Walking with Toby

This morning Toby and I went for our morning drag walk out in the beautiful fresh air.  Here are a few pictures that he allowed me to take.

The ice hasn't formed on the stream here yet.  It's been a relatively mild winter so far, only in the upper 20's and low 30's for the most part.

There was a lot of sniffing of bunny trails.

Aren't the icicles on the roof pretty?

Autumn Fire

Each season brings its own personality.  Its as if they are trying to outdo each other.  The red of autumn is no exception.

Mums

 

Japanese Maple

 

Dogwood

 

Burning Bushes lit ablaze.

See who else is strolling over at the Quiet Country House.  

Even the poison ivy is beautiful

I love fall.  The colors are amazing and the cool crisp air, refreshing.

I love the look of the leaves decorating the grass.

New blueberry bushes finishing up their first year in a new home.

The poison ivy even seems pretty.

I'm not very good at identifying things yet, but these berries are beautiful.

The kids hideout tucked in behind the trees.

Nature covering up a mess.

Dogwoods setting fruit.

Strolling through the candle company's gardens

This week we went out to the Yankee Candle Company to spend the day with the kids.  They have some very pretty gardens outside, so despite some rain, I decided to try out my new camera.  Its not really new, but hubby let me have one of his older cameras.  Its a Canon EOS 20D and much nicer than the little point and shoot I was using.

The mums were beautiful.

Lots of colors.

Corn stalks make wonderful designs.

Piles of pumpkins.

It really was beautiful.

This was my contribution to the Sunday Stroll.  Head on over to the Quiet Country House to see who else is strolling today.

Productive day, finally

After fighting a cold for the past few weeks, I've gotten a bit behind in all of my many chores.  The blog was neglected, the house was a mess and the garden expansion project wasn't expanding.  Hubby and I were both running on empty and needing a break.  We went out to a candle place a few hours from here and spent the day with the kids smelling yummy scents.  The store is more than a store and has lovely gardens outside as well.  Even though it was raining we took quite a few pictures.  Hubby gave me one of his spare cameras and started to teach me how to take better pictures.  I'll post some of them tomorrow.

Today, I felt much better.  It was a beautiful fall day.  The sky cleared, the air was crisp and I felt like I could conquer the world.  I started by conquering the house.  Hubby's businesses were taking over my living room and I needed to take it back.

Then I headed outside.  The piles of cinder blocks had been staring at me for a while.  They were looking a little menacing.  I had already gotten 11/2 beds completed,but had lots more work to do.  At first I thought the I'd finish the 2nd bed.  Then I thought I'd start on a third.  The neighbors were having a yard sale, so I went by to chit chat.  I still felt great, so I finished the third and started on the fourth.  I'm sure you're wondering how many beds I'm making at this point.

The neighbors were having trouble with the wind, so I went nextdoor to help them out.  Miraculously, I still felt wonderful.  So I started on the fifth and last bed.  The second pallet of cinder blocks was in the way, and I finally ran out of steam.  I have to move the last dozen or so blocks out of the way, and then finish the bed.

Then we'll move on to filling them all with soil.  I'm thinking about doing half loam and half compost and then topping it all off with some cow manure for good measure.  First I have to get a new wheelbarrow, as the kids killed the already half dead one I already had.

It's dark out right now, so I'll get some pics posted soon.  Tomorrow will be the pics with my new camera though.  You'll have to let me know how I'm doing with my new photography.  Hopefully it will be better than what I've done so far with my little point and shoot.