An Afternoon Walk & Halloween

  Happy Halloween Everyone!
I am not really a Halloween person but  I
like to decorate a little for Fall.
I think it is really the changing things up
a little around the front porch and in the living
room.
Treat or Treat is over for us here. The little
goblins came Thursday evening.
We had a whopping ten children!
Well that is a lot for us since we live out in the
sticks and the children like going into the nearby
towns where they can get more candy in the time
allotted to them to bang on doors.
I had one eager little girl about beat the door
down ( it sounded like it anyway) before I got the
candy to the door. I was trying to hurry, I really was,
but I was tripping over the little stray kitten that I
brought in to keep it from getting run over or stepped
on which was exactly what I was trying not t do.
It was way faster than me and darting between
my feet on the way to the door.

I do like old post cards though of the holidays
with their colorful pictures and old sayings.

 

My daughter and I did manage to get a good walk
Friday afternoon along the upper trail at Old Mans Cave.
Most of the leaves  were gone but the nuts and berries
were numerous on some of the trees and ground.

 
These little wild red berries were on some kind of
a ground cover growing across some mossy rocks
on the trail. I haven’t a clue when it comes to
berries after the leaves are gone  but I know
some of might know what it might be.

These berries were so dark they appeared black in color.

 

 

The native Goldenrods and Snakeroots blooms
have now faded and turned to fluffy seeds.

We stopped on the trail and watched as a little girl
that was walking with her mother and grandmother
was trying to get close to this Doe.

She got a lot closer to her than we thought she would.
They see so many people here  at Old Mans Cave
and in the campground above the trail that they
get more use to people being around them.
Many may even try to feed them at the camping sites.

 

I love to watch the deer and the spotted fawns are
always so cute but I don’t like them in my flowers
and garden at all. This time of the year the  bucks
will be rutting on the trees and they can really
damage small fruit trees.

The upper trail is full of fallen leaves now that
crunched as we walked along it.
There were several people on the trail that we met.
And as we came out a new bride dress in white
and a groom were getting pictures taken with the
background of the cliffs and pines behind them.

The air was crisp and cool and perfect for an
afternoon walk along the trail. It was much
nicer than when we walked it on the hot humid
days of this summer.

A few golden yellow leaves glowed as the sun
filtered through the pine trees.

Looking out over the gorge at the lookout point the
only color now amongst the pines were the oak
leaves and a sycamore tree.

Even the red leaves of this small oak were lovely,
scars and all, but ready to fall.

But even with the rain we had gotten after the
storms on Tuesday it was still dry.
The upper fails under the bridge was just a trickle
and the rocks were covered with fall leaves.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe
weekend. Enjoying the Fall colors of the leaves
and pumpkins. Enjoying the corn mazes and taking
hayrides through the fields but as for me…….

Until Next Time,
Lona

 

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After The Storm, A Little Sunlight

Uncle! after yesterday’s winds, tornadoes and rain
my  afternoon was filled with picking up limbs
and raking all the wet leaves up that found their way
into my flowerbeds and front yard. There were 5
tornadoes that touched down in Ohio yesterday
one about 27 miles from here which is plenty
close enough thank you very much.
No injuries though so we are all thankful to have
Wednesday over with here. The good thing was
that we really needed the rain so I could not complain
about raking wet leaves.I usually mow them up but
they were too wet and I wanted to get the front yard
raked at least before the little Trick or Treater’s  come
Thursday evening.

The sun was shining brightly today after a night of 
storms and what few blooms that were left looked
pretty in the morning sun.

The yellow mums looked bright with a bit
of sun reflected on them to dry them out.

Some of the anemones like Margarete are still
getting a few blooms and the Chocolate Eupatorium’s
tiny white blooms are lasting such a long time.

Even the yellowing leaves of the Blue hosta looked
pretty in the morning sunlight.

The Picotee cosmos were cut down today
because they were laying flat this morning
and I could not get them staked up to look 
right because they were so tall so they are
in the compost pile but two white ones are
still in bloom and standing tall.

The Dahlias bulbs were lifted and put in the
basement to dry out.

Some of the containers on the front porch that
are being left to their own demise because of
lack of room in the basement had blown over
and had to be straightened up. Mostly all that is
left is extra geraniums.
They well continue to give me some blooms until
a freeze comes in.

 

Maybe I should try to find room for this
little pink beauty. It is called Apple Blossom
but does not have the double petals like the
Apple Blossom Rosebud one I have.
I love the shades of pink in it with the deeper
pinks clustered in the middle of the bloom.

 

 

The Lantana on the porch was also tipped over.
It has gotten a couple just yellow blooms on it where
most of the blooms had pink with the yellow.

The  Purple Heart bit the dust from frosts.
I forgot about it hanging on the pole out back.
Hey so what if I go out this door several times a day
and still forgot it.
Maybe if I had tripped over it ???

This Blue Ice petunia is the only blue one that
I left and it is in the washtub. All the rest were pulled up.
It is still blooming despite all the frost and dry weather.

All of the Nicotiana have been pulled up from
their pots and tossed away.
I am missing the bright colors of my flowers
already and now even the leaves are almost gone.

The Coneflowers are all gone now and
some of the seed pods left standing for the
Goldfinches have a warm brown look in
the sunshine.
I got all of my bulbs planted this week and
have planted 116 daffodils. I had this grand
idea of a sea of daffodils out on the bank under
the maple trees but after about burning up the
drill and not even being able to dig for so many
roots my grand idea went down the tubes.
Best laid plans and all of that…. so the 100 yellow
trumpets went in to the woodland bed and the
assortment of pinks were stuck all around.
After my plan blew up I did not much care where
I planted them just that they got planted. LOL!

I hope you all are having a wonderful week.

Happy Gardening Everyone!
Lona

The 104th Pumpkin Show

Hello everyone I hope you all had a wonderful
weekend.
We are getting some much needed rain
here this morning. The rain and wind is taking
down a lot of the remaining leaves around the
house and down in the woods in back.
The two maples in the front yard are just now
turning yellow. They are always slower to turn
than the others around here so we will be mowing
leaves for a couple of weeks yet.

Friday my daughter and I attended the 104th
Pumpkin Show Festival in Circleville, Ohio. They had
beautiful weather for the festival and everyone was
enjoying both. There have been years where it
had snowed for the Festival but not this year.

 

The winning biggest pumpkin weighed in at 1,622
pounds a little shy of last years 1,635. The local newspaper
had listed the weight at 1,662 which was an error.
Regardless it was huge and there were so many large ones
this year competing.

There were plenty of pumpkins to be seen and
for sale at a Pumpkin Show along with an array
of yummy foods which included pumpkin in the
recipes.

It was also Circleville’s bi-centennial year and there
were little evidences of it all around town.

Although this picture is a terrible one,  it is of a
mural painted on the side of one of the buildings
representing the beginnings of the Pumpkin Shows
when farmers use to bring their pumpkins by horse
and wagons into the local cannery. You can barely see
the pumpkin tower in the background for the shade and
the crowd of people but you get the jest of it.
Also on the right is a picture on the pillar of the
Pumpkin Man.

There has been  a Pumpkin Man or Clown
at the Pumpkin Show for more years than I can
remember. The children love him and want
their pictures taken with him.
There have been a few different men portraying
the Pumpkin Man over the years and he once
went around the show on roller skates but now
his has upgraded to inline skates.
He said it was much easier on the inline skates
because they tended to roll over the debris that
may be in the street where with roller skates you
got those sudden stops that tended to trip him
up. LOL!
I remember those sudden stops at the local
roller rink when you hit a piece of paper or gum.

I love seeing all the graft booths and the Arts
and Crafts building while at the festival.

 

Even the crafts for judging have a pumpkin or
fall theme depicted on them .The beautiful banners and
quilts were proudly displayed throughout the building.
There were so many I would have loved to show the
ladies that quilted but my little point and shoot camera
does not hold many pictures.

 

Some of the repurposed crafts were unusual.
The one on the left is a picture of a lamp made
from a old push mower and a giant metal strainer.
An the pumpkin was made from tires and a trash
can lid. I think they needed more orange paint on
the tires though. LOL!

The Mad Hatter from the new “Alice in
Wonderland” movie was there with his
pumpkin head and face paint.

  

But it was not all Fall and Pumpkins in the Arts
and Crafts building. Beautiful Christmas projects
were on display for judging also.
The Christmas quilts were so lovely.

And I loved this cross stitched picture that looked
like it had lacy edges but was cross stitched on.

 

Lovely floral quilted banners and cross stitched
pictures were everywhere.

There were so many gorgeous guilt’s of every kind
on display. From patched, baby, team logos , flowered,
and fall and winter

 

The gardener in me loved this flower basket
quilt with baskets of all kinds of different flowers.
I am a touchy feely person and it is so hard for me not
to touch everything. I am as bad as a kid about
that and I had to really refrain myself.
Besides they had some male person in the building
telling everyone who tried to touch things, “ Do not touch”!

There was even this little reminder above the rows of
quilts.   Horizontal stripes and balls and chains do
not look good on a hefty person like myself at all and my
daughter only had to smack my fingers once. LOL!

 

I love crocheting so to me this was a beautiful
reminder to give thanks for all the freedoms
and good things that God has blessed us with.

With so many vendors displaying so many
yummy goodies you have to attend the Festival
to enjoy the food that is offered once a year.
So I brought home some Pumpkin Fudge that is so
rich it will make your toes curl.
And a funnel cake was brought home for my son to
enjoy. Of course I had to sample a bite too. LOL!

I guess we all enjoy our own local festivals and
maybe they are wonderful to us because they bring
back fond memories of our younger days or school
days, of bands, parades and fun with friends.
So I wanted to share it with you .

The little goblins and spooks will
be coming here this Thursday.

Until Next Time,
Lona