Sunday, October 9, 2011

Busy Autumn Days

Wilbur bares his teeth in mock savagery as his little sister,Willow, launches an attack.

Willow and Wilbur went to the vet clinic early on Friday morning for spay/neuter.
Here they are Thursday evening wrestling on the guest room bed just beyond my big desk.
  They have been so rambunctious that I flung this old spread over the bed to protect one of my nice quilts.
Needless to say W. and W. didn't do any playing on Friday evening. They tottered about, collapsing groggily every few minutes. I didn't allow them the run of the house for fear they would
tumble down the basement stairs.
By Saturday morning they were perkier and interested in breakfast.
I had 'vouchers' for the surgical procedures--both because we qualify as 'senior citizens' [aarrgh!] and because I had donated to the animal shelter.
I requested that their innoculations be done while they were at the clinic--its a good thing I was leaning against a counter when the bill was presented for that!
Please--no more stray cats for a bit!

G. and I worked most of Wednesday to 'put up' the tomatoes she purchased at the Mennonite produce stand.  There are 40 quarts in the line-up here--the remaining 8 quarts were done on Thursday.

G. found this 'parsley worm' as she was harvesting parsley.  When she touched it, out came those
tiny orange 'horns.'

Looking at this side view of the creatures 'legs' its easy to understand why some bulldozers
have the brand name of "Caterpillar."


Its a rare morning that doesn't reward me for the effort of going outdoors first thing. Once I have creaked my way into an assortment of warm old clothes and pulled on my wellies, there is a sense of praise for yet another day to go about the simple chores of feeding the barn cats and scooping grain for Pebbles [who assures me in trumpeting tones that she is about to starve.]
 Saturday morning was mild, misty and very beautiful.


The wide-angle photo of the yard and the mist over Big Creek Valley was taken standing on the still-shaded path to the hay barn.

 
I was whisking through tall pasture grass [returning from the cat litter dump near the tree line] as the sun struck the back field and the cold mist began to melt and glimmer on every blade of grass and on the dozens of spider webs.

I tried close ups, macro settings and distance shots attempting to capture the sparkle of dew on these fuzzy seedheads. None of the photos do justice to the reality.

I zig-zagged through the fine guy wires of stretched spider silk, noting how quickly white mist melted into clear droplets of water as the sun advanced.


 
A clump of wild 'frost asters' bends low in the rough grass beyond the grape arbor.

Naturalized morning glory grows in  lax tangles behind the woodshed and
invades the gardens, grasping and climbing its way up the stalks of sturdier plants.

7: 45 a.m. and the mist swiftly dissolving into a million minute splatters of wet.

Faithful Willis has made the rounds with me, flattening himself in dew-soaked clumps of grass,
then launching himself at my boots as I swish through the grass.
Here D. has just driven in on his way to work a 14 hour day at a neighbor's house-renovating project.
Willis adores D.--in fact he prefers the company of the men of the family over mine.
He flung himself at D. who makes a great fuss over him.

D. was shortly on his way and Willis sought the sun-warmed comfort of the front porch to dry his sopping feet.

10 comments:

  1. How I enjoyed our morning walk. I fear we don't have the sunshine here, but a wind has crept up overnight and is shaking the out-of-reach and blackbird-pecked apples from the Bramley tree. I really think I could settle in happily as one of your neighbours . . .

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  2. Wonderful photos of your life. Thank you for sharing.

    Have a great week ~ FlowerLady

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  3. Stunning, beautiful photos of morning in your magical space.
    Love the two "W's", it looks like my house when the air is right, the fur flies.
    Take care and have a great week.

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  4. Well now I dont have a comment I e-mailed it to you but, trying to see if I can log in!

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  5. HA! I think I got it my Dear Sainted Mother!!! I just wanted to say,"What a nice picture of Donkey Donkey and Willow! shwew!

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  6. Thankyou for the comment on the hexies. I had a bit of a conscience about using the machine but if I proceed to hand stitch I may expire before it is finished. lol
    It does look good, even if I say so myself and is really sturdy. This way I may just finish the whole thing.
    Your W's are just adorable.
    Vet's fees.....don't talk about them....I have had some huge one's in the past, especially when my old Fred needed specialist eye operations. But do you know, I don't begrudge a penny I spend on my cats, isn't it funny, and yet I penny pinch on other things.
    Briony
    x

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  7. Hope Wilbur and Willow have recovered from their trip to the vet - never inexpensive even for the simplest of things. Love your autumnal photos especially that parsley caterpillar, it's coloirs are really beautiful.

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  8. The cost of neutering is terrible ...along with jabs ...we just have the first year ones done ...cant afford more. If you rescue a cat sometimes you can get vouchers but not otherwise ...no matter how old you are.lol
    That caterpillar is amazing ...fantastic shots.Thanks for taking me on your walk xx

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  9. What a gorgeous morning walk you had! The kitties are always entertaining.

    ~Shanon

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  10. Enjoyed the visit with you this morning and the photos. Quite a bounty of produce and I always love the pics of those. I remember the cost of purchasing our kittens from the animal shelter but, thankfully, that included spaying, shots, etc!

    Blessings,
    Dianne

    www.mysouthernheart.com

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