Magnificent Milkweed

"The milkweed pods are breaking,
And the bits of silken down
Float off upon the autumn breeze
Across the meadows brown."
~Cecil Cavendish, The Milkweed

Help! Someone make it stop!
I just can't seem to stop snapping pictures of milkweed pods!

Oh, I have no idea how many photos I took...

 

...w-a-y too many, no doubt.

There surely must be a support group for me somewhere.

You don't think so??

So here it is, the week after Thanksgiving and instead of getting down my Christmas decor,

I spent most of the day on Saturday messing around with milkweed!

Where are my priorities?

A few months back, a certain crazy lady was seen chasing butterflies....
in that same field of what was then, milkweed blossoms, across for the Goodwill Store.
 

Well, she apparently reemerged over weekend...

...only this time it was something else she was after.

I remember as a little girl being smitten with these lovely seed pods in the fall.

Back then, I didn't really think about what a magnificent creation they truly were...

...I just thought they were really neat.

Looking inside of the pod is really where the magic is.
 

 

Who else but our Lord, in all of His majesty and splendor could create such intricate detail?
 

Every seed, although nearly identical to the next,
has it's own unique fingerprint, so to speak...just like us.
 

A friend of mine told me that she had planted some seeds,

and better yet, they were growing!

 

Others came up volunteer from some that had made their way into her flower beds.

 

I'm going to add planting milkweed seeds to my list of things to do...

 

...right after I get out those Christmas decorations and get busy :)

Sharing at:

Mosaic Monday

  Roses of Inspiration
Grace at Home

Thankful

We spent the day with our first born.
(He's rarely seen without a shop rag stuck in his pocket.)

He was giving us the tour...
...and after all of that turkey, we needed to walk :)

He's doing well.

Thank you, Jesus...for this very moment...

...for that is all that You have promised us.

~

Take nothing for granted, for whenever you do

The "joy of enjoying" is lessened for you ~

For we rob our own lives much more than we know

When we fail to respond or in any way show

Our thanks for the blessings that daily are ours . . .

The warmth of the sun, the fragrance of flowers,

The beauty of twilight, the freshness of dawn,

The coolness of dew on a green velvet lawn,

The kind little deeds so thoughtfully done,

The favors of friends and the love that someone

Unselfishly gives us in a myriad of ways,

Expecting no payment and no words of praise ~

Oh, great is our loss when we no longer find

A thankful response to things of this kind,

For the joy of enjoying and the fullness of living

Are found in the heart that is filled with Thanksgiving.

Fill Your Heart with Thanksgiving

~ Helen Steiner Rice ~



Turkeys and the Thanksgiving Weather Report

There were at least ten or twelve of them...plenty to go around...

...not one Tom in the bunch.

As we were heading out to church while visiting Adam a couple of weeks ago,

it seems we interrupted quite an impressive parade going on in the front yard.

Too bad turkey season ended in October :(
Have you ever eaten wild turkey?
No dry white meat on this bird...it's moist and delicious!

~
And now for the weather....

*THANKSGIVING DAY WEATHER FORECAST*

Turkeys will thaw in the morning, then warm in the oven to an afternoon high near 190°. The kitchen will turn hot and humid, and if you bother the cook, be ready for a severe squall or cold shoulder.

During the late afternoon and evening, the cold front of a knife will slice through the turkey, causing an accumulation of one to two inches on plates. Mashed potatoes will drift across one side while cranberry sauce creates slippery spots on the other. Please pass the gravy.

A weight watch and indigestion warning have been issued for the entire area, with increased stuffiness around the beltway. During the evening, the turkey will diminish and taper off to leftovers, dropping to a low of 34F in the refrigerator.

Looking ahead to Friday and Saturday, high pressure to eat sandwiches will be established. Flurries of leftovers can be expected both days with a 50 percent chance of scattered soup late in the day. We expect a warming trend where soup develops. By early next week, eating pressure will be low as the only wish left will be the bone. (author unknown)

I thought this was cute :)

Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

 

More Scenes from Haywood Hollow

Where is Haywood Hollow anyway?

It's a little refuge from the rest world, actually.
Oh sure...there are other places just as beautiful or even more so.

It's near Columbia, Tennessee, where Adam has built his beautifully rustic home,

high atop a ridge overlooking...you guessed it...Haywood Hollow.

Walking out the front door, this is the driveway leading to the road....way down below.

I almost feel like I've died and gone to heaven when we visit there.

He's offered us some land there to build on...if/when we decide to in the future.

This is the gate to "our" meadow :)



I can almost visualize our little homestead when I close my eyes...



...a few goats grazing in the front yard...

...and there's the chicken house out back...see it?

It's a fun dream to dream, anyway.

~
And how about this cool fence made from pallets?

It's on his neighbor's property, way down below.

It may not be the most attractive fence in the world but it sure is unique...

...and it keeps the animals from their petting zoo from getting out.

Well, most of the time anyway.

Every now and then, Adam gets a call from him,

asking for help to rescue an escaped goat or....something.

 There are lots and lots of pretty fuzzy things too...

...and have you ever seen a pregnant tree?
~
 And lastly, I'm tossing in this photo of Olivia and her Pawpaw Jim....just because :)

So.... just build me a little cabin.

I'm ready to move :)

Sharing at:

Mosaic Monday

Roses of Inspiration

Naked Trees

There is just something about this time of year that I love.

The fresh face of autumn has passed, yet it's not quite winter...

...at least not around these parts.

~

We spent the latter part of last week and the weekend at Adam's lovely country place in Tennessee.

As I walked along the rural roads near his home, the trees just seemed to speak peace to me.

 

What is it about a naked tree anyway?

I took many photos.

Although the pictures can speak for themselves.
 I found a few quotes and poems to accompany them.

I hope you enjoy them along with the trees of Haywood Hollow.

"I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape—
the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter.
Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show."
~Andrew Wyeth

"The trees are about to show us how lovely it is to let dead things go."
~anonymous

"Listen ...
With faint, dry sound,
Like steps of passing ghosts,
The leaves, frost-crisp'd, break free from the trees
And fall."
~Adelaide Crapsey, 1878-1914, November Night

AUTUMN WOODS

~James S. Tippett

I like the woods

In autumn

When dry leaves hide the ground,

When the trees are bare

And the wind sweeps by

With a lonesome rushing sound.

I can rustle the leaves

In autumn

And I can make a bed

In the thick dry leaves that have fallen

From the bare trees

Overhead.

"The stripped and shapely
Maple grieves
The ghosts of her
Departed leaves.

The ground is hard,
As hard as stone.
The year is old,
The birds are flown."
~John Updike

THE NAKED TREE
~unknown

The majestic tree looks forlorn today
As its last leaves ever so gently fall
Denuding as the season changes
Heralding the end of Fall

The start of the season saw a tree aglow
Swathed in the glorious colors of Fall
Its leaves painted in scarlet and pink and gold
Its beauty held people in thrall

Now that the skin of leaves has peeled off
Its body is as bare as a skeleton
The branches are bony limbs of wood
Scrawny fingers of twigs at the end

And as the chilly wind blows through the air
It bares its naked branches to the cold
Defying the winter to bring on the snow
Alone and vulnerable, but bold



Do you see the heart?

I love seeing the naked trees against the backdrop of a cloudy sky.
And we all know that clouds usually enhance the setting sun's appearance.

This is the view from the back porch.

Yes, there's something about those naked trees...

...those hauntingly beautiful, mesmerizing, naked trees.