Frost, No Fog

This morning we had more frost, but no fog. As the sun rose, everything was just glistening. Here's the same scene as yesterday, totally different today. I love having a space to view that changes so often!



Every ordinary lump was transformed into something special!


Under the mulberry tree, one of the entrances to my personal trail system beckons. As I stood on the deck taking pictures I realized that I could hear leaves falling from the mulberry, loosened by the cold temperatures. So I began to watch closely, and I could see them falling! I took a whole series of pictures, but didn't manage to catch any in mid-air!



Then I turned my view to the cemetery, which is about 700 feet to the east. With my telephoto lens I realized that I was seeing golden leaves fall, like flakes of precious metal, between the blazing trees. Can you see a few of them?

See Fog and Frost
See Trite but True

Fog and Frost

 


It was a frosty morning, not our first of this autumn! But that wasn't the event of interest to me. Every once in a while a band of fog will hang itself in the low area about 1000 feet behind our house. I find this fascinating and lovely. It always makes me feel as if there are some real hills back there, instead of just little rolls of ground.

Anything could be happening in that world... it can't possibly just be the railroad tracks, and the neighbor's deer blind and junked cars.

This year isn't shaping up to be one of great fall colors. I know, I'm a color snob, because some years they are pretty fantastic here. But just for comparison, I happened to take a picture yesterday of the very trees that you can see on the right edge of the foggy picture, in the background. The picture is from a slightly different angle, but it will allow you to compare the morning colors through the fog with the afternoon of the previous day.

	See So Not Ready for a view of the fog on a morning about 16 months ago
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Only Two Holiday Seasons Here

Truth be told, hubby really only thinks there are two holidays: Fourth of July and Christmas. When it's not Independence Day, it's Christmas. There you have it!

Oh, you want to see what the cute little bubbler looks like. Here you go.



See Omer's Tree
See Christmas 2008- the Final Shmoof

One Lovely Blog Award

It has taken me several days to get around to posting this, and thanking her, but LaShan at A Lil Enchanted has bestowed the One Lovely Blog award on me. And that, despite the dead birds, black toenails, and half-eaten deer... I'm glad she believes that the flowers and scenery outweigh the reality of the other parts.

She is a work-at-home Mom who writes about her experiences, reviews products and enjoys life. She has a pretty funny Halloween picture in her Oct. 14 post.

OK, I'm supposed to link back to the person who gave the award and then choose 15 recently discovered blogs to pass it on to. I don't think I can manage that many, but here are a few very interesting ones, some new to me, some not so new.

Daily Art Fixx- I just discovered this blog. There is a new piece of art every day... the style will be pot luck, but never boring!
Our Simple Life- Julia will introduce you to the underbelly of country life with kids, and keep you laughing! Definitely a friend now.
Duck and Wheel with String- wacky philosophy from a weirdo suburb. Lin has become a pal
English Wilderness- always one of my favorites for nature pictures from John!
Chase and More- a family's journey as they try to help a Down's Syndrome baby become all he can be
Kamila the Camel- this camel from Bulgaria has good advice on many topics. I just like it!

Two Trumpets, Different Tunes and an Itchy Cow?

Here's where I confess that I very nearly combined the blossoms from one plant with the seeds of another to present them as the same plant in different seasons. Thankfully I did notice that the leaves in the two pictures were not the same, and went hunting for answers. It also took me a long time to set up this post because I'm trying to host my own photos yet still earn a penny or two, and not be plastered with near-naked women and slimy, get-rich-quick schemes. (I know... good luck on that one!)

I think I'm ready...



I knew that I had this picture, taken some years ago in Ohio. It has trumpet shaped flowers, right?



And you saw this seed pod the other day in the little game "Guess the Whole." When I saw that plant (and I'll show you more of it in a minute), I didn't have a clue what it was. I asked a botany-loving friend when I came home, and she quickly answered "Trumpet Vine." I was home free! Here I had these great pods from Ohio... O wait... let me show you the whole pods...



... and I had the trumpet flowers. Views of the same plant in different seasons. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! Look at the leaves in the first picture. Now look at the leaves of the plant with the great pods, shown below.



Wow... made me get hot all over at how close I came to jumping to a bad conclusion. Those leaves are not alike AT ALL. The flowers are from Trumpet Honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens. This is a twining shrubby vine whose flowers really attract hummingbirds.

The leaves and pods that I just saw have a trumpet shaped flower too, about the same color. But it is larger, and the flowers don't hang down the same way. This plant is Campsis radicans, Trumpet Vine, Trumpet Creeper, or Cow-Itch Vine. It is also a shrubby, woody vine that attracts hummingbirds, but it is much more invasive and will take over and "devour" any woody material that gets in its way. It needs severe pruning and maintenance. The honeysuckle would be a better choice for gardens.

Now I'll be hunting for those Trumpet Vine flowers next year, and the Trumpet Honeysuckle seeds! If I get to itching it will more likely be from Poison Ivy, not Cows.

See Early Yellow Minnesota Flowers for another honeysuckle
See A Catalpa for Dad for a relative of the Trumpet Vine (also family Bignoniaceae)