Just a post while I am in the mood...

I took these pictures a week ago...notice the color of the tree, then notice all surrounding trees.

Can you believe the color...I know part of the reason it stands out is because everything else is so drab...

But it is just glorious.  There are always a few of these trees around.  I have no idea what they are....I thought they were maybe linden trees but in googling them, don't think they are.  Whatever they are they have so much color...
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I was going to skip a day or two posting and now it has been about a week.  Just got sidetracked and didn't get back to it.  And may not again till after Thanksgiving.

I cannot say where the time went...we did the gutters of the house.  That was one day.  We have awnings over the porches, I got up and cleaned one while Roger did the garages and the rest of the house, and then he got up and did the other awning.  But I was so tired that night I didn't want to even think.  It was one of those brisk days...

While I was up there, I heard this noise...a bird...I knew it was familiar but couldn't think what.  I glanced around and didn't see anything..went back to work. Heard it again...looked around, and there went a bunch of sandhill cranes.  I made a point of going to the strip pits a day or two later, but they were not out there.  I was so in hopes they had stopped there.
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I have been getting a little Christmas shopping done...I don't mind telling you I was beginning to panic a little. So glad to have a start.

Shhhhh--don't tell anyone but we put our Christmas tree up today!  I think it is the first time I ever wanted it up before Thanksgiving was over.  But this year Thanksgiving is so late, I just went ahead and decided I wanted it up...Roger carried it up from the basement and we got it done this morn.

anyway, in case I don't get to say it before Thursday, I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.

We survived the wind...

Yesterday afternoon, a storm moved through our area...the worst of it missed us.  The wind was some of the worst I have seen...I have never seen a storm move through as fast.  But we were on the tail end of it.  Our local weatherman said that the wind was reaching 75 mph at ground level.  North of us about 20 miles, two trailers were turned over.  And two or three counties south of us had a tornado touch down.

When it cleared out the first time, I jumped in the Rav to head north to capture a few pics.  The storm was still happening about 3 or 4 miles north of us.  As up you can see by the above pic, I got in the edge of it.

Then I take a few more pics as I begin to look south.

I know it has not been long ago that I gave a cloud show over on my Time Stand Still blog, but I just cannot resist when they are like this.

I will leave you with this final one...

It was starting to move in on me by this one...I grabbed a couple shots and headed for home.  The wind was fierce by then and raining hard....but by the time I got south just a couple miles, I had driven out of the worst of it.

Be sure to click and enlarge to get the expanded view.

Like this old barn

Just like this old barn, I am feeling a bit worse for wear.  Friday evening, after Roger left to go hunting, I decided to rake a few leaves.  Didn't make much headway...10 big garbage bags and that did not even get the ones in front of the garage.  Keep in mind we don't have any trees in our yard any more, other than a dogwood and a smoke bush.  So they are all from neighbor's trees.

Well, I was tired that night....but other than that nothing worse.  Though there is no use complaining, I still am having trouble with my shoulders...it went from the right shoulder back to the left. As a general rule it is just stiff, though I do get it flared to hurting/aching sometimes.  The raking actually seemed to make them feel better the first evening, but then that night I got moved the wrong way and they are both flared back up

Yesterday morn, I got up and ran and got the ham for Thanksgiving, then in the evening we worked on the leaves.  Roger got the blower out this time....we bagged 14 more bags, and then put a LOT on the garden spot.

By last night I was so stiff and sore I could hardly move.  Aspercreme has been applied...to my shoulder/arms.  I took ibuprofen hoping the stiffness would be gone by this morn, but it is still there.  Anyway, that is one reason I have not been around to visit...have been busy, and when I have come in the past two nights I have not wanted to do anything that required thinking or effort.