'Tis Autumn

Song - 'Tis Autumn by Red Garland

Picked a basket full of Lady Apples the other day and I hope to prepare them for the freezer after having a few fresh ones on top of our salads.

The dogwood tree is enticing me with her beautiful colors.....

And our October Glory Maple is changing overnight into a show stopper.  Every Thanksgiving we take family photos in front of this tree when she is at her peak.

However, everyone is not on the same page - "It's Autumn" so why are my spring bulbs blooming now? Confusing weather we are having?

While I was filling up my bird feeders this morning, I noticed this hawk flying high in the sky looking for some tasty tidbit. As I walked over to our creek, I saw some large water rings and figured there was a large fish beneath the surface.  Then there were more and a creature came up for air.....there were two otters playing!  They slowly made their way downstream before I could grab my camera.  But I'll tell you - it was magical!

"Happy Fact: Otters hold hands while they sleep 
so they don't float away from each other."

Pre-Boo

Song - Werewolves Of London by Warren Zevon

Every Halloween Mr. B and I enjoy coming up with a design and carving our pumpkins.  For the last few years we have made it into a small party with family.  So on Sunday night........

The table was set with parsnip & carrot noses, carving tools and designing tools as well as gut buckets.  Andy even got out the power drill (behind the "noses").

As we began to work our magic everyone got quieter and quieter.......until.......

...Buddy showed up in his Lion costume and we all cracked up as he was so proud of his new look!

Ashley finished her pumpkin fast so she could have some cuddling time with Buddy-the-Lion.

After that Jack-O-Lanterns started popping out all over the place!

And the winner of this years event was Walter's sideways scary pumpkin!

Yikes!!!

 Then we all settled down for some delicious Tortilla Soup & Corn Bread.......

.......with our Jack-O-Lanterns lighting the night.

 As guests were leaving, we found Monica had sprouted fangs and Tyler forgot to go to the dentist....yuck!!!

As the night was winding down, Chewy fell promptly to sleep.

All of this monster stuff was too much for the little guy!!!

And Mr. B and I joined him shortly.

"When black cats prowl and pumpkins gleam,

may luck be yours on Halloween"

--Anonymous

Sisterhood

Song - Sierra by Boz Scaggs

Fall was definitely in the air up at Donner Lake this past weekend with warm days and crisp nights.  Leaves were dropping and swirling on the forest floor.

It was our 11th annual Girls Weekend and on Friday we headed up to the Sierra's for a few days of sisterhood, visiting, reading, shopping, relaxing, food and music.....oh......and quite a few laughs!

However this year things didn't go quite as planned. As Ellen and Barbara almost got locked up in the Truckee Jail!!!  This jail was used continuously from 1875 to 1964 and besides the two prisoners above, it has held notorious criminals such as Baby Face Nelson, Ma Spinelli and Machine Gun Kelly!  However, after we bailed these two out, we just went next door for a good cup of coffee.....

In historic downtown Truckee we did a lot of shopping and a little sightseeing

and we had a wonderful lunch together........

 ...at Moody's Bistro. (we were supposed to be mimicking the lady in the poster behind us but some of us - certainly not me - got confused)!

In the afternoon we relaxed around the cabin and then Ellen gave us a short but delightful talk on her passion of raising honeybees!  So many questions about the life of this very important little critter!

We played a late night game of Scrabble.....

I erased some of the words because of your delicate ears.....

But I promise....there was absolutely NO drinking involved!

"Just remember if we get caught, 

you're deaf and I don't speak English." 

 --Annonymous

PS - The menfolk seemed to adjust to their womenfolk being gone from the homestead just fine!

Adding to the Family Tree

Song - Baby Mine by Bette Midler

Two years ago our son Andy married this wonderful woman Ashley.......

And this March we will be adding another branch on our family tree......

So very excited for these two on their new adventure!


"A mother is always the beginning.  She is how things begin."

--Amy Tan

Our Sunset Chickadee

Song - Little Bird, Little Bird by Elizabeth Mitchell

 As many of you know, we have had a Chestnut Backed Chickadee living in our outdoor light fixture on our back deck.  He/she comes every evening at sunset and although the last few nights I have set up my tripod & camera to catch this fast little being coming in for a landing, I just can not seem to be fast enough......

 .....until now!  

She comes just before sunset and gets a drink of water and a bite to eat.  Sometimes she will stay in the nearby tree and other times she flies off for awhile only to return shortly.

 She always lands on this same branch on our October Glory Maple tree and checks out the situation.  Some evenings she calls out and other times she just observes for awhile.

 The other night I had everything set up and I focused my camera on the light fixture instead of the tree.  And I waited.....and waited......

 ....she flew from the tree, under the umbrella and up to the fixture quickly.

 She grabbed hold of the base of the fixture.....

 ....and pushed herself up inside.......

....and left me waiting right where I began!

Only now I had a big smile on my face.....



"The chickadee and the nuthatch are more inspiring society than statesmen and philosophers, and we shall return to these last as more vulgar companions."

--Henry David Thoreau

Cracker of a Day

Song - Autumn Leaves by Nat King Cole

A few photos from the garden and travels this year......

"I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, 

than be crowded on a velvet cushion."

--Henry David Thoreau

Praying

Song - Wishin' and Hopin' by Dusty Springfield

This morning I went out to the car to run some errands and who do you think I found?

I haven't seen a Praying Mantis in over 20 years.

Luckily I was putting some shopping bags in on the passenger side so I spotted him before driving away. They are considered beneficial insects as they like to dine on flies, crickets, moths and mosquitoes......and sometimes the female will eat her mate!!!

After this series of "head shots", I carefully moved her from the car to a nearby bush.



"Praying Mantis Folklore"

• In some parts of Africa, it is considered good luck if one of these curious creatures lands on you.

 --From the Farmers Almanac 1792

The Sky is Falling

Song - The Sky is Falling by Chicken Little

 Last week I woke up early and went out on the deck to watch the sun come up.  

I love this time of year when it's comfortably warm in the day time but at night and in the early morning it's crisp. 

Later in the week we had a sky full of clouds with only a few drops of rain.  It was fun to watch the clouds sweep across the dark sky. It defiantly felt like fall.

Most nights Mr. B and I like to sit on our back deck in the evening.  We have a glass of wine and talk about our day or make a plan for the future and enjoy the various birds in the yard.


One little chickadee has lived in the light fixture shown above for the past two years. We are not real sure why he or she has chosen this as her permanent home but it has been fun to greet her each evening right before sunset as she first lands in a nearby tree and makes a little call.  She checks to make sure that it is safe and in the blink of an eye she flies from the tree, under the deck umbrella and up into the light fixture!


Last night I thought I would finally catch a photo of her.

I set up my tripod about an hour before sunset and put the camera on "Machine gun fire" so I would hopefully capture her approach and quick entrance.


But nope....with no warning call...........she was in there lickety-split......dang......

 
It was a wonderful evening and we lit a candle as the sky darkened and then I saw this......

Aliens?



Helicopters?


It lasted for several minutes and then "poof" it just disappeared.

Later we found out that Vandenberg Air Force Base had launched a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on the west coast.  We didn't know about it before hand but were glad that our little bird helped us to experience the sight!

"It's not the falling down that counts.  

It's the getting up."

--Mary Pickford

Just Fishing

So sorry if you receive this twice but I accidentally posted this on my painting blog instead of my personal blog!

Song - Belted Kingfisher sound

Monday morning I woke to a gathering of Cedar Waxwings on the bare tree in our backyard creek.  Since the sun was behind them I had trouble getting a good photo.

But trust me, they were Cedar Waxwings with their beautiful eyeliner showing.....

On Tuesday, as the sun was setting, a Belted Kingfisher landed on the same tree and posed for about 20 minutes. You can spot him right?

  He even stayed there while I ran inside for my camera and found a better spot to photograph him from. 

 Mr. B and I hear them all day long going up and down the creek looking for fish but it is rare for one to sit this long.

Thanks little guy as it was a good way to end my day!

"Nature always wears the color of the spirit"

--Ralph Waldo Emerson