Uh-Oh

 This evening I cut myself on a mandoline while slicing potatoes. Part of my hand, and my major typing finger are bandaged. So I will be taking a short break from blogging. See you soon!

A Sneak Preview

 You may remember that every fall I post about the man a few blocks away. He grows giant pumpkins and wins prizes in competitions. He grows them in his backyard, then brings them in front of the house when they are ready. Remember this pic of our granddaughter sitting on one?

Yesterday we drove down the alley in back of his house to see what was going on. And he is still growing them! So here is a sneak peek.

He turns little fans on in front of some of them.

Runaway

How many among you are old enough to remember Del Shannon's song "Runaway"? This post made me think of it. On Saturday we watched our middle granddaughter, Dara, run crosscountry. On the way there, these guys were in front of us.

There were several schools that were running.

She did cross the finish line, but did not meet her goal. She was running on an inuured and wrapped foot.

Here we are after the race.

There was even a coffee truck there!

We must remember we are not the sum of our intentions, but of our actions.

 –Brendon Burchard

The Hobbit House

My photos today are from our local T.V. news. I snapped while they ran this story about a Hobbit house in River Falls, Wisconsin.

It was built in 1970 by two energy efficient professors. The inside walls are spray painted foam insulation.

2 bedrooms, two baths. It sits on 3 1/2 acres and costs $315,000.

I think the outside of the house is where the Hobbit similarity ends. I have always thoght of Hobbit houses as being so COZY. And this is certainly not! It is so stark, and not pretty to me at all. In just a few weeks, it was looked at on Zillow 65, 000 times. And people are even coming from out of state wanting to buy it.

And here he was, a little halfling from the Shire, a simple hobbit of the quiet countryside, expected to find a way where the great ones could not go, or dared not go. It was an evil fate.

— J.R.R. Tolkien

Sunday Sunset - Not!

 On this evening last week, there were storm clouds instead of a sunset. But the sky was still beautiful.

“A nasty stormline comes rumbling ominously out of the northwest. The birds eat more quickly as the woods grow darker.”

~David J. Beard

Foxy

 The other day we were birdwatching by a small pond. Far across the field I caught a glimpse of this.

A fox! The pics are quite blurry because of the distance, and he seemed to be jumping around and pouncing.

And then, in a flash, he was gone into the high grass!

Backup Lights

 I have one particular hatred. It is when cars just sit in a parking lot with their backup lights on. It terrifies me to have to walk behind them, for fear they will back over me! When people are leaving a parking lot, they should get in their cars and LEAVE! Not to mention others who are waiting for their parking spot while they fuss, doing who knows what, for a haf hour.

So the other day in Kroger, we had to walk behind one of these cars. It was dark as well, so it would have been hard for them to see us walking behind. I was pondering going to their door and having a talk with them, so I looked over to see who the driver was.

It was a DOG!!

Well, what could I do but laugh...

A friend may smile and bid you hail,
Yet wish you with the devil;
But when a good dog wags his tail,
You know he's on the level.
~The Sentinel, 1920

Shine On

The Full Harvest Moon is this weekend, and I got some good shots. A few have some wispy clouds in front of the moon. So watch it rise over the mountains with me! See the glow that comes right before it rises?

“Summer ends, and Autumn comes, and he who would have it otherwise would have high tide always and a full moon every night; and thus he would never know the rhythms that are at the heart of life.” ~Hal Borland

Glad All Over

 There is a house a few blocks away that has gladiola all over it's front yard.

I also happened to come across these gladiola tattoos on the web. Aren't they gorgeous? They must have been a lot of work.

Stay close to anything that makes you glad you are alive.

Hafez

The Purchases

 So here are the bee things I bought over the summer.

I leave these storage boxes out in the living room till fall.

I gathered some of my older and newer bee things, and made a tiny bee shelf in the kitchen.