Case and Making that list

The trees are not yet peak here, I will guess that will happen in just a couple of days.

Fall pictures are still at the top of my list! The last hurrah before “brown” and or “ brown and white season” gets here.

A little pond over by Toad Lake

The museum has a program scheduled on Monday night, I must spend part of the day at the museum on Monday, and probably a bit of Tuesday too. 

Far Guy has a big to-do on Tuesday night.  He and another classmate have decided that each year on October 1st they are having a class reunion no matter if they are the only two that show up.  He is excited, just like a little kid in a candy shop.

I had a four hour nap yesterday, my daughter says that does not qualify as a nap it is more like a sleep.  I guess I agree, as I woke up and didn’t know if it was morning or night or what day of the week it was.  Good thing I knew my name or I would have panicked.

I will spend some time here at home getting reorganized, my desk is a mess.  It  became a dumping ground for “stuff” the past couple of weeks.  In fact it has spilled over to another table where I keep my laptop…messy messy.  Clutter drives me nuts.  I have been able to keep the dining room table clutter free but only by being diligent.

Pictures, naps, reading and a little reorganization are at the top of the list this week.

Now for the mystery:

This case holds something.  I used to know how to use it but have since forgotten.  The case has a gentleman’s name on it, it has nothing to do with what is inside.  The couple that donated this item along with many other interesting items have been long time residents of the area, age and health has them moving in with their daughter in Maine.

I will post another picture later in the day, unless I am napping then it might be evening:)

You guys are good guessers! Yes it is a slide rule.

Cool and Windy

The weather is cool and windy..I think it must have snowed someplace or maybe an icecap is melting.  The air has a chill to it.

The animals are on the move.   Early yesterday morning Chance sounded the alarm..from his vantage point on the landing he could see through an open window and something came into his yard.  It was a porcupine that waddled on through… I saw it waddling.  I took Chance out on the leash ..Far Guy scouted around and yawned.  He said “It is just moving through.”  Maybe..

We saw some Turkeys the other day…they seem to be bunching up.

I gave Chance a lecture about the skunks and the porcupines..he is a Border Collie after all.

If he was as smart as his is handsome..we would be in business.  He challenged Sophie over at Odda and Putzer’s the other day..Sophie is the in charge welcome cat. Chance ran at her and barked..she stood her ground and tried to rub up against him..well it ain’t no fun if she doesn’t run.  Skunks run and Porcupines run..I wonder if Chance remembers his skunk encounter last year.  I have my skunk bucket all ready just incase.

My Japanese Tree Lilac that never blooms has yellowish foliage this year.

Burr Oak leaves turning brown.  Brown..brown everything is brown. It seems to early for the season of brown.

13 days and counting.  I had the day off yesterday.  Not much was accomplished I slept late..I baked some bread, did some laundry and played with the new camera.  Chance is good company:)

Fall is in the air

It has cooled off. It gets down into the 40 F (4 C) range at night.

The acorns are falling.  If the windows are open we can hear them dropping on the garage or woodshed roofs.  Sometimes it is quite musical.

I collected these acorns for a friend and will mail them off soon.  There are so many of them that I wish there was something I could craft..I thought about stringing a bunch on a wire to use as a garland on the Christmas tree.  It would probably be a pain in the neck project…most of the acorns lose their caps as they fall to the ground and begin to dry out.

Far Guy has been cutting wood.

The woodshed is filling up fast.  He has enough cut for this year and is working on next years supply.

The driveway is beginning to look fall like.  I am not sure what kind of fall color we will have this year…a few more days should tell the story..it may have been just too dry for good fall color:)

Let’s go for a drive!

We like afternoon drives.  This week we went on a few.  We went off into the boonies.  Reminder to self..Far Guy can go seven hours between meals..and I cannot..so take along a snack..just incase one adventurous road leads to another.

I wanted to go down the Hanna Ore Trail.

We didn’t meet another vehicle all afternoon.

Fall is most certainly here.

Bottomless Lake is on the first part of the Hanna Ore Trail. I am sure it must have a bottom..but it is most likely a mucky bottom that seems to go on forever. The lake sits in a deep hole and the road runs along the hill above the lake.

These Maples have a very golden fall color. These are not Red Maples or Sugar Maples..they turn orange and are in the process of turning colors now.

We saw one small animal all afternoon..it moved into the brush so fast we could not identify it. Possibly a raccoon or a porcupine.

The wind howled through our yard all day long on Thursday.  It rained leaves.  Most of them ended up smack dab in front of the front door..huge windrows of leaves stretched along the whole house. 

We are doing real fun stuff in-between rides..like stacking wood and moving leaves:)

Hello Fall

The Northern Red Oaks are turning color.  We have a few in our driveway.

Hello Fall.  I guess you are officially here.  Chance is our very own personal leaf carrier..his big old fluffy tail is like a leaf catcher.

I watched this tree change color.  It is along the road on my way to work.

One day Far Guy slowed down so I could get a photo.  I have always thought this was a Maple.  Turns out it is a Buckeye according to my cousin Chuckie.  I have never stopped along the road to get a closer look…too much traffic.  It is the very first tree to color up in our area.  It stands all naked now..the wind and rain has denuded it.  We don’t have very many Buckeyes in this area…too cold during the winter..but this one is a beautiful survivor.

In the next few days the Fall color will peak in our area:)

Signs of Fall

Today is the first day of Fall, I did not have to go far looking for it either.  As soon as I step outside the door the fallen leaves crunch under my feet. The main trees in our yard the Burr Oaks just turn a poopy brown color and then fall off..not very exciting..we have a few Red Oaks that turn RED..but not yet..that happens later in the season.

My miserable attempt at growing Spaghetti Squash was nipped in the bud by the first frost ( September 18)  last weekend. Of course I was so late planting them that it would have been a miracle If I had gotten a decent harvest.   I might get one tiny squash the size of an apple, unless the deer eat it. I will have to support the local grocery store for my winter stash of squash. Chance and I do not like just any old squash either it must be Spaghetti Squash.  He knows the nights that I have baked it..and he waits for his taste.

The fireplace goes on most mornings now that Far Guy called for a gas fill..I used the oven a few nights to warm it up in here. I suppose I could have baked something..but I wasn’t hungry..just cold. It is a little early to start the outside wood stove, I would be constantly opening windows because it would be too warm in here.

I can feel the urge to cook a big pot of soup coming on.  With fresh potatoes and carrots..and rutabagas.. I will freeze part of it..perhaps Far Guy can bake some bread..comfort food.

Yesterday Jo and I went for a ride down part of the Hanna Ore Road..

A few more days and we will be peak color, unless it rains and the wind blows..it is raining this morning..we have had enough rain.  I talked to a local farmers wife the other day, she said,    “ We have beans to do, and it keeps raining, we have had enough rain to last us until next spring.” 

The view at Bottomless Lake. 

Maple leaves are real show offs!

Yup..Fall is here..I want to take hundreds of leaf photos and then I want to eat fresh vegetable soup and spaghetti squash along with warm baked bread that is slathered with butter and then I want to hibernate till spring..how about you? :) 

You Who?

Euonymus alatus aka Burning Bush. (You on i mus) This is one of my favorite shrubs..mine is stuck over on the edge of the parking lot where it is really struggling. No extra water and competition from the woods is tough on it.

It did survive the summer..here it is all frosty one morning. This is a good photo that shows the stem with the tell tale corky looking wings.


I had the perfect opportunity present itself one day. To show you what different exposures do to this shrubs fall color. I found this very interesting and perhaps you will also.

Eastern Exposure..

Southern Exposure..

A few on the south were vibrant orange! None of them on the eastern side of the building were orange. Now I believe that these are all the same plants, planted at the same time. The soil conditions are pretty much the same and no doubt watering and fertilizing is similar. The only thing that is different is the amount of light they receive everyday. Landscapers usually don't get into many different varieties of plants...so I assume that these are the same exact plants on both sides of the building. I could have asked..but I doubt that anyone inside Perkins would have known or cared..they probably would have said You..who?


I have had a tough week this week, can you say "toothache from hell" .. I broke a tooth and got a huge very painful abscess..so I had the first part of a root canal..it took forever to open up the calcified canals. I am on antibiotics..and I am a tad cranky, and I stayed in my Jammies all day yesterday and took lots of naps..and I might just stay in my jammies all day today too. I didn't do well on the first antibiotics ( Clindamycin or the turquoise capsules that make your stomach feel like it is on fire) ..so the Pharmacist called the Dentist and together they came up with a substitute (Cephalexin). I feel much better than I did..I must be better by tomorrow because I am needed at a fundraiser. Chance and Far Guy are taking really good care of me..:)