Fall Colors are Fading Fast ~ October 23, 2016

I've been busy lately!  Fall is my favorite time of the year.  I love to be out and about in the woods and enjoy the wonderful colors.   This year, up here, was kind of disappointing.   The colors came, here and there, with a red tree here and faded golds there.   It was strange.  The really pretty trees would shed before the greens even started to change on the neighboring tree.  Once the popples all turned to gold, that was amazing.  But, even they were not consistent in their color change.   Some were dead brown and shedding while others were green.   It has been a mild Autumn, for sure.   It was way out in October before I had the first frost up here in the valley.  That is unheard of.  I even asked my dad if he remembered ever going through September without a frost.  He didn't.  He's 85!   I have said, many times, that the only month I had seen without a frost here ~ is July!  Well, this year changed that.   Even now, my petunias are still blooming nicely in the pots on the deck as are the geraniums.  The moss roses bit it in one of the recent frosts.  But, even some of the garden is still growing and producing.   However, we are in the process of getting that all harvested.   Most of the carrots are in and all the potatoes dug ~ as of yesterday.  Still have rutabagas to pull and some turnips.  I just pull a turnip as I want one to eat tho.   Broccoli is still producing smaller, later bite size heads.   As I said ~ a wonderful Fall!

Recently, we went on a short trip.   Left on a Tuesday and got back Sunday evening.  We left via Wisconsin.   The colors were amazing.  However, we had very heavy clouds all day so I never took a photo.   The sumacs had some of the most amazing oranges I had ever seen.  Usually I just see them in their Autumn red coats.   Got up onto the Keweenaw and out to Copper Harbor.   Amazing colors in the maples.  But, even there, many places had plenty of greens too.  We stopped and hiked into some of the beautiful sights in Munising.   I love that area.   I would really love to go there with my kayak in the summer and really check that area out completely.   So many neat natural spots of beauty there.  This above photo is in Canada looking toward Nipigon.  So many times on this trip, if there was something really beautiful to see, there was no place to pull over and stop for photo ops!   Plus, it was raining or cloudy a lot of it.  That part was really disappointing.  In Copper Harbor I was out in the howling wind and rain, trying my darnedest to get a good shot and not have it completely water spotted.  That was easier said than done, believe me.  But, I got some nice shots in spite of the gray sky.   Our destination was to visit Manitoulin Island and the Georgian Bay area.  We spent two days exploring the big island.  A beautiful place, for sure.   Wouldn't mind exploring some of that area again in nice weather.

On the last night of our trip ~ we were traveling in our pickup with a camper on ~ we stayed at a motel in Wawa and ate at a restaurant!!  Imagine that.  This was Sunday morning.  We actually got up to sunshine!  What a pretty morning.  Two hours later, it was completely clouded over again for a couple of hours before the sun returned.   You see Betsy and Bruce enjoying the shoreline and the morning here.  

Here is another roadside shot getting closer to the Nipigon area.   Golds were in fine form here.   Another thing I forget, since I go so seldom, is the very steep and long hills over on the Canadian side of Lake Superior.  Wow!  I'd hate to be biking them in summer heat.   That gets to be work, after a while.
Anyway ~ we are settling back into our Fall routine of getting everything ready for winter.  My deer friends were happy to see us back.  They came on a run from the various spots they were laying in the yard when we pulled in.   Just how dare we leave them for all those days and no treats to be had!!!   They are pretty funny some times.  Several have gotten into the habit of touching noses with Betsy these days.   She can get pretty friendly with them and have them unperturbed.  She has even gotten her face washed a few times.  Too funny!   Glad they get along so well.  
With that ~ I will leave you with a yesterday's photo of Betsy ~ posing!