My red maple tree is still sparkling, even though the day was quite foggy.

 

HAPPY FALL!!!

 

We got the haybale done early, so we can enjoy it for a couple more weeks.  I guess we should have moved the spider legs out of the picture, but it's done now, so...

 

Thanks, Mike and Jo for making these cool turkey parts.  It sure made the job easy.  All we had to do was remove the spider legs, repaint the front of the haybale, then hammer in the rebar to hold the parts in place.  

 

We sure do get a lot of mileage out of a bale of hay.  This one has been entertaining us since August.  And it will probably last until next August.  

 

HAPPY FALL!!!

 

This hickory tree has dropped all its gold and brown leaves into the garden;  it is beautiful.  

 

All those dots you see on the tree are the hickory nuts!!!  I bet there are a thousand up there.  And there are a few more trees in this area doing the same thing.  

 

The squirrels are very busy going up and down and across the limbs of these trees.  By the time winter arrives all these hickory nuts will be stored and/or planted, and the critters will be well-fed into the spring.

 

There are a number of species of hickory in our area;  some are sweet and edible, others are bitter and inedible.  Three species are listed in my Peterson Field Guides Edible Wild Plants:  Shagbark Hickory, Pecan, and Mockernut Hickory, all in the genus Carya.  I think most of the hickories in our yard are Mockernut, Carya tomentosa.  I have seen some Shagbark Hickory in the neighborhood too, Carya ovata.  That one is easily identifiable by its bark.  Pecan trees, Carya illinoensis are the ones with the sweet edible nuts.  I think the mockernuts are edible too, but I'd rather leave them for the squirrels and the deer.  

 

HAPPY FALL!!!

 

This is an American Beech showing its fall color.  It is green and yellow and brown all over, and it sparkles in the sun.

 

American Beech in our area holds onto its dead brown leaves through the winter, until the new leaves push the old ones off.  This one hasn't gotten to that stage yet, but it is on its way.  I love watching as it goes through its changes.

 

 

HAPPY FALL!!!

 

 

 

Here is our road as we started out for our walk yesterday.  Most of those beautiful maple and hickory leaves are on the road.  And that's where they are going to stay until the wind blows them off.  

 

We do have to be careful when we walk down the hill, though.  There are tons of hickory nuts on the road too.  They crunch when we drive over them, but get really slippery when we walk on them.  So we just take baby steps and go slow.  We love seeing the leaves on the ground.  

 

 

HAPPY FALL!!!

 

Here is our neighbors' holly tree with red berries.  It is about 12 feet tall and covered with berries.  

 

It makes me happy every time we walk by it.

 

 

HAPPY FALL!!!

 

We saw our first Monarch of the season on our neighbors' sage.  I waited a while for it to open its wings, but when it did, it flew, and I missed the picture.  But we know that this is a Monarch, and they are passing through on their way to Mexico.

 

 

SAFE TRAVELS!!!

 

Hey!!!  I recently did something really fun.  I wanted to use this picture that I saw in a Farm Bureau magazine.  I didn't take the picture, so I used Google Lens to find the author of the picture.  

 

I learned that the picture was taken in 2010 by Petar Milosevic in Slovenia.

 

I also noticed those symbols at the bottom, so I looked them up.  They mean that the picture can be used if the author is cited.  In the copyright section, I saw an email address and a note that said please let me know if you use the picture.  So I emailed Petar Milosevic in Slovenia.  He wrote me back and said that I can use the picture, but please be sure to acknowledge him.  

 

I learned a little bit about copyright law, too much about tractors, and spoke to someone across the world.  What a fun day.

 

 

HAPPY FALL!!!

 

Here is another interesting vine growing in our woods.  It is wild grape.  

 

You can see how different it looks than poison ivy or bittersweet.  It acts differently too.  

 

It doesn't have hairy roots like poison ivy to hold it to the tree.  It climbs high into the trees by riding up the branches as the tree grows.  The vines also get very woody, making them almost look like tree trunks themselves.  And unlike bittersweet it doesn't twine itself around tree trunks for support.  It just seems to float.

 

And best of all:  in spring it blooms, and in summer it gets beautiful purple-blue grapes that we can eat.  The grapes that grow here are a little sour, but still a tasty snack on a long hike.

 

So now when you see these vines growing in the woods, you can identify them at a glance.  

 

 

HAPPY FALL!!!

 

This isn't very pretty, but I want you to see the other side of Bittersweet.  All those vines growing up into the trees are bittersweet.  Pretty aggressive.  The berries are kinda fun, but the vines can choke out everything in their path.  

 

They are not parasitic in the sense that they extract energy from the nearby trees.  They just strangle the trees and steal the sunlight that the trees need for their nourishment.  They do create some interesting swirl patterns on the trunks of the trees.  

Remember Mark's walking stick? 

 

So I guess the plan is to keep a few, and control the overgrowth.  I'm glad there's none growing up my trees. 

 

 

HAPPY FALL!!!