Happy Birthday, Dad!

Jamie's Confirmation

MEA pictures

Joey

Sophie the Witch

A New Space for GCHS!

We've moved into our new home! Stay tuned for pictures of our new space next week!

Sorry....

I took a little blogging break over MEA and extended it through the week. I didn't mean to but I've had some long days sitting out in the woods near the dumpster waiting for my next treasure. At least I know that Shari missed me. That dumpster will soon be gone. They remove it Nov. 1, yet another sign that winter is looming ahead. The photo below is from a couple of weeks ago. Most of our leaves are now gone, well not really gone, just laying on the ground waiting to be raked or sucked up by Brian's Lawncare crew. We decided a few years ago that it was definitely worth it. They are done in less than 2 hours and it's spotless, until the leaves across the road blow back our way anyway.
Did you see the full moon last night? Wasn't it beautiful? I had a great view of it all the way into work this morning too.

I found this collage elsewhere on the web and thought it was very lovely, so I stole it for you to enjoy. I feel like we were robbed of a normal October which is usually a month I enjoy. November had better make up for it.... Have a good weekend! I have some MEA photo's for you later and not from the meetings either.

Dumpster Diving

Look at what I found in the dumpster by our house the other day. I can't believe that someone threw this away! Well, it's Joey's good fortune since it's going to his house in a couple of weeks. Everything works including the pedals and levers for the loader. How much do these things cost in stores, $50 bucks or so?
Just something funny and something pretty for you to look at. Most of our fall color is on the ground. Only a couple of stubborn oaks are hanging onto their leaves. It will be nice to get all those leaves cleaned up early November more than likely. It is quite cold and rainy today, pretty much like yesterday except much more rain today. I was filling up the feeders and the cutest little rust breasted nuthatch(that doesn't sound right) landed right at my feet looking for fallen seeds. He wasn't scared of me at all and I thought of the pair we had one winter in Morris. They would perch right on your finger if you held your hand by the feeder. I have been noticing one or two at the feeders this fall and since they don't migrate maybe we'll see them all winter. They are not very common. They are darling little birds.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Mom's birthday is on October 10th. She can't read my blog so I don't have to apologize for being a late blogger. Mom and I are going to St. Cloud on Saturday to do some power shopping. We have a lot of stores we want to check out so we're leaving early. Here she is with a peach pie that we made together late in August. It was delicious! Have a good weekend everyone.

Look what the coots did!

Reminds me of my drive to work every morning.

At least I think they are coots. One evening last week just before sunset(my flash really lit up the background) I noticed this long black line coming all the way from the point and as far to the left as I could see. I could only capture one section of the line but isn't it interesting how they form such a narrow band? I've never seen this happen before. I wish my fourth graders would stay single file like that! Much more fun to walk side by side and yak down the hallway.
I think we're going to freeze tonight. I picked the last green tomatoes in case they'll ripen in the house, picked the basil too. Oh well, I guess it's time. At least we don't have snow in the forecast.

Fall Decorating

Last year I didn't do a lot of fall decorating so I'm making up for it this year. So far, it's just been indoors since my flowers are still alive outside and I don't have the heart to dump them out until they die on their own. My window boxes are still full of impatiens and if they make it through this evening I should have them for another week! Yeah! After they die, I let the window boxes sit empty for a few weeks until I load them with greens for Christmas/winter.
Our neighbors have a lot of bittersweet. They almost killed it a couple of years ago by spraying but luckily it came back. Very little down on the point and if we ever get a calm day in the near future I will take my kayak out and check out another spot that's usually quite productive. You can only reach it by boat. It's a thin strip of land between a marsh and the lake.

Crafting with notebooks

Here are 4 notebooks out of 6 that I've been working on this weekend. The notebook on the right is what is under the scrapbook & wallpaper. I bought a stack of them for 12 cents each at Target. It was hard to resist at that price. It's a fun way to use up some of my scrapbooking materials. It's not a very good day for doing anything outside, very rumbly, not much rain just enough to keep things damp. Much cooler here today than yesterday too. I'm getting ready to bake a batch of cranberry almond white chocolate biscotti. I'm using my new Penzey's almond flavoring and it smells very yummy. Hope you had a nice weekend!

Happy Birthday Nicole & Joey!

Here's a pretty old but cute photo of Nicole!

Joey was also born on October 7th. His feet are pretty far from those stirrups!

Random photo's

This Rival rice cooker is a life-saver! I've been using it since last spring. Tonight I mixed a box of Rice a Roni Parmesan rice with some chicken and steamed some broccoli in the steamer tray at the same time. Prep is about 5 mn, cooking time 20 mn or so and that's it! Well worth the $15 and so many different rice dishes you can whip up from scratch or just use a box.
I've been collecting state plates for the last few years. Shari and now Mom collect them as well. This is Shari's first plate and it's the kind I like. There are many variations. I also like the dessert size and have used some of them down in the cabin.

Doesn't this look like fun?
From another blog not our yard.

Another photo I like from another blog.
The Office is on, gotta run! Target has great Office stuff in their dollar section by the way!

A Walk in the Woods

I went out for a walk in the woods early this evening to collect some leaves for an art project in my classroom. I had my camera along just in case....

All the recent rain must have been good for the moss!

Okay, I placed the red leaves there for contrast...I admit it. The mushroom was really just sitting there though. :) Do you think it's edible??

This one (above) is my favorite.

Happy October to all of you!

Cannon Falls Midwest River House

I LOVE this house. It is located near the river by Cannon Falls and was saved from demolition by the Seasons Midwest decor company which has it's headquarters there. It's a showcase home for them and I discovered it on another blog a few days ago. It's right here in Minnesota! It would be fun to see it in person, but this will have to do.

Here's a nice exterior Christmas shot.

I'm using this as my screensaver for my fall inspiration. I love the natural decor and the mix of white and natural wood.

I could cook anything in this pretty vintage kitchen.

My favorite thing about this room is the rustic table and it's natural decor.