Promise to a Squirrel

More later about our promise to this little critter but first some pics of the season.

Wild October skies. Sunsets captured by my darlin' David who is always willing to drop what he's doing to point a camera at the sky.

Walkabout pics (taken by both of us) 0n recent wanders around the property.

Bright bursts of Fall

and all the colours I love to wear.

O .. This tiny marvel of engineering! That's David's (rather large) hand below, cradling the nest just to put it in perspective. Ahhhh yes, Autumn.

And finally; the squirrel of aforementioned promise. We see him frequently at this crossing on the trail ~ he and his tribe. This particular day he stopped to tell us a very long story and as the two of us pointed and clicked and listened intently; I promised him I'd post his picture on our blog. Make him famous. So here he is.

Till next time little one. Be wary and Be well.

Early Fall on the meadow

O!! October! The pure and concentrated colors of the planet. The crisp air, the autumn grasses on chilly mornings and the sunsets that come earlier now! All the wondrous energies of spring and summer merge like a celebration around a big fall bonfire. It's 'Heads Up' season too ~ watching for the crack and crash of an old pine or fir tree as it succumbs to age or disease and an unrelenting wind. Flannel sheets dry on the line in under an hour in an afternoon breeze, or freeze dry!! if left out overnight. Love it all. This time of year. October.

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. ~ George Eliot

Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all. ~ Stanley Horowitz

August on the Meadow

Random  moments in August  ~ in no particular order.

Doe on the ridge.

Wildflowers and Yarrow somewhere along the stacked log fence.

David's patience pays off with these Heron shots

 View from the creek, across the meadow and into the blue beyond.

Bees on 'Bearic's'  Valerian 

Looking over a willow thicket and towards our front gate

a favorite place for bears

Garden posies

One late August morning there was a hard frost and we awoke to a wonderland of frozen grasses and weeds where the sprinklers had run overnight.  We irrigate with a gravity feed from the creek. 

A moment of setting sun.

Mandy with Sweet-peas : )

And now, it is September.  A glorious time of year!

Summer Meadow Pics by Vincent

I've been meaning to get these pics up for a while now. This is a collection of meadow pics taken by David's brother Vincent toward the end of June. A very wet summer brought forth an explosion of wildflowers, mushrooms, lichens and moss ~ it's a beautiful thing. Especially after 3 years of hot dry summers. We're seeing wild flowers and mushrooms we haven't seen before...

Pixie or Faerie cups

soft lush mossy ground

This is called Old Man's Whiskers or Prairie Smoke. The pic above is one Vince took in late June and the photo below is a pic I took a few weeks later at it's full blown stage. Such a pretty flower ~ for a name like Old Man's Whiskers : )

Meadow Arnica

Mushrooms of infinite variety. and more loveliness

Thanks for these great meadow pics Vince!