Seed eater.......

I am out in the yard getting ready to do some work with the leaves and I see this goldfinch hopping around on the few spent coneflowers. This bird is already changing from bright yellow to his brown tinged color.

Saturday's splashes of color.........

I have two volunteer maples that I didn't get trimmed away from my mock orange bush. They are the only thing in the yard this year that have great yellow colored leaves.


The mums that I planted late spring have really proven themselves as winners both in blooms and in color.

Bare Naked Birch...........

Usually a rain takes the leaves off this tree in two days, but the wind that we had took care of it for me this year.

Pausing in contemplation...........

Fall is here with all the cold winds and leaves are blowing everywhere. Angel boy continues to sit it out in the backyard watching, waiting and thinking.

Patent Pending and Strong Shoulders.......

I think I need both, stronger shoulders and also a patent on my being. There should only be one of me for sure for the safety of this country.

Two more jars from the garage. I couldn't throw them away that day. The Atlas Mason jar advertises it has stronger shoulders on their jar and the patent is proudly shown as being received on Nov. 30, 1868 on the Mason jar. I was amazed by both of these blue bottles.

Sedum bloom

The foliage on my three different clumps of sedum were wonderful most of the summer, then they all slumped to the ground. The blooms were plenty but oh so pathetic. You can see what they looked like in the right side of this photo. But two late sprouts came out with just the right look. So I photographed one and enlarged it so you can see what they all should have looked like this fall. I am grateful for this little sprout.

Errie moon......

A few nights back the moon and the clouds and my tree all were set ready for me to shoot a picture. Moments later the moon was out of perfect position.

Iowa sky........

Looking south from my neighbor's hay field that is across the street from our house.

Fall flash.......

The sun was setting in the west, the opposite side of the house so the camera insisted I get a flash to brighten things. It does create a diverse group of colorful leaves.

Rooster..........

Paper mache rooster from Hobby Lobby that I picked up out of the bargain bin. I was going to paint him but he still in his classic form.

Harvest moon.......

This is the view that we see across the street. The corn has already been harvested and the hay has been cut, baled of it's last time. It is almost full moon and I will see this when the sun sets in another hour from when I took this photo.

Gordie the gourd......

He just keeps growing out there. I keep thinking I need to water him a little as he is the only gourd growing among all those wonder blooms.

Fall colors.......

My geranium plants in the window box planter have not been outstanding bloomers. I keep getting leaves that are fading now and the minimal blooms as seen below.


The planter sits almost shoulder high on a shelf on the fence so I keep taking these side views of the plant for you to see. This is actually an almost orange flower.

Swaziland Lion.........

We support a husband and wife, the Holte's, who are missionary workers in Swaziland. They live in a dangerous land and are doing wonderful work with Children Cup ministry. Children are getting one good meal a day, and a few hours of instruction to learn to read and write.

We had a meal with them a month ago when they were on a month furlough and this lion was a gift to us. We have other wooden sculptures from Africa but none that are this big.
Thanks for stopping by.............

One last try.....

My small egg plant, a novelty plant that puts out small hen egg shaped fruit, is putting out one more bloom. It is a great bloom but I know that the frost will take it in a couple of weeks.

Green snake.......

Don't you just wonder what you are thinking when you don't plan out the composition. I wanted you to see how the cool weather is making these plants really bloom well. The dog dish and the garden hose are a bonus I guess.

Special effects on Saturday.......

Photoshop manipulation to bring you a different visual experience.

Two sunsets............

Pin oak and..........

red twig dogwood.

Final Harvest.........

It was a very bad year for my tomatoes. They didn't like all the rain and they didn't have enough heat to make them grow big. I had a variety of seed that I had started from my leftover box of seeds. The only new ones were the grape shaped tomatoes, which were actually an heirloom variety that I picked up at a building store. I think it came from the seed savers in northern Iowa. The banana peppers were not successful either as I only harvested about five peppers from two plants.

Tilted world.........

I shot it quickly and tipped it so you can see more of the gate. The gate needs to have the bottom panel replaced as the water is destroying it. I need outdoor plywood on it and not the material that is on the gate now.

A very used baritone...........

I may put a little polish on this to see if it will look a little better. I found it where it had fallen behind a workbench. It belonged to my second oldest brother who was in the Murray High School band, back in 1957. It has some broken tubes so it will probably never play in the band again.

Fading flowers...........

The morning glory vines keep blooming but when the blue ones fold up, the red pigment shows up. I don't understand it but I caught one that was in the process of turning magenta. I know it is an insignificant flower, but I bet there are botany scientists who have studied them and know why they do this and also why they can have blue and pink flowers on the same vine.

Saturday's style...........

I have enjoyed these petunias  all summer.  They have been perfectly bad as a plant in a pot, but they have draped over the side in great bunches of color.  I have to be honest that the camera created this color of blue from a blue purple color.  It is a wonderful color.

Mums the word...........

Friday is finally here and I really don't have much to say today. I hope you have a good day.

Rose hip..........

We are having a few warm days again and it is nice to be outside.

Birch tree at the top.......

I think we will have some color this year with our leaves. It seemed a little slow but I saw a lot of maples that  had turned red Tuesday along the interstate highway.  The sumac is turning a bright red too. 

A safe harbor.......

Soames Harbor, Maine

As one travels around the Mt. Desert Island in Maine you come across an area where an almost natural harbor exist. It is a deep inlet that has had some man made peninsula of rocks placed in the opening to help cut down the ocean's wave action. It would be difficult to dock your boat anywhere along the ocean shore unless there was a natural inlet like this.

You gotta love it........

I brought this home with me from my parents home.  It is such a neat toy.  I don't know where it came from or who it belonged to but it is mine for now. It has a battery compartment so I can make it create jet sounds.  Is it not cool?

A slice of fall.........

The silver maple trees are starting to change their colors as the temperatures continue to drop.

Birch tree..........

Fall weather is upon us and the birch is starting to turn to yellow.

Bar Harbor..........

The tide is out as you can see in the foreground. There is a ramp that one can take to get down there to see the creatures stranded in the little pools of water.