Drink, anyone?

Our Hill's namesake and just about the only avian life we see this time of year.

moonset, sunset

Sometimes it's really pretty here. This was the start and end of yesterday, Nov. 14, 2008.

while the cat's away...

Hubby has been gone for a week visiting his best bud in Tulsa. Cali has taken over his side of the bed and even his pillow isn't off limits. All this bedding is now in the wash. I'm still allergic to dogs (despite the 2 years of shots and daily antihistamines) and this is allergen overload, so she's being taught to sleep at the foot of the bed or on the floor. Unfortunately, she has a mind of her own.

stinkhorn

These have to be the oddest looking in the mushroom world. They are in the family Phallaceae. Cali found this one on our morning walk. The top of the mushroom has a foul odor to attract flies, beetles, anything that will carry the spores away. I remember learning about these in Botany sitting next to my best friend. We thought they were quite hilarious, but then we thought everything was hilarious. Actually, I still think they are funny.

dreary day

It's nice to be above the valley fog even on a rainy day like this. The entire Clark Fork River Valley is covered with a blanket of fog, but I can see for miles.

work from the garden continues

We froze about 40 pounds of tomatoes for future use. Yesterday we started to make tomato sauce. Next year we will skin them before we freeze them. It's easier than holding a frozen tomato and trying to skin it.

Here they are bubbling away with some chopped onion, garlic and garden peppers.

This is the next day. It's now ready for canning. You can see it has boiled down by one third.
This is all we got out of about 25-30 pounds. There are still a few bags in the freezer for another time.

sunrise

The tamaracks are turning a deep golden color before losing all their needles. You never even notice these trees until fall, but then they really put on a show.

Sunrise was so pretty this morning. We've had clear skies for the past several days and highs at our house in the 60's. Believe me, the warm weather is really making us and the bugs happy. We are forever killing flies in the house. Ick! I think we are going to make it through the whole month of October without any snow on the ground. A first for us. This is the start of our 5th winter here. I'm all for keeping the snow away as long as possible.

spring and fall

'Ziva' paperwhites from John Scheppers arrived last month and I've been planting a few every week for forcing. The first bloom appeared today and it smells divine. It's more like spring in the house than fall.

Of course, I only need to step outside for a hard dose of reality. It's frosty every morning and at or below freezing. That makes for a chilly walk with Cali. I thought this Mahonia looked cool (in more ways than one) with it's bright red leaves and icy crystals.

last farmer's market

Saturday was the last farmer's market of the season. My friend Katie and I went even though there was a cold, drizzly rain most of the time. I bought a 5 lb. bag of Acey Mac apples and a jug of cider. Dennis has been wanting an apple pie so that's what I made on Sunday. I followed the recipe from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook and it looks a little like the pic in the book.

Here is a closer shot of the Acey Mac apple. I still have enough for another pie so he's a lucky boy.

fall projects

We decided to paint the inside of our house since we may be here for a while. (I'm not painting, I'm watching and helping with the ladder.) I've always wanted big, bold colors, and what's better than a pumpkin colored kitchen? I think punkies are my favorite squash and I love October because they are finally in the stores.

One wall down and many more to go. All the contents of the china cabinet sat on the kitchen table for 4 days. I was so glad to get everything back where it belonged.

I had to take a picture of the Nasturtium flowers before the frost got to the plants. They are now shriveled little wisps of their former selves. 

Cali, enjoying what little warmth is left to the sun. She's giving me her "don't bother me, Mom" face.

hunting season

Cali models her safety vest. She hates it, but it keeps her safe from the idiot hunters.

mushrooming

Hygrophorus mushrooms coming up under the lilacs. They are very waxy to the touch and turn black upon bruising.

Coprinus mushroom coming up from the compacted road bed. Here you can see why one of the common names for this room is 'Shaggy Mane'.
The other common name being 'Inky Cap'. This is the same mushroom as above, one a day later.

Small, pumpkin colored mushrooms. I don't know the genus here, but they're cute as can be. I heard one of my friends complaining that there was nothing to take a picture of lately and she's resorted to photographing mushrooms. Of course, here on the Hill we are science geeks and actually go mushrooming on purpose so we are pleased as punch that all the recent rain has resulted in rooms sprouting up everywhere.

tomato overload

After waiting all summer, we now have a lot of ripe tomatoes. We decided to can some for use during the winter months.

We ended up with 9 pints of chopped tomatoes.

I ended up with this mess.

big red

The Euonymus shrub in our front yard has turned a brilliant red. I tried to get a picture of the male bluebird perched on the wire surrounding this plant, but to no avail. The second I walked out the screen door, he flew away. You'll just have to imagine how beautiful it looked with his striking blue back and these gorgeous red leaves.