Show and Tell Friday

It's time for Show and Tell Friday. If you would like to participate, drop over to Kelli's at There's No Place Like Home.

Last Monday, which was Thanksgiving in Canada, the boys came over to help me finish decorating the yard. We had started it about two weeks ago and hadn't had a chance to finish it.

First we took some Indian corn and tied it together with binder twine and hung it by the door. The photo doesn't do it justice. It is rather pretty.

While we were tying the Indian corn, Grandpa went to the basement and brought out the pumpkin head man that we've had for years. He is getting in kind of rough shape, but he still looks good lounging on the bale of straw.

We put a mum plant and some gourds and pumpkins beside him to brighten up the yard near the driveway.

Then we put up the ghost that I got last year. It has such a pleasant face and welcomes trick or treaters to the yard. We couldn't get it into the hard ground, so Grandpa put it in for us. Mmm! My fairy is lying on the ground. Looks like Meeko has been in the flower bed again. Grrr!

Then we added last year's scarecrow that will keep my new larger one company this year. We added a few cornstalks to the mix.

About three years ago the boys and I were at a holiday speciality shop and saw the groom from the Nightmare Before Christmas on sale. I bought one for their house and one for here.

A look at all the decorations from the top of the terrace steps. It looks kind of spooky, don't you think. Brandon was sure enjoying it after it was all done.

See that smile. And Anni, that witch hanging on the porch railing was given to me about five years ago by the boys. She has watched over the yard every Halloween since.

Jordan helped with all the decorations but for some reason didn't get in the photos. I think he was too busy raking leaves and trying to fill that big bag with the pumpkin face on it. After the decorating was done, we went to the front of the house where a poplar tree sheds leaves like crazy and filled that bag to the brim. I didn't get a photo when it was finished, but the boys took it home to set in their yard. They can't fill them they don't have many trees in their survey, except at the park.

We had a lot of fun decorating again this year. Oh, and notice the green Christmas lights that we are going to light on Halloween to make the yard look eerie. After Halloween, they will be shut off until December. I'm hoping that someday the boys will have many fond memories of decorating for Halloween at Grandma's.

It's colder here today and our lovely Indian Summer is gone. The wind is nasty and it has been overcast all day. Have a pleasant weekend, stay safe and take time to enjoy the simple things in life. ~Blessings, Mary~

A Trip to the Apple Orchard

Last Thursday when they got home from school, the boys called and asked if we could go to the apple orchard. We have done this since they were toddlers and they look forward to it each year. It is what Brandon calls a tradition.

I went and picked them up and drove to an apple orchard a few miles away. The first thing that greet us was this odd looking creature.


We had seen him at the Apple Festival but the photo I took there didn't turn out. Just as I snapped it a group of people walked in my path. I didn't realize it until I uploaded the photos to my computer. I'm glad I got the photo. It is large, round balls of straw made into a scarecrow type creature.


Each year the owner of this particular apple orchard decorates for autumn and Halloween. He has a corn maze and other fun things to do during the fall season. Closer to Halloween there will be a haunted barn and a haunted hayride. Brandon has never wanted to take part in those, but he does this year. He is gaining more self confidence, which makes everyone feel good.


Just after the straw scarecrow and the welcome sign, we saw this skinny scarecrow. He sure could use something good to eat before his straw all disintegrates and leaves his shirt front touching its back.

Oh, and if you don't pay at this particular apple orchard, this is what happens to you. We all thought this was rather cute and got a good laugh out of it.

Just as I took the photo, the owner came along on the tractor and asked me what kind of apples we were looking for. I told him Courtlands, as they are best for cooking and baking. He told us they were behind the barn, which we knew from visiting previous years.

Here is the sign that marks the Courtland apples. Look at those beauties on the tree behind it.

There are lots of apples and the ones above were high in the top of the trees.

Jordan did a fine job of picking the apples. Of course he wanted the ones from the highest branches because they were nicer. LOL They were all beautiful. He just wanted to climb the trees, which is against the rules.

Brandon is tall - 5' 7" now and could reach higher than I could, so he got some of the apples that were up high for Jordan.

Here is Jordan looking down the row to see if there are bigger apples down there. He always likes exploring.
Brandon is admiring the apple that he just picked. It was completely red and when he rubbed it on his shirt it sparkled like a ruby. They were definitely nice apples.

We filled our bag that was given to us in the store at the front of the property where we prepaid and started to head back to the van.

Jordan spotted this cedar tree and was awed by the amount of seeds on it. It was like this from the tip to the ground. Another sign that we won't get a lot of snow this winter. I hope the pines and cedars are correct in their predictions. At my age lots of snow equals lots of shoveling and that is not high on my agenda.

Jordan really loved this cedar. There is kind of a hollow where a boy, or girl for that matter, could have a little cave back under there. I remember doing this when I was a kid. It was fun to have a secret place to go.

I asked Brandon to have his photo taken with Jordan and the cedar and before I realized what was happening, the boys had ran along this path between the trees and were almost back to the van - hence no photo of them together.

This does look like a place where a kid could have a lot of fun, so being a kid at heart, I went the same way as the boys.

As we got in the van, we noticed a maple that had turned color. The colors looked brighter to the eye than they do in the photo, but I love the colors against the red barn.

We had a lot of fun at the apple orchard and the boys took the bag of apples home to their parents to make pies. I'm waiting for spies (a type of apple that comes later and is exquisite in pies) to make my pies.

I hope you enjoyed coming along with us to the apple orchard. Both boys said they had a lot of fun and I did as well. We were making memories.

Be sure to take time to make memories with your loved ones. We never know what the future will hold. ~Blessings, Mary~

A Look at the Lake

Last Saturday, the boys were to come over around 10 am. We planned to go fishing and then plant the coleus that I'd bought a couple of days before. It sounded like a good plan and a way for everyone to get out in the sun and have a bit of fun.

The best plans of mice and men sometimes go awry. First, the boys were late getting here and arrived about 11:15. When they came in the door, I told them that we'd best get going if we wanted to fish because a storm was moving in. That's when they told me they hadn't had lunch.

To us, 11:15 is a bit early for lunch, but last year the school board changed recess and lunch periods. Instead of having two 15 minute breaks and an 1 hour for lunch, two 40 minute Nutrition Breaks were set in place. That means the boys either eat at 11:00 or they wait until 1:45. So the boys are used to having lunch at 11:00 and a snack at 1:45.

Since I know the boys' schedule when they are in school, I knew that I should give them something to eat. By the time that was done, it was 12:00 when we set out for the lake.

Just as we got there, it started to pour. Since I had not taken my camera along on the last fishing trip, I made sure I had it this time.

This area of the lake is almost completely overgrown with bullrushes and other water plants.

The lake looked beautiful in the rain. The bullrushes were swaying in the breeze and sea gulls were screaming overhead.

If you look closely at the above photo, you can see the rain hitting the water. It was a gusher.

The overcast sky made the water look blue and a bit blurry, but that is how hard the rain was coming down. I like the way this photo shows the blue of the sky and water. In the foreground wildcarrot and milkweed give a splash of color.

These beautiful yellow flowers were growing alongside the road. You can see the water of the lake in the background.

Well, there were some nice photos, but unfortunately none of them were of the boys with their catch. We headed back home and got here just as there was a lull in the storm. We got in the house as fast as we could, but there was no planting of flowers. Instead we had a game of Mario Baseball. The first game Brandon beat me and then Jordan played Brandon and lost. Then I had another game with Brandon and Jordan aided me in beating him. Those boys can't fathom that at one time Grandma was a young girl and played on a baseball team. We had lots of laughs with the game and it was a great choice for a rainy day even though we would have rather gone fishin'.

Enjoy the week and be sure to take some time to do something for a child. A few minutes of your time is a precious gift to kids. ~Blessings, Mary~

Fun at the Zoo

On Thursday morning I picked the boys up at about 10:30 and we headed off to the zoo. Though the temperatures were to be reasonably cool, it turned into a very warm day, but at least there was no humidity.

We arrived at the zoo about 11:30. We've been to this zoo before but not for a couple of years.

The first thing we saw was this little guy. Jordan loved him and he seemed to like Jordan very well. We had purchased a bag of grain and one of peanuts when we entered the park and Jordan had the grain. This little guy is smart. He knew who had the good stuff.
The next thing we saw were two zebras. We tried to coax them over to the fence but they were enjoying a meal of hay and no amount of coaxing could make them leave it.
The two beautiful peacocks above strutted there stuff as the people passed by. Did you know that peacocks love peanuts and will actually fight over them. These guys were quick and Brandon enjoyed throwing the peanuts through the fence to them. Then the boys spied this little chipmunk. He was scurrying around in the grass near the capybaras. The boys had fun feeding him peanuts and he loved them. He stuck them in his cheeks and skittered away into the long grass to enjoy them. These beautiful flowers were growing around a fish pond. They are certainly beautiful. We stood and watched the fish while we waited for the show that would start at 12:00.

The first thing they brought out were some reptiles. The yellow and white one above is an African Albino Python. Jordan touched him but Brandon preferred not to.
After the reptiles the staff brought out the furry critters. The lion cub above loves doing the show and came racing out of the enclosure. There were two cubs and he is the largest of the two. We weren't allowed to touch him.
The smaller lion cub is more friendly with humans and we were allowed to touch him. He was soft as silk and had a nice personality.
The larger one stayed with the woman who was telling us all about the animals. See how he hangs onto her leg with his paws. It looks like he's trying to eat off her leg.

Another pose of the larger cub playing with the announcer. He is quite strong even though he is only a cub.

And here he is at the end of the show. He laid quietly and looked directly at us. He was adorable.

Next we got to pet a red fox. These animals live in the wild in this area and they are beautiful with their red coats. They eat mice, birds and other small creatures. Red fox smell kind of like skunk. The smell gives them some protection from predators.

The animal above looks like someone's pet dog, but it is really a wolf. The audience was not allowed to touch it and it dislikes noise, so we were asked to be very quiet as the young girl brought it around for us to see close-up.

This photo is a little blurry because the young lady didn't stop for photos with this guy. He isn't as comfortable around humans as some of the other animals.

Swans are magnificient creatures. So graceful and black swans aren't as plentiful as white swans. There were two of these swans in this area.

The boys have always liked meercats. This is a ring-tailed meercat, according to the sign.

The creature above is another kind of meercat but I don't remember what it was called. He is beautiful.

The monkey in the above photo was screaming his head off and making a terrible fuss. Something had upset him.

Then we came to the white-tailed deer. Remember Jordan had the bag of grain. This one is very interested in him.

Brandon had the bag of peanuts and the deer also enjoyed eating them. The boys love to feed the animals right out of their hands. There's nothing like being up close and personal with wild creatures.

The deer weren't shy at all. Jordan enjoyed feeding them grain. When the herd realized he had it, they all came toward the fence. This one didn't stray far until Jordan moved on.

And...the King of the Jungle. He was basking in the sun and taking a nap. He didn't even open his eyes as we passed.

If you look closely at the photo above, you can see the Koi. This is a pretty area.

As we were leaving the park we came across this African Crowned Crane. We waited around and tried to get him to turn around but he was only showing us his back.

Just before we left the zoo, Jordan fed some grain to this little guy and then gave the last of it to some goats. By this time we were all hot and tired and so we headed home to the AC and a nice cool glass of lemonade.

Take some time this weekend to get into the great outdoors and enjoy the sights and sounds of nature. It's balm for the soul. ~Blessings, Mary~