Wordless Wednesday

 (Fungus growing on an old log)

Come walk with me...

The weather has changed here making my morning walks a little different.  It's cooler, with temps often in the low 60's. The sunrise is later which makes everything look a little different when I go out.  It makes walking much more comfortable and the change in lighting makes me want to take more pictures as I walk.  So here's a few from some recent morning walks.

These are hard to see, but in a field near us, there have been some cranes most every morning.  I know my friends in Florida see them frequently, but they aren't as common here and are fun to see.

A little further down the road, the horses were out and grazing.

On this morning, I decided to walk to an area near us that is part of the State Recreation/Forest Area.  It's an 830 acre parcel, next to the Grand River that is mostly untouched, and is managed by the DNR for wildlife.  You can walk back on this trail and are surrounded by woods and marsh.

Here's a unique plant I saw along the way. It's called Virgins Bower and is a native climbing vine.

There was lots of goldenrod blooming and this field of it was at eye level with me.

I saw lots of animal tracks along the path.

aren't these the cutest mushrooms?

On my way back home I came upon this common sight in our area, lots of people have chickens. "Why did the chicken cross the road?"  I'm not sure, but it joined a friend on the other side.

The next pictures are from the next day.  It was a misty morning with beautiful light!

Isn't this a beautiful scene?  This is why I love the mornings this time of year.

One more photo from a little further down the road.

I hate to think of the weather changing, but for now I'm enjoying these mornings!

Fall Garden

When I was a little girl, my Grandpa often said this little poem to me: "Mary, Mary, how does your garden grow?"  I thought of that as I was gathering pictures for this post. Things are fading in the garden this time of year.  Most of our flowers have quit blooming but there are still some new things popping out and a few others are giving us a second round of blooms.  Here's a few pics of what things are looking like in our yard.

Our garden is mostly flowers, but we are still getting a few tomatoes.

The morning glories were so slow to bloom this year, but finally they're blooming!  

 

These are called Fall Crocus. They send up green shoots in the Spring then completely die back until Fall, when these beautiful purple blooms pop up.

In the back by our storage shed, the phlox are looking kind of sad, but are still blooming.

Next to the phlox are these asters which are just starting to put on a show!

The spirea and the daisies are blooming for the second time.

The sedum are turning pink!

The hydrangeas are still blooming.

The ferns are starting to get yellow.

The woodland garden is going strong.

In this bed there are hardy cyclamen blooming for the first time this year.

This is a new path Bob put in our side yard, and he's been busy planting new things along the edges.

This is another new area that Bob put in last Fall.  It's hidden away in a back corner and it's fun to walk back and see things growing.

We have a lot of hosta's, a plant that grows well in our shady yard. This one is called an Empress Wu, one of our favorites because it's so big.

This is called Joe Pye Weed.  It's another one that pops up and flowers in the Fall.

The roses are blooming again after taking about a month off.

and the mushrooms are still popping up all over!

Last, but not least is one of my favorites - the cosmo flowers. These also bloom at the end of summer.

I'm enjoying each of them for as long as I can!