October 31, 2020

Happy Halloween!

October 30, 2020

Jed and I went for a walk this afternoon

to celebrate our power coming back on!!

It was glorious...the storm brought in fresh, clear, cool air and drove out the humidity. 

 

As we were crossing the bridge over the creek, Jed noticed a heron...

it's just about in the middle of this picture.  

I didn't have my zoom lens with me so I didn't get a good shot, 

but the two pictures below are cropped portions showing the heron leaving his perch.

I really enjoyed the herons that would visit the marsh beside our house in Wilmington.  

They are amazing creatures.

 

October 29, 2020

Hurricane Zeta snuck up on us...

I had no idea we were going to get plastered like we did.

This photograph was the calm before the storm.

Jed couldn't keep our neighbor's and our trash and recycling cans upright,

no matter how hard he tried.

At one point our recycling can tumbled over with the lid open

and our recycling scattered all over the road.

I felt like a member of a chain gang,

picking up trash along the roadside. :)

We gave up at that point and brought the recycling can and its contents

back into the garage.

Notice Jed had no shirt on...it was hot and muggy!

Around 10:30 we lost power.

The wind moved the rain clouds out pretty quickly and the sun was shining shortly after lunch,

though the wind was still blowing quite a bit.

We went to bed with no power

and it was still hot and muggy.
 

October 28, 2020

The little pottery pieces Decker and I painted a couple of weekends ago were fired in a kiln 

and I picked them up today.  

Decker's hatching chick turned out so cute - she did a great job!  

I can't wait for her to see it.

My piece is much less impressive...

I used orange and gold paint to make this a fall leaf but I guess it got covered up in the green paint.

Oh well, I still like it.  

But I'm anxious to try again.  

I'm so glad to have a crafting buddy!  :)
 

October 27, 2020

I ran errands this morning while Jed was doing his online college class.  

It was so foggy out, at 10:00!

Happy Birthday to this awesome dad!
 

October 26, 2020

This is so faded-looking compared to the brilliant real thing!

October 25, 2020

I made this bracelet a couple of weeks ago at the tea party with Decker.  

I've never been much of a jewelry person, but I love this bracelet!  :)

October 24, 2020

Things are starting to look colorful outside out back door.

October 23, 2020

I've always liked the idea of voting with everyone else on election day, 

so I've never voted early or requested an absentee ballot.  

But my neighbors have been talking on Next Door about how awesome the early voting is in our county,

so I decided to give it a shot.

I packed a bag with a textbook to read and some of Jed's papers to grade,

so I could make good use of my time,

but I didn't even have time to open my bag!

I had to wait in line to get my ballot,

and I had to wait in line to get to a voting machine,

but both times, there was only one person in front of me, 

and my total wait time was less than 5 minutes!

It was awesome!

Plus, I got this cool pen, which is way better than a sticker!  :)

October 22, 2020

The sun was hitting my little pine trees so strikingly this afternoon.  

Looking at this picture made me realize that they look like they might be two different varieties of pine.

October 21, 2020

For all I know, this could be what I'm apparently allergic to here, 

but isn't this pretty?  :)

October 20, 2020

Today started off beautifully...

running errands on a cool and sunny early morning.  

Got held up by this Norfolk and Southern train.  

This is for you, Dad! :)

And today ended beautifully...

so glad I was out to catch this incredible sky.

It was so much more intense in real life,

but this is the best my phone camera can do.

 

October 19, 2020

Still celebrating!

October 18, 2020

We have a habit in our family of dragging out celebrations as long as possible, 

and in keeping with that theme,

we didn't cut Jed's birthday cake until 2 days after his birthday.  :)

 

October 17, 2020

The sun was hitting this spot so intensely this afternoon.

I was glad to see this plant getting some sun...

it hasn't been looking too good lately.

I found these little guys in our front bed last week 

when we were inspecting the mushroom farm growing out there.

I love pine trees...

I hope they live and grow and thrive.

October 16, 2020

I can't believe this boy is 17 today!  

I love his sense of humor.  :)

October 15, 2020

Years of letterboxing have taught me to appreciate a natural hiding place.

The hole in this tree's trunk is pretty awesome.

October 14, 2020

Our yard isn't the only home for the booming mushroom industry.  

They're all over the neighborhood.  

This interesting specimen looks like two of the same type of mushroom, 

but the smaller one in the lower left corner is convex, 

where the larger one on top is concave.  

Maybe the larger one is older and this is part of the aging process?

The same mushrooms from a different angle...

the smaller one is covered up, 

and the tiny holly plant looks like leaves on the stem of a flower.  

Jed thought it looked like a rose...I think it looks more like a sunflower.  

This was my favorite, a little ways off from the others. 

This is another convex mushroom, 

with a little puffball off to the side.

From this angle it looks just like a turtle!
 

October 13, 2020

There's finally starting to be some color in our part of the world.

 

October 12, 2020

We've had so much rain this summer and fall, our landscaping is beginning to look like a forest floor.

Jed called me to join him outside this afternoon to look at our mushroom farm.

 

This little guy was pretty cute.

So was this snail.  :)
 

October 11, 2020

Still feeling the love this morning.

It rained all day yesterday and all morning today.

It finally slowed down while we were on the way to Decker's home.

 

My favorite part of the day...

watching Decker give her siblings the keychain and bracelets she made them yesterday.

Each keychain/bracelet had the sibling's name on it...

what could be more fun to a kid?

 

October 10, 2020

Today was a very large day.  

Miss Decker is spending the weekend with us to celebrate her upcoming birthday.  

She and I started our day with breakfast at Bob Evans.

We then went to a shop where we painted pottery, which will be fired in a kiln later.

Then it was back home where we prepared an afternoon tea.  

Decker decorated the table, and I think she did a very fine job of it.

We invited my next-door neighbor to join us for the festivities.

Part of those festivities was making bracelets.  :)

Then it was time for Decker's birthday dinner and cake and ice cream. 

 

Afterwards it was probably her favorite part of the day...a bubble bath.

The hardest part of the day was giving up time with her birthday gift to sleep.  :)