Harvest musings...

Wow, all of a sudden I just have all kinds of things to post on here! You know how it is. Anyway, a couple of days ago we had some fierce rain which is great for all the plants and to decrease the pollen. The down side to rainy weather, and something which I brace myself for each year, MUD and more mud! Scrappy likes to get me ready for the muddy days to come by giving me a little taste of how they will all be trotting in soon. She usually runs in full out and I try to intercept her before she makes many tracks around the house. Notice the dirty nose too! The other day she killed a mouse and brought it to me. I really appreciate the effort but hate picking up those little buggers.

Anyway, Scrappy came in full of herself and wanted to play. It looks like Violet was telling her that she's got dirty feet and doesn't want to play but that's only half true, as soon as this picture was snapped Violet pounced and the games were on.

Charlie is so handsome. It's hard to get a picture of him because as soon as I get anywhere near his level he's in motion my way--he's such a momma's boy!

Daisy and Speedbump usually come in and lay right down. I like that because their mud tracks are shorter!


I've been working on the last of the canning this week. I made a batch of elderberry jelly and have one more batch to make (these are Christmas gifts.) We had a less than average harvest this year in our garden because I let "end rot" get the first of our tomato crop. But I know to nip that in the bud next year because I've got two new favorite tomatoes, the Cherokee Purple and Big Mama Roma. The Cherokee Purple was a good slicing tomato and Big Mama was great for processing into marinara because it has so few seeds. How did your garden grow this year and what were your favorites? Here's some oregano I dried.

This is what time JP gets home! He's been so busy at work lately, he comes home when the harvest moon is up. Well, I'm off to get my carpet scraps out to strategically place around the back door for muddy paws!

Harvest blessings to you all from the holler.

True Love Story...

I visit a blog called "What matters most is kindness" and this story just blew me away today. It beats any "chick flick" I've seen all to pieces. It's about a couple that has been married for 71 years - I really go for the "true love" stories. So here's the link,,,please go read and be blessed.

True Love

I'm here in the holler with hearts popping above my head like Olive Oyl for Popeye.

News from the holler...

Really, the news is that we are so busy these days that I only sit at the computer to get the weather. I don't watch the news so I jump on here and find out what to wear, should we have the windows open, etc. It's been lovely here. The temperatures are mild and kinda cool at night; it's my perfect weather (JP's too.) The whole pack is in good health and happy.

The picture above was taken at my parents house. That's our two grandbabes taking a little fall walk a couple of years ago. It's one of my favorites.

One bit of very important news to us is that our soldier is home and with his family. Praise the Lord! Blessings to you all from the holler.

Falling...

Now, I can tell you that the minute JP sees the title of this post he will think that I'm reporting one of my many stumbles. I am a klutz and there's no help for it. He always says that he thinks I should be wrapped in bubble wrap when he's away. He's a funny guy.

No, this post is celebrating this season of change in the weather. The temperatures are mild, the trees are changing color and I love it. One of the showiest trees we have as far as fall color is this maple.

The dogwoods are beautiful too.


This is a different kind of dogwood and it has these little red balls. Does anyone know what kind of dogwood this is. It's the one that has flowers after it's put on its leaves in the spring.


Guess what! As I walked around taking these pictures I noticed that there were strawberries still on the plant. Uh, sorry honey, I kind of ate them as I went along. Trust me, they weren't that good...
Our Purple Thai Basil is beautiful now as it goes to seed.


The gang was so interested in the cat and I as we walked around the front yard. Well, most everyone was interested.....


Speedbump started getting sleepy sitting there in the sun and I left her alone for her little nap after I snapped this yawn.


Happy fall blessings to all of you from all of us in the holler.