It's Still November

Subbing--that's it. I'll blame my blogging absence on the fact that the calls are finally coming in this year. In fact, I've subbed every school day since the 16th, with tomorrow also scheduled. This run has ranged from Kindergarten and 5th grade to junior and/or senior high math, social studies, and "home ec" classes.

Yes, Thanksgiving is over, but awhile back I told a cousin I would post my "greeter". This bird spent most of November on the breezeway, welcoming all who entered our home via the back door. (The way our house is set up, the front door is rarely used by guests.)
We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner with B's sister, then traveled to my mom's home for another dinner on Friday with my side of the family. We have much to be thankful for!

Sorry, Brad (ford Pear Tree)

In the previous post I said. "We didn't have this much color around our place this year." Today, as I approached the house on my way home from school, this was what I noticed. Okay, so the other trees just dropped their leaves, but this one got all decked out for us!

Terrific Trees

I had a hard time choosing which photo to post on a group blog I'm part of, but finally chose this first one. The others were also possibilities.

Smoochie, Smoochie!

This was from a couple of years ago in Kansas Town Famous for Maple Trees. We didn't have this much color around our place this year.

Towering Cottonwood at the Pond.

Neighbors Who Moved to Alaska left this behind.
Oh, Christmas Tree, Oh Tree Too Tall!
Cemetery Cedars
Close-up of Blue Cedar Berries
Shiver Me Timbers!
January TreetopsTrying to Touch the Moon

S'more Fall Fun

Toasted to perfection!

Do you want s'more?

Fall Fun

It's that time of year. Two weeks ago we hosted our church's fall festival, even though we had a DOWNPOUR just after roasting the hot dogs. You'd be surprised how many people you can fit under a carport! We still managed to have s'mores for dessert, since B scooped some of the coals into a metal wheelbarrow.
Last weekend, when K was home, we had the same menu.And now tomorrow, we're scheduled to go to sister-in-law's for her annual fall party. I'll try to get "s'more" pictures there. :-)

Buzz, Buzz

The first annual Kansas Senior Spelling Bee was held a couple of weeks ago in Salina. I had read about it in our local paper, thought it sounded like fun, and decided to enter since I met the criteria (not by much-I think I was the youngest one there!)
There were 48 "senior spellers" from around the state who took a written test of fifty words. Eighteen of us spelled all of those correctly, and got to advance to the oral spell-down.
Round by round, more spellers were eliminated. I really wasn't nervous, because the main idea was to have fun! That's what I did, until I met up with the word garrulous. So... sixth place isn't bad, eh? And there's always next year!

(This is a link to KWCH's television coverage of the event, in case you're interested. It takes a long time for me to play, but maybe your computer is faster.)

Out of Season

This poor young apple tree is all confused.
Maybe it was planning to produce its first apples last spring, but then, like all the other fruit trees around, found that impossible because of the badly timed freeze.
So..... last week.... BLOSSOMS! Not very many, but definitely blossoms.
It will be interesting to see what it does next spring and if we get apples from it next year.

Goodbye, "Treasures"!

Two weekends ago a nearby town had "city-wide" garage sales, so several of us along our road decided to have them the same day. That way we could be on the map, too, and get a little more business directed our way. We actually ended up with a good number of people stopping by, and were able to get rid of many things that had accumulated over the years. I didn't even recognize some of the items--some were from auctions or garage sales that B. or I had gone to, or I think part of them might have come with the house! :-)

I always say that our huge attic is a blessing/curse since we can keep a lot of stuff/keep a lot of stuff! I'm happy to report that MOST (not all) of what we put out did not come back into the house. With what didn't get sold, we literally filled the back of the Caravan to donate to the nearby Habitat for Humanity thrift shop.

The sad thing is, we could probably easily do the same thing again. But at least this was a start!

Kansas State Fair

The middle of September we went to the Kansas State Fair. I used to live in Hutchinson, and still have family there, so I've probably attended just about every year for about, hmmm, forty years!

I always think of Dad when I check out the garden entries. He would have been impressed with this year's 976.2 pound, grand prize pumpkin!

I always look over the afghans, quilts, and decorated cakes on display.

Cake or quilt???In junior high and high school, the Fair meant the Midway, with all the exciting rides. This year we didn't even go on the ferris wheel.

Of course, the Fair isn't the Fair unless you eat a Pronto Pup, which I ate before thinking about taking a photo of, so you just get to see the mustard-yellow stand!

Hope you had fun. Maybe next year I'll take pictures of the animals and cotton candy!

High Water Again

I finally realized how long it's been since I posted anything. So.... you get to visit the pond.



Usually we could have a campfire on the left side of the cottonwoods. And of course the diving board should be a little higher above the water. But this was the morning after we had Five inches of rain, so the water was rather high for awhile. It went back down pretty quickly.
Last weekend we went to the State Fair, so next time I'll have photos from there.