Late Saturday PM.........

Looking out  my side window I can see the end of the fall season.  Those leaves have been mowed up since the photo was shot and another new layer on on the yard again. The oxalis looks like it needs to be repotted and I can not seem to get that spider plant to grow.  Usually it grows like a weed but it sure seems stunted.

One of our two ferel cats is laying out in the sun warming up a bit.  We have two,one is larger and older.  They both are black and white. The smaller one has less white on it and has a white tip on it tail. The older one is not friendly but it will stay a good distance from us as if she isn't afraid.  The younger one disappears as if it is afraid to have us in its sight.

Both cats have an endless supply of dry cat food whenever they come to the side porch.  The possum once in a while comes to have food too.

Hanging out in the tree resting from a busy summer.  The wrens like the house because it is rustic and not over presented.  If I hung it up I suppose they would return to it.

As you visit the stores you can see that we are going to speed by Thanksgiving and go right to the Christmas season.  I had dropped a set of these while putting them away back in December.  I thought I had picked them up completely but looking down to the floor a couple of days ago I found this one small ornament. 

I bought wood for the new gate.  I really should have bought a couple of more pieces of the wood. I do have ways a making due with my eight pieces that I purchased.  I need to go scour the garden shed and see if I have some leftover from another project.  I thought getting the wood purchased, that I can get to doing it whenever the mood moves me.  I like the smell of the wood and I told my wife that I really do like wood.  She smiled and said she really hadn't noticed.  Sarcastic, she was.  Thanks for stopping by today.

The Friday Zone..........

A late bloomer put out a lot more blossoms than I expected.  I had photographed one bloom on it earlier but to see this many was a surprise. Most of the phlox are long gone but I have noticed some things out there sneaking in a last bloom. I saw a dandelion and a violet blooming yesterday afternoon but when I returned with a camera I could not remember where I had seen them.  You will just have to take my word on it.

During a normal season the field lilies die down and the sure don't come back again.  We had a good rain weeks ago and it is just like spring again with all that green.

My leaves will stay as mulch.  I did mow up some of the leaves so the little dog can walk around in the back yard.  He was overwhelmed with too many leaves and couldn't walk but had to creep.

This yellow zinnia continues to develop rich color and texture.  It is the weather that forms the fall zinnia.

I am at school today in the special education room.  I do many things getting kids to understand their homework or preparing for government test.  We are sunny and cold today.  I hope all are well.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Cloudy Day Today.........

The transplanted hosta has done well in this spot.  Next spring it will be able to revive in the yard. It had a rough summer with road construction and now that is all done.  Nothing left to do but wait for the sown grass to sprout.

Another small transplant is holding its own.  The new mum is growing below right in the photo.

The light sky and yellow tree makes the red look brighter. We can see this burning bush from upstairs and it really is a bright spot on the property.  Almost all of it has now turned red.

My wife and I were watching a squirrel chomping down an old apple while sitting in a tree.  I have decided to put apples on my feeders where I usually put ear corn.  Angel person is sitting close enough to the back door that he can be brought in when the snow starts to fly. This isn't a great looking set up but it is the best I could do while on the run in the rat race.

I mowed parts of the yard yesterday to chop up some of the leaves. The birch leaves are all down and the red maple has just a few small leaves hanging on the branches.  The silver  maples will keep dropping but I can go back and catch them in another week or so.  I found out when I was mowing that the grass had really grown the past week.  We had enough rains to revive it so it was hard pushing through the thick grass and leaves.  It did mulch things up well.  It will be raining this afternoon so I won't be doing any more work like that for a while.

One of the flowering shrubs next to the house is putting out great leaf color this fall. I usually don't notice this kind of shrub having its leaves change.  Generally they just turn a bright yellow and then fall off in a short period of time.

I am in the Agricultural department classroom again today.  I am only half day and that will be good for me.  I do work again tomorrow all day so maybe I can get some more chores done at home.  If it doesn't rain I do have a list of things to do outside.

Thank you all for stopping by today.

Middle of the Week.........

It is just another view of my large silver maple. The sky really does look like this typically all fall before we turn to gray. We have had a lot of clear skies lately and the starts are bright and clear at night.

I purchased inexpensive mums this fall that were already in bloom.  I didn't take the time to pinch off the spent blooms and they rebloomed anyway.  This means they surely will come up next spring and will bloom next fall.

Everything is weathered as the fall weather sets in.  The phlox leaves are covered with stuff waiting for me to trim them down.  The koi is a water fountain feature that I have not used for awhile.  I let him stay outside to be a hidden decoration in the garden. I am a little worried that if I pump water thorough him that he might vibrate and turn away form the pond.  I don't want to pump the water out onto the ground when I am not around.







 

There is nothing unusual about seeing a photo of hostas like this in the fall.  I was thinking about it though and remember than in most cases we usually get a hard freeze. Then the the hostas are all in a mushy green mound instead of these yellow leaves.

This burning bush is going to be more pink than red this year.  It does have sections of red on it but in most cases it looks like it will just fade away, instead of turning into fire.

I am subbing half day today in the FCS room.  When my wife's mother was in school they called it something different that Home Economics. It was Domesticated Science or something like that.   Its name now is Family Consumer Studies. The class I am with right now will be baking cupcakes tomorrow.  They have to fill out forms to know that they are prepared to start combining things right away when the class starts. I will be done at noon.

I hope all are well out there and thank you for stopping by today.

Tuesday's Things and Stuff.............

The silver maple is usually yellow at this time of the year.  It does look yellow but the sun shining through the leaves helps to make it look better than it really is.  You can see the subtle brown of the leaves is predominate. I was out on the new old time and it was later so the sun was shining and making a lot of things a lot better.

It is a very old tree and is becoming dangerous at this stage.  Large limbs can fall at the slightest wind storm.  Winters can be hard on them as snow does build up some on the branches to give them weight. The dead branches of the tree fall throughout all four seasons and a I go around and pick them up for burning. I was comparing the two shots and this one looks like a different tree but it is not.  I am on the west side of it with the sun to my back.

The frost is stopping the natural things of summer.  This is the natural thing of fall as flowers fail in the cold air. The heavenly blue glory turns into a red  blob when it is totally withdrawn and shriveled.

A hardy geranium survives my lack of attention.  The foliage on one of my geraniums is changing its leaves in color as if it were a tree change to fall colors.  I guess it is getting too cold at night.

I need to harvest the seeds soon before the plant decides to drop them.  I should carry something with me when I walk around with the camera so I don't miss out getting them inside.

I am the sub for the band instructor today.  He has a movie that he wants me to show that has music in it that all the bands are playing. It is a creative cartoon-like movie so they might be interested in seeing it.  It will be an easy sell for sure.  I hope everyone is well. Thanks for stopping by today.

Monday's Menu.........

We had a rough Sunday as we lost one of our pets.  Jack Sparrow was the first male cockatiel that we owned.  He was given to me by a student because his mother had him and a female in their bathroom.  Mother of the student wanted them gone and was giving them away immediately. They were throwing seed halls all over the floor.  I kept them in my art class room at first and would bring them home in the summers.  I do think he was over 15 years old but he should have lived a whole lot longer.

He did have two batches of birds with three in the first batch and two in the second batch.  I remove the nest after having 7 cockatiels at one time.  Jack Sparrow lost his mate a year ago and he was really upset about it.  I had to put him in the cage with three of his offspring in which calmed him down. He was the one bird that had a really Jack Sparrow attitude.  He would come to the feeders while we were filling them and look us in the face.  Sometimes he made pleasant sounds at us or just glared.  Sometime he would scold us just for the heck of it.

I know that it is just a bird but one does get attached to a bird and all of his antics.  He was the lead vocalists when things were not right according to him. Squawking warning sounds to people or animals as the passed by the window was his favorite job.  I always feel so helpless when I protect them as much as I can and I still lose them.  As birds go, he was a great bird.

With the mention of looking out the window the dining room window shows that most leaves are now down.  I took this a few days ago.  I know the regular followers have seen this scene many times with birds at the feeder and with snow on the ground.  I have yet to rake a leaf or mulch a batch of leaves. I must start this week as we are promised warmer weather most of the week.

Nature set up the great looking shot with all the leaves of the lily and all the other items that fell from the trees.  I was surprised to see the bloom but can see there are more buds to open.

I am in the middle school science room today.  It will be a good situation all day.   I really like working in the room.  We watched a movie together about predator sea life.  Big fish eating small fish all the way down to the eating of algae.

Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope everyone is doing okay.

Sunday Afternoon...........

It is warm today with a perfect fall day.  We are sitting at 75 degrees F. right now in the afternoon. Floatind leaves in the water and sticks falling from the trees because of the wind.

A volunteer tree from the neighbor lot west of us has great fall leaf color.  The trees that are still standing over there have these large yellow leaves that blow down to us all fall.

The young man and his wife bought the property about three years ago.  He immediately cut down two of the very historic trees that lined the street.  No one knows why.  He did make his mark and leave as his divorce is forcing him to move out and those trees are only memories.

Looking through the red maple the photo shows our fluffy clouds in the sky.  Leaves are sure building up underfoot out there.  I may have to mow in the evenings after I get off work.  It will be warm so I can mulch some of them.

The crop of last tomatoes that I brought in weeks ago are now turning into ripened tomatoes. They are small but they are good.  It was not a great year for tomatoes this year but we didn't get skunked.

I appreciate your stopping by today at my post.  Have a good day.