Thinking Of You

Have A Weirdly-Wonderful,

Fiendishly-Festive,

Happy Halloween.

In case you're wondering, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth but I have been sentenced to 4 weeks of hard leaf raking/blowing. I'll be back to blogging soon.

Mushrooms Galore!

Retired people have time to do things like sit in the grass and remove any fungi they see.

While sitting there, I looked around and everything looked so pretty. The fall color is past its peak, but still a sight that makes me glad to be alive. I went inside and grabbed my camera, sat back down on the grass and took a few pictures.

We do a complete clean up of everything in the fall and that includes four weeks of blowing/raking leaves. By the middle of November, I'm tired and feel ready to sell the house, move into an apartment and do my gardening at our son and dil's house. Come spring, I'm thankful we didn't move into that apartment.

Our Porch Swing

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - 10/15/09

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day is on the 15th of every month and is hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens. It's a nice way to share what's blooming in your garden and a fantastic way to visit gardens all over the world. Thank you, Carol.

The only annuals that haven't fallen victim to Jack Frost are the various snapdragons that are in containers. They still look this pretty even though the temperature has been down in the 20's a few nights.

This tiny white phlox 'David' was planted about a month ago and is already rewarding me with blooms despite the cold weather.

This picture of impatiens and hypoestes was taken last Friday. They were dead on Sunday morning. I bought the containers at a yard sale last spring. Paid twenty-five cents each.

All of the sedum 'Autumn Joy' are looking picture perfect except for a few of them where the plant stems aren't strong enough to support the large flower heads.

These ornamental grasses (name unknown) are at the end of the driveway, on both sides. They are turning a pretty gold/orange and will be even more colorful in a few weeks. Note: They look prettier when it's not snowing and the sun is shining.

I hardly ever buy pumpkins, but my sister-in-law gave me this one and I like it a lot.

These are the same trees as in my header photo. What a difference a few snowflakes make.

Loving Autumn

I took a short break from posting and reading blogs, but think I'm ready to jump back into it. I'm not especially good at posting, but I dearly luv reading all your blogs and have missed doing so.

Of all the lilies that bloomed this summer, none of them made me happier than this tough cookie that bloomed after the plant had been cut down.

This crabapple tree is outside my dentist's office. When I was there last week, I commented to the people working there how pretty it looked. They couldn't think what tree I was talking about even though they walk by it every day on their way into work. They went to the window to take a look and agreed with me that the orange fruit was very attractive. Interesting how we sometimes miss the beauty right around us.

I often drive by the Oneida Apple Orchard and never tire of seeing these wooden boxes filled with apples. And I never tire of eating locally grown apples.

The fall color here in northeast Wisconsin peaks about the middle of October. The new header photo was taken out my front door. The view brightens my heart every time I look at it, but sometimes an individual leaf makes a bigger impression on me.

I know how you've been wishing and hoping for another turkey photo and I aim to please:) All my turkey photos are taken from inside the car because once I get out they scatter.

Garden Bloggers' Death Day - 09/30/09

Kate at Gardening Without Skills is full of good ideas. One of her ideas was to start Garden Bloggers' Death Day where on the last day of the month gardeners post photos of their "not so healthy" flowers and vegetables. Be sure to visit Kate's blog and leave a comment that you're participating so we can all stop in and see what's ailing in your garden. Sometimes, too much pretty can be a teeny tiny bit boring.

This is Phillip's houseplant garden that grows in one of the bathrooms at our house. It didn't always look like this. Up until a few months ago, the plants were thriving. Over the last year he learned their names and it's always his job to water them when he's here. He even came up with the idea to use his ruler to measure how tall they were, write it down and then measure again a couple weeks later to see if they had grown. In case you're wondering, going clockwise starting with the one in the basket; shamrock, grape ivy, spider plant and English ivy. He colored the picture that's on the mirror five years ago. Green must have been his favorite color when he was two.

Here's the culprit!

Oh, he looks innocent.

But we know what

goes on when we're sleeping.

We still love our Alley Cat.

This is being posted a day early because I'll be gone most of tomorrow.

More From The Door

We know a very lucky couple who live in North Carolina and recently bought a very charming farmhouse with acreage in Door County, WI. They and their family will enjoy it as a vacation home. On our recent trip up there, we checked it out and I fell in love with everything about it.

On the drive there, we saw this hay sculpture. Or is it a straw sculpture? Since I live in America's Dairyland I should know the difference between hay and straw, but I don't? Anyway, it's nice to know that farmers have a good sense of humor.

I'm not including a photo of D & T's farmhouse for privacy reasons, but trust me that it's everything I'd want if it were mine. They do have this very old building on their property and I couldn't take my eyes off of it. Oh, the stories it could tell.

They also have their very own silo. Most of my adult life, I've dreamed about living on land that had a silo. Don't know why that's desirable to me, but it is. Not sure what's going on with the pile of gravel next to it. It looked like someone had been shoveling it into the silo.

There was something literally blooming all around the house and I could have posted a dozen photos of flowers. These were some of my favorites. Yes, they even have a white picket fence.

Oh, how I'd love to sit in these yellow chairs and enjoy some good conversation with friends. Actually, sitting out there alone with my own thoughts also sounds appealing.

D & T, if by chance you read this post, I hope you enjoyed seeing the photos again. If you need a caretaker to live there while you're in NC, give me a call:)

A Day In The Door

A few weeks ago we enjoyed a day trip to Door County, WI. Not a long trip, only an hour from our house.

The county has more than 300 miles of shoreline, more than almost any other in the country and is known as the Cape Cod of the Midwest. The waters of Green Bay are on one side of the Peninsula and Lake Michigan on the other. There are five state parks in Door County where visitors can enjoy hiking, camping, swimming, fishing and snowmobiling.

Door County has 12 lighthouses, most of them built in the 1800's. The Peninsula is also know for its cherry and apple orchards, wineries, fish boils, and shipwrecks.

This sign was posted at Cave Point County Park and I think it was meant for people like me who like to get too close to the edge of the cliff when taking pictures.

When I looked down at this big rock in the water, I could see a face. It looked like it was smiling and winking at me.

These beach chairs were on a beach on the Lake Michigan side of the Peninsula. The reason they were empty is because it was too dang cold to be out there lounging next to the water.

On the Green Bay side where it was warmer, we saw this couple enjoying some fishing. They looked so peaceful and seemed to be happy soaking up the sun while waiting for fish to bite. As nice at it looks, I don't think I could sit still long enough to catch a fish.