Crispy

It was 29 F or -1.6 C

Saturday morning before dawn.

The first frost had arrived and it was a killing frost.

The first thing I noticed was that my most of my porch garden

flowers were frosted.

They would be brown and wilted by mid afternoon.

These were the Marigolds next to the porch. 

This was in the back pasture under a Hickory tree. I loved 
the pattern on the multiflora rose plant.

The dogs were anxious to get out and get moving, so off we went just after the sun broke over the ridgetop.

I took a lot of photos of all sorts of interesting plants covered in frost while the dogs followed me around the summer pasture running and sniffing.

 I wore my coveralls and a stocking cap. I wondered if  Hannah would get cold.

She has a lighter coat than Charlie who has a triple layered hound coat. She didn't seem chilled at all and was her normal bouncy self.

We walked towards the 'campground'. The Hickory trees had gone from green-yellow to brilliant in the past few days. With wicked winds  predicted for the weekend, I figured I'd better get one last shot of the trees before they turned barren.

After breakfast, we took a long hike on our land exploring the dry runs and the creek. Hannah was too busy tracking wild animals to bother Charlie very much. 

Charlie eventually found something quite interesting under a log and enjoyed digging and hunting [just like a dachshund would do]. I let him have at it since he enjoys it so much and never digs in the yard. 

He didn't find anything, but he sure enjoyed the digging and smelling. I assume a mouse or some such creature had burrowed under the log recently.

Most of the trees on our land had lost their leaves.

I did find Maidenhair ferns that were lit up by the sun as they started to turn brown. The colors were pretty delightful.

Finally at the very back end of our land I did find some maple trees that had not lost all of their leaves and was surprised to find a brilliant set of red leaves.

I took another walk much later in the afternoon to hunt up fungi and mushrooms. 

I'd spotted them in a section of our land while walking with the dogs, but it was too dark on the hillside to take any photos. I went back in the late afternoon and a tiny tripod to hold the camera still to take some shots.

I like fungi. I don't 

know what kinds these are

but they were fun to find and 

photograph.

This group was my favorite find of the day.
How lucky I was to find the sunlight

shining just right!

The rest of the day was busy cleaning the porch and putting gardening tools away.

Fall Beckons.....................

After fighting a gnarly cold from Sunday morning through Wednesday morning, I decided to go kick some stuffy head a$$. When I was in my 20's and 30's I was a distance runner. I'd get a head cold and wait until I could 'just' breath and then go running. Stupid, you know? But I always felt better after getting the 'juices' flowing.

So Wednesday morning after chores I grabbed a backpack and my two cohorts [dogs] ran to sit by my car. The vote was in. I could clean house, make the bed, and dust ----> or take off and do something fun. The weather was perfect in every single way that fall can produce.

The drive to the Reserve seemed to hold the promise of something beautiful.

But since I was still not recovered from the cold [think stuffy nose and stuffy head]. I decided we'd just take it slow when we hit the trails.

And we did. I took nearly an hour for our first mile. I strolled slowly letting the dogs trot ahead looking for interesting scents.

I took a maintenance trail that is almost never used. No bikes or equines are allowed there, but foot traffic is okay.

I know that last year I stopped and photographed this wild grape vine. I've always intended to come back and see it in the winter. Maybe this year.

It almost looks like some sort of alien creature!

The shot last year was much better, but I'll have to wait until later in the year to try it again!

Last year:

The bare branches of some of the young maples under the pines held my attention as the needles have been dropping from the winds decorating the bare branches.

For fun I tried a double exposure in camera. I pointed the camera at the bright part of the forest and took a shot of my hand, then pointed at the dogs for a second exposure. The effect is rather interesting.

I swapped the camera over to B&W and serendipity gave me this view of Hannah. I liked it.

I turned and spotted this highlighted maple branch that looked like it had spikes. It is just pine needles.

We lollygagged along in no hurry, so Hannah ran off in front to be called back to me. Charlie was smart and just walked alongside me unless a smell was too overpowering.

We did greet two horse back riders. But otherwise we saw no other human. In the distant ponds in the valley we could hear Canada Geese and other waterfowl calls. 

Over the years, I usually stop at this stump on the Little Canada Trail. I ask the dogs to sit on the stump for a portrait. I think these two portraits tell a tale at the different characteristics of these two dogs.

Hannah -- a goofy face.

Charlie, so stoic.

The Dragon Tree. Or.

Whatever you might see in it!

This tree has seen so much I can tell by its expression:

It took us a long time to get this trail done, but it didn't feel like it. I'm still learning to try to NOT hurry through each of my hikes but to slow down and take it all in.

Fall:

The smells of fall, 

the dropping leaves, 

the whispers of the wind in the pine trees,

The air carried a kind of quiet promise,

the kind you only hear when the season shifts.

Every trail felt like a story half‑told,

begging to be explored.

Fall didn’t just arrive — it beckoned.

it appealed to our sense of wildness,

of adventure,

and of awe.

More Wet!

 and....

Sunshine is home! 

We got her home just before the rains started. 

Oh and after greetings with her sister, Sunshine settled in as the boss of the tiny herd. I guess the others have been missing her leadership. 

They follow her where ever she goes.

Since it was pouring outside, I thought I'd try something different. I collected some leaves aa few pumpkins and set them on an old mirror I had.

I thought I'd try a reflection-Fall Decoration shot-with reflections.

Not all of the shots turned out, but I did get two that I kept. This was pretty fun to do and I think I could do better but just need to figure that out.

I thought I'd try a Garden Gargoyle with a pumpkin and a red leaf. So I tried two versions.

I made my own 'black box' to try this out also. A light underneath the characters and carboard to keep out the light. Some fallen flower petals from a flower...and...

👇😊

The rain let up and it was a light mist by noon. So I packed up a backpack. I'd been stuck inside for too many days. 

The dogs were not letting me out the door without them, they'd been stuck inside too. So off we went in a drizzle for an adventure.

And we had a good one.

Just as we got to this bluff the rain started coming down hard so I slipped on the poncho which covered my backpack and me all the way to my knees.

We waited out the heavy rain and then ventured out on the bluff.

The view

Here is a shot of the mist coming up out of the woods after the rain. This happens often in our steep valleys and hillsides because of the temperature difference inside the woods vs the air above.

My pals.

We got wet but surprisingly enough we didn't get muddy. We got to see the fall colors in their best light. In my opinion the best light is early morning, late afternoon, or an overcast day. But that is just me.

We got home and dried off. The drizzle kept on off an on. We ended up with about another inch of rain overall. 

This is the new header which replaces the summer view from the bluff.

Today, for the first time in what feels like forever, we have a clear and sunny sky and temps barely in the 40's.

Tent life [part one]

We decided to have a night out. You know, a wild Saturday night!

First came the tent building. For me, it is the most difficult thing to do.

I am a novice. I still struggle.

I'd found an old beat up metal camp cot in the shed. I cleaned it and repaired it for my supervisors. 

I added some blankets and 

they were content to watch while I worked.

Well. 

That was until it seemed like I needed help. Then Hannah came to assist.

I asked her for some advice. She promptly laid down on the tent and wagged furiously.

I thought I set up the trail cam with a photo every 3 minutes, but flubbed it.

I got things sorted out, and my buddies spent the evening watching the meadow while I doodled and wrote in my Pretty Painful Grief Book. 

A note. It is a book with some helpful pages. It also has many pages where the author asks you to write answers to questions about what you are going through.

Sometimes, I just draw circles or write whatever comes to mind 

We spotted a buck following a doe and her fawn. Hannah and Charlie sprang to chase. I used the vibrate mode on their collars and they stayed in camp.

Good dogs.

Maybe TV is more interesting, but I don't think so. I observed how the setting sun filtered light through the Hickory leaves highlighting the leaf edges.

Some of the Hickory trees are starting to turn colors. The box elders are yellowing quite quickly also.
Fall is lurking just around the corner.

The wind sighed through the branches above, an owl asked 'Who cooks for you?'

On the ridge to the south (about a half mile away), I could hear Olive's dogs barking. Further out Linda's cattle were calling out.

In the dusk, I listened to Robins chirping telling me all about the long journey they had started. A doe whistled not far away just outside of camp. We heard her (?) moving away through the brush.

No. The forest is not boring, something is always going on.

Here Charlie and I have a deep conversation about....... 

Well, about ear rubs and all the important things in a dog's life.

Getting dark. 

The daylengths in August shorten 70 minutes from the length of the days in July. 

Maybe that is why I feel such an urgency to spend more and more time outside in August...so I don't miss a thing.

As darkness fell, it became 'deer' time. The deer often cross this meadow right around sunset and right around sunrise or immediately thereafter.

I didn't have my 'long' lens ready but took this with my 200mm zoom lens. This is one of the reasons I picked this spot, it has a great view of our meadow and ....

Soon, the moon appeared...

[Waxing Gibbous Phase

August 22nd]

And we turned in. 

At first Hannah decided to take my cot.

She ended up snuggling in the blankets next to the cot.

Charlie snuggled right up against me on the cot. He is a great foot warmer. He sleeps under the blanket in his cave.
 

My intent was to get up at 1am and photograph some stars.  We did get up. I was not prepared for how chilly it felt so I tip toed back to the tent and climbed into the warm blankets. Hannah came up on the narrow cot too and lay against my side.

I was warm, but could barely move. The next few hours were restless.

But the morning was pretty darned glorious too.

Stay tuned...