Click here to learn more about my “55 Things” and here to view previous posts in this series.
Look who’s riding shotgun.
According to Wikipedia the term “riding shotgun was used to describe the guard who rode alongside a stagecoach driver, ready to use his shotgun to ward off bandits or hostile Native Americans. In modern use, it refers to the practice of sitting alongside the driver in a moving vehicle.”
In the old west having a Ranger ride shotgun was probably a good thing. I’m not so sure it is today. 🙂
Summer has transitioned into fall and the scenery seems to be changing a little each day. These are some of the scenes we have observed over the past few weeks.
I think autumn is my favorite time to decorate. We did a bit of this at the farm. The cut sunflowers didn’t last long though. The weather was still warm and they began wilting the next day.
The pumpkins and corn stalks will last throughout the season – assuming that a hungry or curious deer doesn’t decide to take a bite.
The outdoors really doesn’t need much help with decorating though. Nature does a fine job. Maple trees seem to show their fall color early.
From pale yellow to bright red, they make an gorgeous display.
The red leaves on this oak tree had me baffled. It wasn’t until I got close that I realized that the red leaves were not oak, but a Virginia Creeper vine that was climbing on the tree.
Despite our early frost there are still wild flowers in bloom.
Some of our hardy annuals are still providing color as well.
Even a few hibiscus buds have continued to open.
The leaves are beginning to coat the ground
and drift on the water.
Under an oak tree is no longer the best place to picnic – unless you don a hard hat to protect yourself from the falling acorns. Upon seeing and hearing the nuts fall I mentioned to my husband that I suspected there was a squirrel in the tree throwing the nuts down at us. He laughed and assured me that these nuts were just falling naturally as nuts do this time of year.
Interestingly there are no hickory nuts this year. Last year we had many hickory nuts and fewer acorns.
The frost turned the forsythia leaves a dark purple color.
Yet the lilac leaves remain green.
The deer are still comfortable grazing in the field.
They tend to disappear mid November once firearm season begins.
Thanks for visiting.
Do you enjoy decorating for the different seasons or holidays?
Click here to learn more about my “55 Things” and here to view previous posts in this series.
The best gift my parents ever gave me is my sisters. I am blessed to have three sisters.
If you have been following my blog you know that, like my parents, I have four daughters.
A while back one of my sister’s emailed me this video and as I watched it I was reminded of my own sisters. Even though we don’t sing or dance the words in the words of the song say it all. It also reminded me of my daughters . 🙂
Click here to learn more about my “55 Things” and here to view previous posts in this series.
A couple of weeks ago I received a message from my sister telling me that the book our cousin Abbey had illustrated was now available on amazon. I am so excited for Abbey.
Some of you may remember Abbey, and her art work, from this post in May of 2019 when we spent the day together at a craft sale. It was that day at the craft sale that Jeffery Schoenherr, a local man, approached Abbey about illustrating his next book.
Due to corona virus restrictions I haven’t seen Abbey since January and was unaware of how the book was progressing. When I received the message from my sister I thought about blogging about it but I decided to wait until I had seen the book in person. That happened this past weekend.
The book, Smitty’s Great Escape, is a simple, delightful tale about “Grandpa” and his dog Smitty.
This cute story, with full-page, color illustrations, that bring the story to life, would be perfect for reading to preschool age children or for children who are learning to read.
To be honest, I personally found the story and the illustrations both enjoyable and relatable. As a dog lover it seems there is always a cute story to tell about or furry friends.
For anyone who might be interested in purchasing a copy of Smitty’s Great Escape it can be found at the amazon link above.
To Abbey I say Congratulations and Attagirl on this wonderful accomplishment.
I finally made pumpkin pie for my husband. It was a nice birthday treat for him. 🎈🙂
Since we have had such a bountiful pie pumpkin harvest this year we have given some to family and friends, and in doing so I promised to pass along my pumpkin pie recipe to a couple of people. I had planned on just reblogging a post from a couple of years ago that included that and some other recipes for them but for some reason new editor would not allow me to do so. The feature that used to allow me to “copy a post” is now missing as well, so I have copied and pasted several of the recipes from that post into this. For long time readers recipes 2-6 are repeats from the previous post. Recipe #1 however is new to this post. I hope you enjoy.
Pumpkin Recipe # 1
Begin by measuring the circumference of the pumpkin. Write down that number. Then measure the diameter of the pumpkin and remember or write that number down. Lastly divide the circumference by the diameter. You now have pumpkin Pi. 😁
LOL! (You can thank my dad for that one.)
Pumpkin Recipe # 2 – Pumpkin Puree
If you have never cooked a pumpkin before it is very simple. Usually the small pumpkins are use for cooking, but larger ones are just as edible. While there are other ways to cook pumpkin, this is the way I do it. Cut the pumpkin in half, scoop out all the seeds and gunk? goo? slimy stuff? You probably know what I’m talking about. Put the pumpkin halves in a baking dish with a small amount of water in the pan and cover it with foil. Bake at 350 degrees until it is soft probably 60-90 minutes. Allow it to cool, then scoop the pumpkin out of the shell. Your pumpkin is now ready to eat, or at this point you can put it in a food processor to puree it before using it in other recipes. Here are a few recipes you might try.
Pumpkin Recipe # 3 – Easy Pumpkin Pie
2 cups pumpkin puree
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 eggs
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ginger
1 unbaked deep-dish pie shell (I usually buy these but you certainly can make your own)
Mix first 7 ingredients until thoroughly mixed. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes then reduce heat to 350 and bake for another 35-40 minutes.
Pumpkin Recipe # 4 – Pumpkin Cake
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
4 eggs
1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree
Preheat over to 350. Grease 9×13 pan. Mix together flour, baking powder. baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Mix together sugar and oil until well blended then add eggs and mix well. Mix in pumpkin. Add flour mixture and mix until thoroughly blended. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 30-35 minutes, until the top springs back when lightly touched. I love this cake and it pares well with a cream cheese or vanilla frosting.
If you have baked more pumpkin than you need for a specific recipe this puree freezes well. I usually measure it out, (2 cups for pie) then put it in plastic freezer containers.
Lastly if you would like to try pumpkin on your skin you could make a pumpkin facial mask by blending together 1/4 to 1/2 cup pumpkin puree, 1 egg, 1 tsp. honey and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Apply to face and allow to sit and dry for 15 minutes before rinsing off with warm water. If you have any left over dispose of it. This product should be used immediately after it is prepared and it will not keep.
Don't Eat It! Soap and Skin Care 