Leftovers....

These are some pictures that for one reason or another I had meant to post before now, but just didn't get it done. This first is not such a great picture; it is a drive-by shot...you can see the dirty windshield in it. And I feel like it is just a tad bit blurred. It isn't a great shot...but I still just love this house. I wonder how old it is...it is surely old. But even if it isn't, I love the fact that is made of rock. Just LOVE it.
The one below was taken early in the fall...I do love the color and simplicity of this shot.
Look at this...just look where it is growing. First this closer view....
Then this one where I am not zoomed in.
Now, this is not a true macro or anything like that. It is just a cropped area
from the shot below. I like feathers.....
When I worked at the orchard I would sometimes collect hawk and turkey feathers and stick them on the tractor...I did not know that it is totally illegal to have them in your possession. I think it is a federal law...and though I may be mistaken, I think only Indians are allowed to own the real thing from a bird of prey. I just did a quick search; check out some laws here....I just learned that we are not supposed to have bird nests in our possession either. I'm not sure if that includes all nests or not.

All the time I worked at the orchard there was a pair of hawks that I seen quite often...probably would have seen them every day had I noticed. I watched them enough...I considered them 'ours' as if we owned them. But they stayed there, and they raised their young there...and I am sure they killed dozens and dozens and dozens of mice in the orchard. I loved them for that reason alone. Once or twice, one of them landed in an apple tree not too far from me..I got down off my picker to see how close I could get to it. That was two trees away--probably about 20 feet from it.

Sometimes when we mowed under the trees, the hawks would follow not too far away. I didn't know it till I worked there, but mice are hard on apple trees. The burrow in and around the roots, and and can do a lot of damage to the roots. You just would not believe the runways they will have under the trees.

Kind of humorous

Merom is a small place with a population of approximately 300...it did not have a gas station, but it did have two cafes. Side by side...this is the one we stopped to get something to drink at. When we came out, Roger noticed what all was listed on their sign. We kind of chuckled at the welding supplies. But we glance to the back and attached to the back was a welding shop.

From there we went on south, then east and back up through some country we had not seen before. We came across this sort of unusual looking barn...and be sure and click and enlarge and look at the post the mailbox is on. I didn't notice that till I downloaded the picture.
And there was this barn....
what was sitting inside is what drew my eye.
But I also liked the overall appearance of the barn.

More...

Not sure what is going on with the collage...seems a bit strange here where I am composing this. I was afraid everyone might be getting tired of fall photos, yet I just could not stop till I posted these. I was going to post all of the ones in the collage separately, then thought maybe it would be better to post it as a collage. I am hoping it will enlarge big enough for you to get a feel for the photos used in it.
I could not post without including the wonderful sweet gum...I think it is my favorite of big trees--the leaves turn all colors. It just happened that I didn't take a picture featuring all the colors. A lot of them will have a range of color from bright yellow to a purple that is almost black...with every color in between.
Even so, aren't these all so glorious?
It is wintry feeling here in the Midwest today. I cannot get over just how much like winter the air feels. It isn't freezing cold, but it is cold. It is just the look of everything and the feel that is in the air.

My kitties tend to stay inside a bit more. And that is good for all concerned. Yesterday I was sitting in the living room and thought I saw a bird fly across the yard down low...and thought it was the size of a blackbird or robin, but I haven't been seeing any. I got up and looked out the window and didn't see anything.

So I went outside to have a better look, and it was Puss Puss aka The Princess with a little bitty bird. She took off like lightening with me right behind her...I chased her around to the back and got her cornered and she let go of the bird and it flew away. I did not get a good look, but was so afraid it was a wren.

I sometimes wish I didn't like cats so well, or that they would all be as lazy as my original Cougar was...he sure didn't spend much time hunting. But they are not. I still love them, though, and cannot imagine life without them. Every night, my new Cougar comes and cries and wants me to sit down and hold him for a while. It is so relaxing.

And heaven forbid I go in and find one on the bed of the day...I just have to lay down with it for a few minutes.

However, there are the times around 11:00 or midnight, when they are outside and come to the door. I get up to let whichever one it is in, and they turn around and go the other way. They are wanting me to come outside with them. Here about a month ago, Cougar did me that way at least half a dozen times....Roger was laughing at me. And him.

So, after Roger went to bed, Bubbie wanted out about the time Cougar was at the window again. So I let Bubbie out, and went outside talking to him and not paying Cougar any attention...I got close enough to Cougar that time and snatched him and brought him in.

And then there are the times it is raining, or supposed to rain and I am out searching the yard and surrounding area at midnight trying to get them all rounded up and inside. I call myself the cat herder...