Big Red Ball

It seems that there are fires everywhere. This was the sun coming up this morning. Shadows all around us have an orange glow. 

Thank Goodness It's Not Every Friday

Beautiful sunrise. Pink lenticulars formed by high altitude winds shearing off the tops of the clouds.

Busy as a bee today. Life is good. All is well. 

Gifts of the Morning

Every morning I get a new and different view. I never know what it's going to be until I step out of bed and look out the window. Even if I had nothing else going on in my life, that alone would get me up...

Play Misty for Me

An autumn awakening...

Arise. 

Amber.

Abandoned.

Click HERE to see who else is playing Alphabe-Thursday with Mrs. Jenny. 

Morning Light

Every morning begins with the light seeping in over the mountains. But not every morning is the same. Nor does the morning light necessarily predict what the rest of the day will be like. I like to savor the morning light.

The Deer Hunter

It started off a day pretty much like any other lately. First morning light creeping over the hills, a sultry mist hovering over the valley...

...the gold and red leaves in the trees slowly lighting up as if on a dimmer switch...

...frost clinging gently to the ground.

The dogs were let out. They greeted the deer as they do each morning with excited yips and yelps, running back and forth on the deck. 

And then...Albert saw something...there...up in the trees on the steep hill behind the house... a deer, no doubt. The urge too strong to resist, he broke free, leaped up the stone wall that holds back the hillside as if on wings and ... disappeared ... into the woods ... the woods where cougars lurk waiting for tasty morsels... 

(Look carefully through the window above...you'll see Albert getting a running start...)

Ahhh, and there's the naughty Albert, back safely (in prison...for his own protection) with Jake ... after a two hour deer hunt. After being covered with mud and water and burrs. After a bath.  Just Albert, not really much of a deer hunter, after all. Silly dog. You had us worried.

Spicy Sunday

There's that "early bird gets the worm" saying...but I like to think that there is a greater reward for passing up lovely sleep than catching some slimy worm. The morning light is so exquisite that we decided to get up a little earlier than normal on a Sunday morning...OK, a LOT earlier...so we could revel in it... and revel we did.  It was well worth it.

The colors were like fiery taco seasoning...or the countless varieties of curry. It was nothing short of s.p.i.c.y. for our eyeballs!!

Even the bare rocks of the craggy mountain showed off their rich colors. 

Driving back to the house, we passed these two girls who were enjoying the early morning too...I'll scratch your back if you'll scratch mine. 

All that talk of spicy things lead me to decide to prepare fresh salsa with the tomatillos and peppers from the garden of my friend, Louise. Thanks, Louise!  Yum. Que rico!! There's nothing like a little spice to get your day going!!

Walkies

Anyone out there remember Barbara Woodhouse's "walkies" or are you all too young? I can almost hear her voice now as I read the word on the screen in front of me.

Whenever it's a beautiful day and we take the dogs out for a walk, I can hear her voice ringing clearly in my ears..."walkies, walkies". Our little Scottish boys would surely recognize her voice if they heard it, with her distinct British accent....and there's no doubting that they know the meaning of the word.

However....they are nothing like the well trained and fully obedient dogs that were seen on her program. Ha! Quite the opposite. They like to run free, run the opposite direction when called and run through anything wet, muddy, smelly or full of stickers at any opportunity.

Mr. Sticker Face....look, Mom, I ran through the bushes...wouldn't you like to spend the next hour combing me, please?

I do worry a bit about them when they run off into the woods. There ARE cougars in the area... as evidenced by this deer carcass that was picked clean.