All Things Bright and Beautiful

There are so many wonderful posts on the internet today of the autumn colors. The first are from Steve Goble and then I made a small collage with them. TRUE COLORS!

I was encouraged to take a buggy ride as the temperature was up to 70°. The last time I ventured out my fingertips turned yellow with the coldness! Well I did find color. It was the same everywhere. I was warm.

As I rode the dirt roads, leaves got in my hair, my buggy floor and on the windshield. I stopped and got out with the cane and poked around, finding some exceptional ones and brought them home for a project. I just couldn't resist. Will show you at another time how I used them. The maple were the prettiest - so variegated - the oak were tough and in perfect shapes with slight hues and not all brown.

AT home I dared to hang my new stained glass piece on the porch hook just to see the bright and beautiful colors. I definitely won't leave it there through winter though!

It looks like a home across the lake is having expansion underway. They better hurry up before the snow comes!

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Autumn Color

Not leaves! Not landscape! 

I made peanut butter fudge today. Tomorrow I am thinking about making a crustless pumpkin pie. I do have that tiny Honeynut squash to cook for dinner tomorrow as well. It is patiently waiting. Seems a shame to cut it. Gotta get into the mood for the seasons I guess. I cleaned out a closet today. All of my clothes have grown and I have shrunk! Poor James won't be dressed, though. He is full of bee nests and the damage of birds and weather has me thinking about how to handle him as my guardian of the cabin. I'll think of "something." Created in 2010 is a long life for a stump even though he was treated with preservative every year but last.

I haven't had a piece yet!! 

Hope to put some candy corn in my table dish soon. I like that stuff!

(A great-granddaughter turned 7 today. Time flies!)

Visitors on a Beautiful Day

My granddaughter (L) and her cousin (R) drove here from upper NY state and we had a great visit. It was a three hour very scenic trip one way but they didn't stay over. I haven't seen her for several years due to the pandemic and then her uncle (my son) and his lady came to visit as well - a two hour trip to here! She had never met him in her lifetime as he is the brother of her deceased father. Another visitor stopped in! It was her aunt - my local daughter who has recuperated from the virus, and has had recent hip replacement. It was her first time driving herself. She does have to use her cane hook to help her move the leg in and out of the car, but was determined to visit. Of course she brought homemade applesauce for me and the last of her garden tomatoes to share with us.  

I was too busy to take pictures but here is another shot of my granddaughter and her cousin, the driver!

My granddaughter is the mother of four adult offspring, and the grandmother of two young boys with another baby due in her family next year. Her cousin is the mother of three and they all keep really busy. 

Later in the day, after things calmed down and NY went on the road to home, my son and his lady took a long buggy ride. It was perfect! He had picked up something on their way here that he wanted identified. I knew what it was but researched it anyway for them. We used to call them "horse balls" but I don't know why. I did know that the trees have long sharp spikes and were used as fence lines to retain farm animals. I took a picture of his find and then showed him the results of the research.

Osage Orange Horse Apple Monkey Ball Maclura Pomifera Tree.

The “hedge apple” is the yellow-green, softball-sized fruit of the Osage-orange (Maclura pomifera).  The Osage-orange is a small- to medium-sized tree.  It commonly grows 25 to 30 feet tall.  The Osage-orange is dioecious. Dioecious plants produce male and female flowers on separate plants.  Small green flowers appear on trees in May or June.  Female trees produce 4 to 5 inch diameter fruit that mature in September or October and fall to the ground.  Osage-orange fruit are also called “hedge balls.”  The common names “hedge apple” and “hedge ball” are derived from the widespread use of Osage-orange trees as hedges by farmers in the mid-nineteenth century.

Link to another research site here:

"Horse Apples"

Gifts were exchanged and great camaraderie prevailed all day! I was so happy to see them all together. 

Autumn "Regulars"

Every year on the beachfront grass under the large pine tree I have found many mushrooms growing. Maybe they are appearing on a regular basis due to the underground tree roots that must be huge, though hidden. 

This morning a neighbor walked by with her beautiful young Portuguese Water Dog (puppy) and I asked her to please take a picture of this year's mushrooms as I know the lawn guy will mow them down in the afternoon.  I just really hesitate to ambulate down the incline to shoot them myself. 

The results are very nice and she even captured some of the little asters that always flower here in September.

I did go through my 2021 images and found that I didn't send my buggy (the old green one) out to storage until November 2 so I hope to be able to do the same this year with the newer one. That will give me one more month to ride about and find pretty.

Heat's on!

Aging...

James is still here but really leaning and getting thinner. He is doing his best to glow in the Autumn chill today!

Everything in my life is aging. At least my new computer charger came in the mail today and I won't have to buy a new laptop yet! I did look at them and there is even a 16" model which I would very much love to have. I cannot justify that purchase now when the charger fixed my problem this time! Actually I live with a lot of old stuff. I'm very comfortable with old stuff! Comfort matters.

Rainy Day

I drew and colored this leaf with an old application I forgot I had, called ArtRage Lite. Then I put it into a free internet application called funny.pho.to. It just fit the day here! Autumn Rain! 

Please tap image to experience raindrops.

It took me two hours of work to make it! That helped pass the day!

Feelin' Fall

No apples here yet, but soon...... a run to the orchard with a friend and the purchase of the rest of my yearly supply of cider is well anticipated. The things I like best at this time of year have to be the colors and the beautiful decorations I see all around here. I keep it simple. The pumpkin is a ceramic that was delivered to my mother when she was living at the skilled nursing facility. It was filled with freshly cut multicolored autumn flowers. The funny part is that you cannot see what she did to that pumpkin! She took a marker and drew a scary pumpkin face on the back side. That was way back around 2000 and is the main reason I have kept this treasure!

Soon after I made this arrangement, my daughter arrived with a wonderful bouquet of flowers from her garden.

By the way, heat's on! The Regency propane gas fireplace insert heater is the only source for heat and it has been going strong since 11-01-1997! It was purchased for only $2,346.42 including installation. It is serviced every year and I think that's why it still functions so well.

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October

Today would be my Mother's 107th birthday. She died in 2005. I miss her. She was born when her mother was age 40. She never had brothers or sisters.

Momma's Near  ~July 31, 2009 GMR~

Momma's on my shelf

Because I put her there.

It was four years ago

She doesn't have a care.

She's close to me nearby

She doesn't rest alone.

She watches over me

As she has always done.

Her time was filled with joy

Her time endured some pain.

Her love of God was strong

On my shelf she shall remain.

 

Autumn

The Mister and Beatrice are in good company with Dusty Miller and Pink Seedum.

James is hoping to survive his 12th winter.

This dandelion just won't give up!

Yep! Autumn is on its way...

"Yellow the bracken, golden the sheaves.

Rosy the apples, crimson the leaves.

Mist on the hillside, clouds grey and white,

Autumn, Good Morning, Summer, Good Night!"

~Florence Hoatson

It's What I Do

They’re not expensive ($1.75 for 50 at Target) but mine are OLD and CLEAN.  Every year I have washed my clothespins at the very end of summer and stored them until spring in the antique box that hangs on the side of the cabin. This box has been there for as long as I remember. It hangs on two screws and has been painted a flat black sometime in its lifetime. When laundry was ready to be hung on the lines, the old tin box was transferred to the front carport pole and there were two special screws for its placement, making it very handy to use. When laundry was brought in, the box was then transferred back to its safe and dry place by the side door. 

I know this is not a very exciting story but I feel I should tell it anyway. I no longer am able to hang laundry on the pulley style clothesline and have given in to not doing something that I found very satisfying, BUT … I CAN still do the annual clothespin and box cleanup in preparation for winter. So … this is what I did today. I washed and am drying my clothespin hoard. A long time ago I tossed my old-old pegs - sorry about that - but just the feel of the cleaned pinch-style made me feel good! Crazy old lady!

In the past I have created unique and custom craft items using this style pin. I  even won a prize at the local fair for my little clothespin rocking chair! (Sorry never took a picture of it.) This is one I found on the internet that is similar.

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Have you ever watched the guy on the TV ad when asked by his next door neighbor, “Why are you shouting?” His answer is “Because that’s what I do!” Ok enough said. 

Last Hurrah

Close to frost last evening. I'll cut some Seedum to have them dry out in an old fruit basket and then start emptying the flower pots and beds. One more look at this year's colorful porch surrounds. After doing this, I'll start dehydrating some of the apples we brought home from the orchard. Maybe - maybe I'll bake an apple "something" as well. Sun is out but it is deceiving - not warm. 42° in the shade on the thermometer. 

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Summer Ended

When not a single hummingbird has sipped nectar from the feeder for two days, I knew they had left. That means that summer is truly over, even though we may have a few more warmer days. Soon it will be time to take out all of the plantings, cover the swing and golf cart and air conditioner. The propane heater and generator have already been serviced. The heat tapes for the water supply will be switched to "on." James will be covered with wood preservative and then sport his winter warm attire. We are ready for the change. I plan to nip a few of the Seedum stems with blossoms for an autumn display on the porch before everything is cut down and gone. They are not nearly as large nor as full as in past years. One has even moved away to start a new life in the woods! The good news is that the apple orchard is opening next week and we will start our usual projects. It is a nice autumn ride out to the farm. We buy 12 half gallons of freshly pressed cider - one for each month ahead. It freezes really well after we top off a bit from each jug. We will buy enough apples to make pies, applesauce, apple cakes and to dehydrate some. It will be nice to socialize with the owners and workers there. One day at a time is how we live our lives now - one day at a time. I have a turkey to roast. I'm looking forward to baking breads and cookies! The bread is a new challenge. Oatmeal bread, clay pot bread and others. More on that later. It will be fun - I think - and tasty!

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