Treats for Kids....

Modern candy in all old stoneware bowl. It seems fitting to use it for this.  It is heavy and easy to hang on to while offering candy treats to beggars. Last year is was very cold for the event but last night it was a little warmer.  I had bought a bag of 250 treats and most all of them are gone.  Each kid got to pick out three kinds and they were so happy that three was the number.  It was a fun evening with all the different costumes.  The dinosaur was a hit for me.  All the little girls were princesses and the boys were in red costumes from the movie the “Incredibles”.

 

A Slow Start to the Day...

The sun hides over behind the trees as the evidence of light is in the sky.  The day started slow but we are not going to have a very bright day today.

Monday Morning........

It is another frosty morning but the sun seems to be up for the day.  We should warm up a little more as a typical fall day.  Note the jet vapor trail is out already this morning and look at the location of the sun on the horizon. The earth keeps tilting and the sun was over there by the tree on the left and now it is going to keep moving to my right.  Some mornings soon I won’t see the sun that is behind the house.

Morning Moon.........

The waning moon is still in the sky this morning and the bright sun illuminates it. As it continues to decrease in size it will form a slim crescent moon before it disappears.

Red Birds......

Posting a blurry photo on a photo a day site is a crime.  I can be quoted on this though that "a blurry photo is better than no photo". If this guy hangs around more than thirty seconds I will take dozens of focused pictures of the cardinal.  He had scattered seed on the deck table but he wanted seed from a feeder in which he can’t stand on the perches.

Droplets.....

We had a light sprinkle this morning.  The leaves of this lily seem to have a surface quality to cause it to form drops of water. It wasn’t a heavy rain so I was surprised to see this.

Burning Bush......

Full Moon.....

Full moon light at night with a layer of frost on most things. It is getting to be close to Halloween. I remember on Halloween when we had an ice storm.  It is fall and anything can happen.

Killing Frost...

On Sunday night we had a good frost.  I noticed that the grass was covered with a lot of frost. Later in the day I looked out at the raised bed and could see that the marigolds got hit with a killing frost. It didn’t take long for me to go from a flower bed to an area that now needs to be cleared. My front yard hardy geraniums also are not hardy anymore.  I am planing to clear all of this durning the morning.

Monday Morning View

As time passed the clouds folded open joining the left and side clouds in the horizontal. The glow was there for such a short time and I was fortunately able to catch it.

Waxing........

I applied a filter that turned the sky darker but the moon terrain is easier to see. I have been asking the question about the moons making rotations and it does. It is not so fast so astronauts had a hard time walking on the moon. Low gravitational pull for sure.

The Colors of Fall at Ground Level....

I glanced down to see this shot of two totally different plants.  The hosta is showing fall colors instead of just turning brown.  The mums are coming through slowly but these are fully open now showing great color.

Fall Colors.....

At the old place the neighbors maples are putting out a strong yellow splash. They are showing off in that bright sun.

Train Images.....

The quick shot as I walked by the shelf shows the colorful Santa Fe caboose.  It also shows that I need to dust my engine.

Blurry Image......

I guess the zoomed shot was in too low of light.  It should not be blurred but I like the effect.  It is the one tree that I use to show on the suburbia horizon as to  how the sun has moved. The dead limb has been there for over a year at the right side of the silver maple tree. The sun is now to the right of the tree and you can see the glow from it.

Almost Perfect Half.......

It actually is up in view by late afternoon and is gone by night time.  I think it is low in the sky at night and the row of houses are keeping me form seeing it.

When viewing it from afar it appears to be almost a perfect half.  When I zoom in on it the line is a gentle curve that divides it.

Starting Out on Monday...

It snowed yesterday all afternoon. It melted fast and the hard freeze was not so hard in the night.  We have sunshine today with wet grass underfoot. Leaves are dropping and the wind from the north is cold. I made a quick run to the grocery store this morning and it is nice to be in an uncrowded store. I see that I have a yard to mow today and things to pull out of the gardens.  It will happen if it warms up at least ten or more degrees. The garbage is out on the curb and everyone is taking a break in the morning.  Barney has found the coolest place on the dinning room floor and we keep turning the heat down so he doesn’t suffer so much from heat.

I did see the hawk that visited our yard yesterday down the street, four doors down. He was on the roof and I am sure he was looking for breakfast.  I don’t know if his appearance yesterday keeps birds away but there are less birds feeding today. Fall weather can be so fickle and I am hoping some warming trend starts soon.

Predatory Bird....

One other visitor in my backyard was this large bird. I am not certain about its name but it certainly knows how to devour a bird in a very short time period.

Fall Color......

The new purchase of this sedum gave the plant an early start, so the flowers are dead already. The color it turned is a different one but it is a good color. It will be interesting to see how it will come back in the spring.

Friday’s Find...

Our backyard fires can be like our own forest but the neighbors house does show through.  The new redbud tree I recently planted will take five or more years to have a forest-like tree.  I finally planted it as I know that every year that I wait then the tree waits to get to be a big tree.  I am happy with my choice and I still may add an evergreen with it.

Spring at the Store...

I wore my winter coat and stocking hat this morning while taking Barney outside. It was cold and the wind chill was like 20 degrees.  I know our bodies have to take a few days to adjust to cold but I am miserable while I am adjusting.

A Tree of Change...

I zoomed in again to see the drastic change of this tree.  It is dropping leaves now and keeps showing off its colors.

Looking My Way......

The goldfinch has returned to eat but first wants to stand on a slick plastic lid. He is waiting and watching to see when the thistle seed feeder  clears out.

Washboard clouds...

A different kind of pattern made with the clouds. I am sure someone will know the name of the cloud formation.

From the front yard the pattern continued to extend west.  It reminds me of a washboard of old.

Fall Color...

It isn’t the last picking but it was the last major picking.  I have smaller tomatoes yet to ripen and lots of cherry tomatoes yet to pick. The colors of picked tomatoes is one other fall color, green turning red.

Still Blooming.....

The zinnias and marigolds in this area are still going strong.  They did die back for a while but they are still making a big splash of color. The tomato plants that they surround look dead.

Get Your Gourds in a Row.......

This is the harvest of squash/gourds that I didn’t plant.  I let the volunteer vine grow from among my dogwoods bushes and this is its production. There are five more that are really small and I left them on the vine to grow larger.

The colors on it says it is a gourd.  I have seen photos in magazines of something that looks similar. The textures are unusual and consistent to it being a gourd. I have not plans to intentionally plant it. The seed there must have been a layover from a couple of years ago or a bird dropped the seed there.

Evening Sky.......

The clouds move south and brought up a thunderstorm. We got to see them move by as the glowed from the sun’s setting light. The temperatures were dropping quickly helping to stir the clouds to the south. Later in the evening the lighting in the sky could be seen south of us.

My First Shot......with Humidity.

I stepped out on the deck this morning before I took Barney outside.  I am now glad that I did as it changed colors in minutes. What you are seeing is the wall of moisture, humidity, pushing north towards us.  It feels like the furnace is blowing in you face and the humidity at this early time of the day is very high.  Our air conditioning turned on this morning around five o’clock and once I went outside I could understand why.

One of Two......

I took two pictures yesterday. That is a record low in numbers for me.  The spring-like rain for all day made the potted flowers very happy. We have had rain seven days out of eight now. It looks like Tuesday may be a dry one.  We will wait and see.

The Gold Report........

Some goldfinch do not migrate so much in our state.  They do turn color and head to the fields for all the seed that is out there. Research tells me that they have irregular migration. Some choose to stay in the north if the food supply stays strong.  During the spring they are more apt to come to the feeders as winters dead plants are sparse to have any seed. These two showed up Sunday afternoon surprising me to see they wanted the new seed in the feeder. They have not been at the feeder for the past few weeks.

They have shed their gold feathers with only a hint of color on their heads. I can’t tell the young ones from the adults anymore as they are all the same size.