October catch-up

I seem to be consistently a month behind on posting.  But today, while Granddad naps, I plan to catch up!
I mean, I went to the effort of taking the pictures, right?  So I might as well put them up, right?   Even though there aren't actually all that many...

There is one of Mimi at the winery where we went for my traditional birthday picnic.  She took one of me and this is it:

So maybe one shouldn't ask someone with impaired eyesight to take a photo?

Here's another birthday picture, complete with fantastic bird scope present and birthday cake from Hoosier Kitty.

And yet another birthday cupcake, with a friend at The Underground Cupcake.  Yes, we DO have to go there when you come to visit!

 I celebrated a friend's art exhibit opening,

 told Halloween stories with friends on a chilly night for the "Goblins, Goodies and Ghost Stories" festival,

 visited the lake with Mimi and HoosierKitty to admire fall colors

and to enjoy a quiet, peaceful morning.

I tasted the last of the persimmons,

carved a pumpkin,
and October turned into November.

It depends on whom you ask...

There are woolly bear caterpillars everywhere. Hoosier lore has it that they predict the winter weather with their furry coat.  I was looking for birds when I noticed the parking lot at Lake Griffy was full of caterpillars, so I consulted them for a prediction.

It seems that it could be a normal sort of winter...

or a really mild one...

We could have almost no snow or ice or freezes...

or it could be horrendously Arctic.

There, now we're prepared!  For anything!  Thank you, Caterpillars.

Bringing the Fall Colors In

Inspired by the lovely leaves outside, I've been changing the colors inside.

 It is time for orange in all its variations!

As I bring out the Autumn glass and the fall colored table cloths and napkins 

and appropriate old cards...

I am thinking of all of you who contributed to my seasonal display...

so thank you to The Bloomingtonauts,  the Indy Duo, HoosierKitty, Dr. Hausfrau, Little Brother and the New Virginians, the PA Cuz, Mimi, and all those unmentioned but not forgotten.

Have fun trying to identify or remember exactly which things came from you!

The Sound of Fall

Dear Readers who are Residents of the Tropics and Subtropics,


I enjoy the virtual glimpses of your exotic climates - waves on the beach, unfamiliar flowers and wildlife - and so want to reciprocate and send you a virtual bit of a quintessential Indiana experience.





Try to image that sweet- musty smell of dry dead leaves and listen to the sound of walking under the sycamores by the creek:

The sycamore leaves may not turn lovely yellow and orange and red like the maple and sweet gum and oak but they do produce the most satisfying "crunch" of any leaves.

Fall driving hazards

I usually manage to not spend too much time while driving looking off at the hills with their Autumnal patchwork, despite the temptation. But I can't help looking at the road, can I? And it is lovely. Here I am trying to take a picture of the leaves falling as thick as snowflakes, spinning and floating down in front of the car. I am, as you can see, pretty unsuccessful. But then...

THUNK! What hit the windshield????
Was it a bullet? (It's hunting season now) Is the glass cracked?
After a bit I steady myself and the car and conclude that it was not a bullet and the windshield is fine and it was...

a walnut.

Yup. Just look along side the road. Lined with green lumps.

Dangerous things, walnuts.

Then there is traffic.
The ubiquitous bicycles are one thing.

Here's another...

Just before I took this picture the mule on the right swung way out in my lane.
Yes, I stopped the car until they went past, just in case.

And admired the trees behind them.
My kind of hazards, all of them.

October arrives

"It was a peaceful autumn day. The gilding of the Indian summer mellowed the pastures far and wide. The russet woods stood ripe to be stript, but were yet full of leaf. The purple of heath-bloom, faded but not withered, tinged the hills. The beck wandered down to the Hollow, through a silent district; no wind followed its course, or haunted its woody borders. Fieldhead gardens bore the seal of gentle decay. On the walks, swept that morning, yellow leaves had fluttered down again. Its time of flowers, and even of fruits, was over; but a scantling of apples enriched the trees; only a blossom here and there expanded pale and delicate amidst a knot of faded leaves. "

-Charlotte Bronte

First of Summer, afternoon

The temperature begins to climb as the afternoon begins.



Storm clouds roll in.
There is thunder in the distance.





Rain plops onto the sidewalk.

It is a good time to be inside. Granddad works on a treasure-map jigsaw puzzle. He's not drinking, even though this is a fiendishly difficult puzzle that could drive a man to drink. The puzzle came in the bottle you see in front of him.

Late afternoon is a good time for naps for everyone.

First of Summer, mid-day

Mid way through our first day of Summer Socks announces someone coming up the drive way.

The bees hurry to gather as much pollen as they can before the machine turns our clover field into a lawn.

The buzzard floats overhead in the warm sunny sky.

Granddad and Socks sit outside enjoying the breeze

while I do some cleaning and maintenance on the still-unused-this-year pool.


"Soon," I say to myself, "I'll get in that water soon. After all, it IS Summer now."

First of Summer, late morning

Wait a minute - why is it dark outside? This is the first day of summer. It should be sunny, right? It was sunny just a little while ago.
Why is the wind blowing and the clouds gathering?
What happened to the sun?

First of Summer, early morning

After the thunderstorms of the last day of Spring, the sun is shining on the first morning of Summer. All over the yard buds are blooming.

The sun is far to the north this morning.

Just at the right angle to strike the prism in the dining room window -

and to fill the room with rainbows.

Green, cold, rainy

Welcome back, GREEN.

You've been missing from our landscape for too long! We are glad our journey into Summer has begun.
It just seems to be...

excruciatingly s l o w.

First of Spring

Winter: exit, stage left. Open the windows!



Cue the Green!

Cue the buds!

Cue the blooms!

Spring: enter Stage Right!