Small Victories

It was a good day to burn that grapevine that I've been working at cutting off the side of the house. I spent an hour and a half on that project. But the day became surprisingly nice and sunny.



So, when life gives you campfires... make hot dogs!


"Hot dogs! Where? Hot Dog! O shucks, that second one is for Dad, not for me? Well, ok... I got Mom to throw a stick for me for a long, long time. And I did get a good-girl cookie when we went inside."

See First Snow for a wheelbarrow full of this project.

Returning to the Basswood

Remember the basswood, and it's mysteries? I did find another one in the cemetery. But this is the original... the huge basswood that I used to love, back by the railroad tracks.

Well, it's the stump of that tree, which blew over in the big wind storm of 1998. I finally found an angle from which to take a picture of the new basswood which grew from a sucker. Look how big it has gotten!



This silhouette looks nice against the sky, and one of the parts of identifying trees is to recognize them with the leaves off. Note the alternate branching. The overall shape is oval, and you can follow the main trunk well into the top part of the tree. Also, it's very symmetrical, and the branch tips all reach for the sky.

It's a very handsome tree! Almost every part of it is interesting. I haven't shown you closeups of the flowers yet, or the leaf shape. There will still be things to show you in the coming seasons.

See A Basswood Mystery Solved See A Basswood Mystery

Get Ready to Blog Jog with Me

November 21 is "Blog Jog Day. Although I seldom do this kind of thing, I decided to participate in this one. It's going to work out well, because I'll be away from home that day, and it will be good to have that post scheduled ahead.

Basically, it's just a ring of links that you follow to other blogs. It could be a good way to find some new blogs that you enjoy. Some of them may have special contests or giveaways that day. If you want to know more about it, go to Blog Jog Day. To sign up to participate, go to Blog Jog Day signup.

There will be a special clue here on Blog Jog Day that will help you win the November Contest! So be sure to come back. (For anyone who does not know, I run a monthly contest with the prize of a free ad for a month.)

Counterpoint

This has been a busy week, with definite ups and downs. Today was a long hike with the trail club. I managed to walk out the door without my camera. Can you believe it? So, you are spared more pictures of brown woods with four dogs wearing orange. We hiked a pretty section with long views of the Manistee River Valley that you can see with the leaves off the trees, but it doesn't look all that spectacular in photos.

So, instead, you are seeing a couple of extra pix from yesterday morning. Here's the counterpoint to the "hikers welcome." I just think it looks spooky.

Oops

So, I accidentally deleted this blog from Technorati. Now, I'm not sure why I care, since there isn't a single one of their categories that is an even remotely good match for the content of this blog. That means that this blog perpetually looks like it's a "loser" in authority, when it's simply not a good match for the very limited list of Technorati categories.

But, I just like beating dead horses, I guess. So I'm entering a new claim code. EA7YKBQPND22