Autumn Colors

Autumn is usually colorful here but some years are definitely better than others.

Burt was pretty happy with this one, but then he's usually happy with everything!

I put this post together in late October when the autumn colors were at their peak, but I was having some problems with my internet connection at the time and it failed to publish. Since it's going to snow here tomorrow I thought it was time to dust if off and try again before autumn is really over! 

Nick and I have been hiking the trails of this nature center for years and have been

lucky enough to often see deer, red fox, otters, turkeys and lots and lots of snakes!

On the north side of Mosquito Hill the trees are mostly maples and birch and they stay

green longer than the aspen and oak trees on the south side. Eventually they all catch up.

Nick always manages to find something unexpected in the brambles.

Near the top of the hill the trees were mostly yellow and almost cover the sandstone.

The west side of the path near the top is where we usually find snakes.

This one to be exact. They're harmless and pretty slow this time of year.

This one got very upset at Nick's camera tripod and actually coiled up and hissed at it!

Continuing on, here's one view from the top . . .

. . . and another,

 . . . and of course one more.

Right after I took this photo Burt fell out of the tree and broke his arm, which posed

something of a problem. He was a trooper though and we trekked onto our next destination.

Back down on the east side through the Sumac trees.

Always the first to show some color in the fall and last to leaf out in the spring,

. . . and apparently moving into the prairie.

Our walk finished up at the oxbow lake, which was beginning to look more like a rice paddy.

Then it was home to repair Burt's arm.

Burt's arm was not so much broken as broken off. A rubber band and paper clip fixed him right up. The ice kept down the swelling and he was back to normal in no time at all. In fact he has an improved range of motion! It might be awhile before he gets his strength back however.

Fortunately being right handed, he was easily able to take advantage of some liquid painkiller.

By the next weekend he was all patched up and ready for the Halloween festivities.

Are you enjoying a colorful autumn? Have you ever fallen out of a tree?

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

A Holiday Recap

It was late on Halloween night when our last Trick or Treat visitor rang the doorbell.

Luckily, due to the inclement weather, we had a few candy bars left.

Of course we had to invite him in since it's considered rude to turn away a samurai.

Hope he's careful with that wooden sword, he could put somebody's eye out!

With the glory of the sun, he continued on his quest to fill his bag with candy.

I hope he didn't stay out too late. 

Burt showed up again on Sunday morning to make his specialty, Huevos Rancheros for a brunch in honor of Dia de los Muertos,  A habanero and a devilish grin, what could go wrong?

Oh no! Are those your fingers!

Cheese. I should have known. 

At least he's good about cleaning up or maybe he feels guilty after the scare he gave me. 

Meanwhile, back to the sauce. Burt claims it's the secret to his culinary success.

Lots of tomatoes, onions, garlic, herbs and spices but no fingers! 

It is a day to celebrate so while his sauce simmered we settled down with a pre-brunch libation! Besides, it was almost noon and we had already invoked the "it's five o'clock somewhere" axiom.

Eventually it was time to eat. Thanks for cooking, Burt!

After lunch a bright-eyed Burt helped set up the mantel to honor our departed family members. We collected their photos from around the house and added a few of their favorite foods. They were mostly all farmers except for Burt's relatives, so the coffee, cheese and butter covered a lot of ground.  

It's quite a long drive to this cemetery where generations of my relatives are enjoying their eternal rest, so we will have to skip that part of the celebrations. The last time Nick and I were checking up on the family farm we stopped by the church to make sure the flowers decorating our part of the graveyard weren't an embarrassment to our living relatives. No matter how hard I try get a photo of it looking erie it never turns out. Maybe it's due to it being only 125 years old or that most of the grave stones are still standing upright. Not many large trees are left. Then again it's hard to make a bright sunny day look spooky. Those solar panels don't help either but at least they believe in science! 

Talk about a dead end. Nick can't get a decent photo either. I grew up playing among these gravestones with all the other kids in Sunday School. We had a great time, day or night. Of course we all thought we saw ghosts! It occurred to me recently that if there really is a zombie apocalypse, my late relatives would most likely skip the desire for human flesh in favor of coffee and a few cookies.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and enjoyed the Dia de los Muertos festivities if you take part in those celebrations. Sorry for being so late, my internet service has been off and on all month!

Happy Halloween!

The lights are up!

Decorations are out, both at the back . . .

. . . and front doors!

Burt was pretty pleased with his pumpkin haul this year and eager to start in on the carving!

My relationship with pumpkins is something I find completely mystifying. Every year I vow to give them the appropriate amount of time and care I believe should be invested in transforming vegetables into glowing lanterns but do I actually do it? Nope! Never happens. I always end up frantically scurrying to get them out on the porch and lit seconds before the first Trick or Treaters show up. 

I really admire those pumpkins carved with lovely silhouettes, like the ones with Jack Skellington and Sally dancing across that curvy thing in front of a crescent moon. Yeah, that doesn't happen here. Fangs and teeth break off and eyes need to be replaced with scraps and kept from falling out with toothpicks. Our jack o'lantern are kitchen knife jobs, but someday I will actually use my fancy Dremel cordless drill. It will be rescued from the basement and I'll sculpt a reasonable likeness of Boris Karloff as The Mummy into the pristine flesh of a ghost white pumpkin, but not today.    

Meanwhile, back in the real world Burt was hard at work! 

Ooooh, slimy punkin' innards!

Trick or treat?

Smell my feet!

Give me something good to eat!

Hope that's enough candy to get us through two hours! It's 36° F. with a 12 mile an hour wind out of the north and gusts to 43 mph, and so far we have had as many Trick or Treaters as usual. The most prevalent costume seems to be winter coats with scarves, hats and gloves. At least it's not snowing!

Thanks so much for visiting. Have a very Happy Halloween everyone!

Haunted Humpday X - Magical Gifts

Burt stopped by yesterday just as the Mail Carrier was delivering this fantastic parcel.

It was from Marfi at Incipient Wings!

How generous of her to not only host Haunted Humpday but to have such fabulous giveaways, too.   

I said it was the most magical Halloween package I had ever seen and Burt agreed. Even the back was decorated with a gorgeous raven. We quickly but carefully went to work opening it which was a little difficult since Burt was soooo excited! What did we discover inside?  

It was overflowing with all sorts of fun Halloween projects and decorations and

wrapped up in an orange and black polka dot ribbon we found a very mysterious crystal!

But what caught Burt's immediate attention was a long lost family wedding picture!

However did Marfi come across this photo nearly two thousand miles away?

While Burt found the perfect place for his family photo I started to imagine an upcoming Dia de los Muertos post. It's nice to have a special day devoted to honoring your departed loved ones and I can't pass up exploring such a great topic on my blog, especially when it was literally dropped in my lap!

Meanwhile, during the later hours of the evening Burt and Nick sat down to sample the Vicious Valarian Venom and investigate the mysterious crystal when suddenly they both began to glow!  Yikes!!! Well, the crystal and liquid were glowing, Burt and Nick being lit up came later.

So now what? How was this happening? Was it safe to drink? Has that ever stopped them?

Never one to shy away from a new experience, Nick took a sip.

Burt didn't want to put the crystal down because he liked how it tickled his hand,

but he too eventually gave in to the lure of glowing green liquid.

Which led to the inevitable. Hey guys, good movie?

A Happy Haunted Humpday X to everyone!

Thanks for stopping by, sorry we're out of Vicious Valarian Venom but there's always beer!

It appears that our Jack o'lantern's also been sampling the glowing green. It looks a bit hungover.

Thank you, Marfi for all the wonderful inspiration and for hosting The Haunted Humpdays of 2014!

It's been great to meet so many new people, thank you all so much for visiting. Nick has fixed most of my issues with my side bar and the gremlins in my comments section so I hope to catch up with the replies soon. Burt will continue his exploits here as I can't imagine what I ever blogged about before he showed up in my shopping cart. Have a Happy Halloween, see you soon!