Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving - it's my favorite holiday. It's all about family, all about celebrating the people we love. I can't wait to see everyone. Mom will be fixing up the relish tray, Gary's in charge of turkey carving, Greg and Dave are in charge of turkey snitching. Matt and Tabitha are bringing some vegan dishes. Marge has deviled eggs under control, and Sheila's is bringing her wonderful pumpkin roll. And maybe we'll get some family photos in after dinner. The group shot has become kind of a traditions.

Anyway, here's some of the fun I had getting ready:

Decorating

Cleaning (not so much fun!)

And - mmmmm - baking apple bread.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Borrow Pit Photo Walk

The Borrow Pit was the source for fill for SR271. It's just off Boston Mills Road, where the Buckeye Trail crosses. The dirt's pretty poor because all the topsoil was scraped off. It's home to scruffy grass and small trees just managing to get a foothold. The far end of the field has a nice population of fringed gentians, one of our native wildflowers.

These shots were taken in the early morning while the pit was still full of mist. It has an other-worldly feel to it, like a scene from Lord of the Rings, right before the battle starts.

Because October was so wet, it was good for mushrooms. The Buckeye Trails was lined with dozens of mushroom clusters like this.

My goal when I left the house, was to get some scenics I was happy with, and I did. Landscapes are tough - mine frequently seem to look too busy and without a clear focus. These seem to work better than most.

10/8/11

October, Little Bit of This, Little Bit of That

Working on some beachy Christmas ornaments. I have the right size drill bit to put holes in the tiny flip flops - but how to steady them while I'm drilling? 10/1

Gloomy, rainy, windy day at Indigo Lake in CVNP. 10/2

Crossword? Really? When I have Solitaire to waste time on? 10/3.

Love having wildlife in the backyard. Don't care so much for wildlife eating the back yard. Note the pair of hogs in the pot. They were joined by a third shortly after this shot, then Mama took over the whole pot for herself. 10/4

Dinner at Pufferbelly and a shot of the Star of the West mill in Kent. 10/5.

Still working on birdhouses. They'll be done by Christmas. Maybe. 10/6.

A very bad day ended with a very nice evening, walking and talking with Chuck. Thanks, Honey! 10/7

Texture Tuesday: Pier 1 Birds

These cute salt and pepper shakers were an inexpensive find at Pier 1. Love their chubby roundness and lacy wings.

Texture is Phoebe from: www.kimklassencafe.com/thecafe
11/14

Pizza Detente

Medium Hungry Howie pizza, ranch crust, green olives and mushrooms, pepperoni and sausage on half.

Edible compromise!

CVPS Photowalk at Herrick Fen, September 24

You'd have no idea Herrick Fen was even there - you drive down a rutted lane past piles of construction waste, a cool farm, then along what appears to be a very much past its prime soybean field, and into a tiny parking lot. The fen has a nice board walk through a marsh then a path up a bit of a hill. We were there early, rain gear in hand. Lots of water drops, torpid bugs, and misty vistas.

Aster

Mysterious caterpillar

Tickseed, and my favorite shot of the day.

One of seven million kinds of stinkbugs.

Teasel. I like the little threads caught in its spines.

P365, Way Behind

I've been keeping up with shooting, but not with posting. And it's almost the holidays.  So today we're going to rock through the rest of September. Hang on!

A very gloomy Sept. 10th. Below, New Guinea impatiens on the lower deck, 9/12.

The first page of my art journal. Lord alone knows why it came out so pink. The lighter areas are just white sketchbook paper. 9/13

Below is my favorite of this batch, apples in the evening sun. Great color and shadows, kind of Dutch painterly. 9/14.

Below: 9/15 a plate from our trip to Greenfield Village a couple years ago; 9/16, chocolate chip cookies - don't know what I do without the KitchenAid mixer; 9/17, two versions of mums from the front yard. I like the bleached out, old fashioned-looking one the best.

Guess who, asleep in my lap. He loves a good lap in colder weather. 9/19.

9/20, Doe, giving me the beady eyeball. She was in the woods next the the gym's parking lot.She has two fawns, and by early November, had collected a bunch of buddies.

An adequate sunset from the back deck, 9/21; then lady bug at one of the neighborhood ponds, 9/22.

More mums, BJ's Club, 9/23.

First time I've found a preying mantis in my yard, 9/24. And, surprise, a rainy 9/25 of the upper deck.

Much better sunset, 9/26. September's weather was pretty glum, but we did get some great clouds and sunsets. 

Above, 9/27, shiny (expensive) new breaks. Just rolled over 100,000 miles on the Honda, and it's still running well. Below, reflections in one of the ponds, 9/28. The swans are now hanging out at this one. The geese must not like the swans, because they haven't been at this pond for a while. 

Garden beds at Stan Hywet, 9/30. It was, yes, raining for Ohio Mart. The crowd was light and the shopping great - even got some Christmas shopping done.

One more post, and September will be done. How the heck did I get a month and a half behind?