To those who much is given, much will be required

The trees growing straight up seems strange but it's  really OK.

On Monday morning I thought that the dog and I should walk on down to the Pig Farm.  The temperature was beginning to warm up in advance of a cold front that may very well push temperatures down into the 30's.   I would guess that the temperature was a comfortable 65 degrees this morning.   The sky was very blue and the trees lined up on the left side of the road as we ambled slowly along.  The power company has paid a contractor to cut the trees a very consistent distance away from the power lines running on the right side of the road.  The tree trimming creates what looks like a wall of trees on that side of the road. .
  I am glad that they are doing this as it cuts down on power outages from minor storms due to tree limbs falling on the lines. In major storms nothing short of burying the wires will prevent power outages.

Iron weed, the name doesn't fit this pretty flower.

  As we walked I snapped a photo of the Iron weed plant still blooming nicely.  The purple color was very strong in the morning sunlight.   I think I am becoming weary of working everyday of the week now.  The extra hour added to my day as a result of my not observing the time change may be catching up as well.  Fortunately I will soon finish my office work and my days will go back to normal.  I am looking forward to the holidays of Thanks Giving and Christmas as they are a time when I can catch back up on things that I have gotten behind on like this blog.

 Remember that today is Veteran's day.  This is the day that we take a moment to remember those who gave all they had in payment for our right to live free.  I am thankful that such people exist and that they were willing to give all when much was required.  May we all be willing to do the same when the freedoms we enjoy are in jepardy.   Thanks stopping in to reading my blog.  Bye

I walked beneath the dreaming clouds

The sky will pose only for a moment.

As the dog and I set out on our walk on Sunday morning the sky was overcast but the blue sky hung close to the horizon all around us.  The morning cloud layers at this time of year tend to be isolated and temporary occurrences.  They result from warm humid air from the Gulf of Mexico to the south interacting with the colder night time air high in the atmosphere.  On Sunday morning that interaction created a pattern that was very nice to behold.   The IPhone as good as it is, was not wide angle enough to provide a view of what the sky really looked like.  I guess I should have used the panorama feature.  I took my sky photo on the edge of the as yet unharvested soybean field and then we walked on down into the woods behind the unoccupied home.

Silence was my companion in the woods. 

 When we arrived at the end of the trail I noticed the dog was not with me and I concluded that he was chewing on  a stick he had found somewhere back up the trail.  The woods were extremely quiet with the exception of a squirrel barking at me.  These woods are home to numerous animals most of which only come out at night.  Our daytime is their night time.  My neighbors have seen deer in this area during the day so I hope one day to see them myself.  I walked back up the trail and found the dog sitting in the high grass waiting for me.  Many times when we walk I will loose track of him and call and call for him and then find him sitting and staring at me in the grass a few feet away.  I believe the dog thinks that if he can see me then I should know where he is so, he doesn't respond.  It can be annoying sometimes.

Nandina is a quiet spectacle. 

We walked on toward home and along the way I spotted a plant that is very pretty this time of year.  It was the shrub called Nandina.  The red berries and pointed leaves of this plant are very popular as a backdrop for gardens here in Grand Bay.  This particular plant has grown up in an unlikely spot under what appears to be an old potting shed once used by the lady who used to live in the unoccupied home.

Golden rods launch their seeds. 

We continued on and found that the once beautiful Golden Rods growing on the roadside have transformed into big fluffy tufts of fur like seed heads.  The wind will blow the seed heads far and wide and the Golden Rod's season will be complete.  The tall wood like stems will remain as a silent reminder through the winter that the Golden Rod was here and will be back after it's winter rest.  I look forward to it's return. Thanks for reading my blog today.  Bye.  

When the bees come to stay

The dog ambles ahead while I look a the Mistletoe.

On Saturday morning the dog and I walked up to the west end of the dirt road.  The weather was near perfection with the temperature in the low 50's and very low humidity.  The sky was azure blue peeking out from behind the tunnel of trees at the end of the dirt road.  As we walked I noticed that a large piece of Mistletoe had been blown from the top of a tree it had been growing in.

Mistletoe blown from the tree above

Mistletoe is a parasitic plant that grows high in the tops of the water oaks that are common to this area.  I believe I have read that the Mistletoe infiltrates and compromises the trees outer bark layers causing the tree to die from a lack of nutrients.

Mistletoe is unusually green. 

At any rate when we see Mistletoe growing way up high in the top of a water oak we know that the tree will slowly begin to die and rot until it becomes a hazard and must be cut down.  Mistletoe has a most unusual green color which is very bright.  Our version does not usually get the white berries seen on other varieties at least I have never seen it on our Mistletoe.

Southern wood fern makes a showing.

 At the very end of the road I saw a very nice specimen of the Southern wood fern growing out of the pine straw.  This fern is very common to our area along with many other varieties that prefer humid climates.  The color of the fern in the red pine straw is very striking even on cloudy days.  We headed back to the house as I had to do some work at my office.

On my way to my office, I stopped by my neighbors home to talk to him about his satsuma crop. He gave me a ride in his golf cart out into the orchard so we could pick some of his satsumas.  They are becoming ripe very quickly and we were able to pick a bag full in short order.

The entrance is small but the colony is
apparently quite large.

  When we finished picking the satsumas he took me by an old house on his property and showed me a hive of honey bees that have been in the exterior wall and attic of the home for over 40 years.  Numerous attempts have been made to remove the queen but all have been futile.  Killing them is not considered an option.

40 years of bee landings is removing
the paint from the siding. 

 For the last four decades the owner has only used the house for storage so the bees have been left alone to thrive.  A question comes into my mind each time I see this colony of bees.  Why have these bees not been affected by the colony collapse disease that has killed so many bee hives in the U.S. over the last ten years or so?  It seems to me to be a question that bears investigation.   Thanks for reading my blog today.  Bye

The memory of pigs

Memory Lane?

Friday morning the sun was shining brightly when the dog and I headed down to the Pig Farm.  The temperature was around 47 degrees and the humidity was pretty dry at 60 percent.  We walked through the pecan orchard as we went and I noticed that the construction of the new home there has moved a little further along.  A water well has been drilled and a pump house has been constructed to cover the pump motor.  It appears any further construction awaits the connection of the temporary power pole to electricity.   Many houses are being built in our area now as the interest rates for mortgage loans have been driven artificially low by some very worrisome government policies.  Only time will tell if this home construction boom is sustainable.  We continued on down to the Pig Farm and slipped inside to take some archival photos of the farm as I have a feeling the place will not be there much longer.   This farm is a place that shocked me one day as I suddenly realized I had been here nearly 45 years earlier with my Dad.  The farm looked very different then.  The buildings were in good order and there were several pecan trees growing around the place making it very shady.  I remember my Dad took my two brothers and I in the car with him as he drove around on one of his Sunday exploration trips.  He loved to take us to the places most parent would never have taken their kids.  At that time I was very fearful about new places and new people and  I remember being very apprehensive about going farther and farther down the dirt road to a an unfamiliar place in the what seemed  like the end of the world. When we arrived at the farm at the end of the road we got out of the car and my Dad who was not the least bit shy about going anywhere he wanted to, led us into the wooden door of the pig farm building.

A door into my past.

  I can still remember once inside the door, walking beside the pig pens and seeing all the pig jostling each other.  The noise the pigs were making and the smell made my head spin.  My Dad kept walking through the building coaxing us kids along, until we met a man who was spraying  the floor of one of the pens with a hose.  He stopped spraying the hose and greeted my Dad who told him we were out exploring.

People have stolen the metal roof above the pens.

The man seemed happy that someone had come to visit him.  He put his hose down,  leaned on the pen and spent a quite a few minutes talking to my Dad and us kids. When he heard my brothers and I asking why the pigs where not all muddy the man explained that his pigs never stood on the ground and were very clean animals. He said that pigs in farm yards rolled in mud because that was the only way they could get cool and protect themselves from insects.  He also explained the entire process of raising the pigs and caring for them and what happened to them when they were full grown and went to market.   He really did not want us to leave until we were convinced that raising pigs was not all mud and pig poop.  I guess he must have made his point pretty well because I still remember his words to this day.

The only pig pens that are still usable.  

When he and my Dad finished talking we filed out of the building, jumped in the car and drove back home.  I guess my Dad, my brothers and I forgot that day as it receded into the past but one day it all came back to me at once.  I was walking down the dirt road to the pig farm a few years after moving to my home here to Grand Bay.  There were no fences around the farm then and when I arrived at the end of the road I wandered around the buildings to see what had been there.  I walked through a wooden door to the inside of the dilapidated building and suddenly a wave of recognition washed over me. This was the place my Dad had brought me to all those years ago.  I felt very sad that my childhood memory had fallen into such disrepair and that my Dad, who had died at my house a couple of years earlier, never knew that the place he had taken us to all those years ago was just down the road.  I would liked to have had the chance to take him there and thank him for bringing my brothers and I to the Pig Farm that day as well as all the other places he carried us to during his explorations.   He instilled in me and my brothers a sense of wonder and curiosity that has served us well in our lives.  For that I am truly grateful.  Thanks Pops, I miss you.  Bye.

The wind is whistling a tune we like to hear

The dog takes a moment to assess the weather. 

Thursday morning at sunrise the clouds were hanging thick when the dog and I went for our walk.  Just like clockwork another cool front is passing through.   The rain was sputtering and the wind was blowing in fits and starts.  I guess you could say the weather was unsettled.  The dog walked out of the fence and headed east on the paved road which is something he usually doesn't like to do.  I followed along behind and we took our time and enjoyed the wet windy morning that was breaking.  The wind whistling through the leaves in the tree tops is a sound that we here on the Gulf Coast usually associate with thunder storms or hurricanes in the summer.  When we hear it in the fall we welcome it as a sign that the summer has come to an end and our mild winter is about to start.  We now have about 20 days left in our hurricane season so we will hope and pray that the next couple of weeks won't bring any surprises.

The wild persimmons are small but tasty. 

 As we made our way back I decided to stop off at the unoccupied home of a neighbor to have a look at the wild persimmons growing in the front yard.  The fully ripe wild persimmon is very small. About the size of a half dollar.  The few that have been left by the birds and squirrels have now ripened and are very sweet and soft.  I cut one open and found it very tasty albeit very small.

The inside of the persimmon is seedy.

 They have  large seeds which don't allow much space for the fruit.  There is also a domestic Hayashi persimmon growing nearby.   I have found out the hard way that the Hayashi persimmon must be allowed to ripen completely before they can be eaten.  The other domesticated persimmon grown in this area, the Fuyu,  can be picked while not completely ripe and then ripened the rest of the way after picking.  Eating an unripe persimmon is like taking a drink of gasoline. Personally,  I think the taste of gasoline may be a tad bit better than that of an unripe persimmon but in any case the results are the same.  Thanks for reading my blog today.  I hope you are getting out to walk in your area before winter sets in.  Bye.

Crossing a swamp on dry land

The trees were teasing out their share of the morning sun. 

Our walk on Wednesday morning took us to the west end of the dirt road.   The dog was walking characteristically far ahead of me while I stopped to take some photos of the morning sun shining on the trees.  The intensity of the clear blue morning sky was contrasting nicely with the green trees and red dirt road.  I really prefer the morning for taking pictures because there is so much contrast in the colors  making the subjects more interesting.   We continued on our walk up to the end of the road and I ventured into what had been a swampy area until the rain stopped a month or so ago.

The dog shops for rotten sticks in the land of plenty. 

 Now this area like the stream I talked about the other day is dry and the leaves are covering what was a muddy swamp just a few days ago.  The trees here have adapted to being in water for a period of time each year. If you look closely you will see that most of the trees have been standing in a least one foot of water during this summer.  The swamp will fill with water after a heavy rain and the frogs and mosquitoes go crazy for a while until the water disappears again.  As we wandered around the dog  enjoyed the good selection of rotten logs some of which he stopped to chew on.

This fungus looks good in red. 

 The bracket fungus growing on those rotten logs has taken on a bright red color.  I believe this is due to the change in temperature.  There is a lot of this type fungus growing in this swampy area.  The mosquitoes have not been deterred by the cooler weather and found me very quickly.  If you want to walk comfortably in these normally wet areas you need to wait until  January when temperatures fall below freezing at night.  The cold will send the biting insect scurrying  for a warm place to wait it out.  Today though they sent me scurrying for the road while biting me on my neck and hands unmercifully. I guess turnabout is fair play.  Thanks for reading my blog today.  Bye.

Desperate times call for desperate measures

The dog checks out the conditions ahead.  

On Tuesday morning the weather was very nice when the dog and I left our yard to go down to the Pig Farm.  There were some high broken clouds but for the most part the sun was shining through.  The time has changed here in the U.S. and we have switched from Central daylight savings time to  Central standard time.  That means everyone in the country moved their clocks backward one hour.  I am trying to maintain myself on daylight savings time at my home because I am always late for everything.  I do this every year and it works for a little while then I have to give up.   The end result is my day is an hour longer than everyone else and I just wind up tired.  I will keep it going as long as I can though and try to redeem the time as it were.  As I said we walked down to the Pig Farm and found everything in order there.

Desperate roots of the Magnolia attempting to stay upright.

As we were leaving I did see something interesting.   The water in the stream that runs under the road has washed the soil from the roots of a magnolia tree on it's bank.  The magnolia appears to have grown it's root system in response to the constantly eroding soil.   The result is that the roots are growing in all directions grasping at straws in an attempt to keep the tree vertical.  The efforts of the roots to hold the tree upright seem to be succeeding for now but the tree is starting to lean.  Inevitably the tree will fall in a storm or high water but for now it is OK.

My dog the pumpkin eater. 

We walked back toward the house and along the way the dog found a discarded Jack o lantern pumpkin in the field.  He may have thought it was a ball or maybe he liked the taste of it because he picked it up and ran home with it stopping every now and then to chew on it a little.  My dog eats all types of vegetables, fruits and nuts.  He has in the past shown a preference for blueberries, oranges, peanuts, pecans, cherry tomatoes, okra and squash.  Now I guess I can add pumpkin to the list.  The list of strange characteristics my dog exhibits is starting to get pretty long.   If this keeps up I may need to seek professional help...for the dog that is.   Just kidding.  Thanks for reading my blog.  Bye.

Chasing the morning sun

The rays of the sun drift silently across the sleeping soybeans.  

On Monday morning the dog and I had to walk to several locations to get a look at the sunlight streaming through the clouds.  The angle of the sun at this time of the year puts the morning sun very much to the south which makes getting to the place where you can see it a trick.  We walked up to the turnip green patch and I noticed that the breaks in the clouds and the humidity in the air were creating some visible rays spreading out under the clouds.  We could not see the effect very well because of the trees so we had to hurry down to the soybean field where after climbing through the barbed wire fence we were able to take a photo.  Sometimes you stumble into a good photo and sometimes you have to really look for it.  Most of the time though there is a least one good picture in every walk.   As I turned around to leave the soybean field I noticed that a summer flower common to this area was still blooming.

Latanas have not made a nuisance of themselves, yet. 

 This was the Lantana flower which is very beautiful with multicolored blooms.   The Lantanas are an introduced species that has found a home here in the southeast United States.  Lantanas have not become the invasive species here in the U.S. that they have become in many other parts of the world.  I believe our birds do not like the Lantana seeds.  Also the winters in Grand Bay tend to kill the Lantana to the ground which keeps their spread in check.  Chalk one up for Grand Bay on the invasive species score board.  After struggling with the barbed wire fence again I managed to get on the road and we made our way back home.

Liquid sunshine hangs in the trees.

 I went around to our back yard to check on the oranges.  The Hamlin Louisiana sweet oranges are now turning a bright yellow color due to the last couple of cold snaps we have had.  The oranges are turning yellow very early this year.  Usually they are still showing some green even at Thanksgiving day at the end of November.   I tasted of the juice and it is quite good for this time of the year.  All of the citrus in the Grand Bay area is ripening early this year.   Grand bay is famous for it's Satsumas.  They are a mandarin orange that is easy to peel and is segmented.  Apparently we have the best climate in the country for Satsumas.  They become very sweet and some trees bear as much as 400 pounds of them.   Look for the names Session's farms or Rebel farms in your store's produce section when you buy your fall Satsumas and you will experience the best available.  Thanks for reading my blog today.  Bye.

My point is lost on the dog

The steep angle of the fall sun creates pretty sun rays.  

Wow!  On Sunday morning it was very cool.  The temperature in Grand Bay Alabama when the dog and I left home was 42 degrees.  To many people across the country that may not seem very cool but here it is considered downright cold.  Anyway the dog loved the weather and was ready for his walk this morning.  We walked up to the west end of the dirt road so we could get our 1 mile of walking in this morning.  When we arrived at the end of the road and started back I happen to notice that the light passing through the trees was producing some interesting effects.  I stopped to take a picture and I believe the photo shows the rays of sunshine coming through the trees more clearly than I could see them.

The comfortable cat looks down at the dog in derision. 

  A little farther down the road where the Yellow Jacket nest used to be the dog treed a cat which scurried up onto a safe limb.   Once safe up the tree the little gray cat simply stared unconcerned down at us while the dog attempted unsuccessfully to climb the tree as I looked on.   The dog has only a vague understanding of where things are when they climb up into trees above his head.  Unless he can see the offending cat or squirrel  running up the tree he will loose track of it once it over his head.

The dog barks in the blind. 

 All of my pointing and gesturing is wasted on the dog as he simply doesn't understand what I am trying to tell him.  He is very smart in many ways but he has never caught on to what it means to point at something in the distance.  It is sometimes funny because  I will point to a bird or rabbit and he will look in the opposite direction or anywhere but where I am pointing.  I know this now and I try to connect him with the object of interest in other ways.  He seems to understand where I want him to look  when I talk in the direction of an object so I will call to a squirrel in the yard while looking at it "Look out squirrel or cat, or bird, the dog is coming after you".  He will then look in that direction and see what it is that I see and go after it.  Oh well, live and learn.  I guess he doesn't quite have me trained yet.  Thanks for reading my blog today.  Bye.

My debt repayment plan

The clouds are running away from the blue sky behind them.

On Saturday morning the clouds were moving quickly to the south and blue sky could be seen on the western horizon.  The air was very cool and dry with a temperature of 57 degrees.  The dog and I walked up to the east end of the paved road to have a look at things. When we arrived at the end of the road we turned around and were greeted with a very nice looking cloud layer just ahead of the clearing line.  The patterns made the sky look like a painting.
  On the way back to the house I saw an evening primrose blooming quietly on the roadside covered with droplets of dew.   This is one of the last wild flowers still blooming this season.

The four o'clocks are very pink.

Look closely to see the dew droplets.

  When we arrived home the sun had broken through and a beautiful day complete with blue skies and cool temperatures lay ahead. I decided to  walk around to the back yard and have a look at the plants that were still growing there. I have some four o'clocks growing on the side of the house and they are continuing to bloom and make seeds for next years plants. The pink color of the four o'clocks is very intense.

Will my tomatoes make it?

The tomatoes I planted awhile back have really begun producing green tomatoes.  I am not sure if they will make it to harvest though as the first frost is headed our way quickly.

These peppers are pretty hot.

I also have a pepper plant with quite a few peppers on it.  The pepper plants just loaf around all summer then come on strong about this time every year.  I am going to make some hot pepper sauce from these colorful peppers when I get a free moment.

Enough walking. Let's ride.

The dog ran around to the front yard and jumped into the truck ready to take a ride.  On Saturdays and Sundays we ride down the road in the truck to get coffee and danish at the gas station.  My family, friends and acquaintances tell me I have spoiled my dog by walking him everyday and taking him in my truck with me to various places.  I guess you would have had to be there for the past five years to know that my dog has given to me far more than I have given to him.  All my dog asks in return is the opportunity to spend time with me.  What a deal.   Thanks for reading my blog today.  Bye.

In my dogs mind a mouse is a turtle

The wind was blowing in the treetops while the clouds rushed by. 

Friday morning the weather was ominous and lowering when the dog and I left for our walk.  A front was in the process of passing through the area.  The north wind had started to blow and the clouds were rushing quickly to the south.  This is usually a signal that cool clear weather is not far away.  The temperature although comfortable in the low 70's was dropping quickly.  We hurried up to the west end of the dirt road where we could hear the wind blowing through the tops of the trees.  There had been a small amount of rain sometime during the night so everything was dripping wet.  The dog ran into the wet brush along the side of the road for a few moments and soon popped back out again.  He had something in his mouth and his tail was wagging which indicated it was something he liked.  He ran across the road and sat down in the bushes to work on his prize so I walked over to investigate.  The thing that he had was a discarded USB computer mouse.   I believe he honestly thought it was a turtle because he was chewing on it the same way he chews on turtles.  My dog LOVES to chew on turtles.  I tried to get it from him but he growled and acted like he would bite me.  I grabbed the wire and pulled but he pulled back until it broke.  I finally managed to get him to fumble it into the leaves and I pretended to kick it away and the dog lost track of it.  I quickly grabbed it and tossed it over a nearby fence into the woods.  The dog of course was frantic to get it back but as I had started back home with a stick in my hand he quickly gave up and started running after me and the stick.

A small Popcorn tree dresses in fall colors.

As we approached our house I saw a tree that can provide this area with some fall leaf color.  It was the Chinese Tallow or Popcorn tree.  If the conditions are right the leaves on the bottom of the the tree will start turning yellow then orange and finally red before falling to the ground.  The color change will progress up the tree and last about two to three weeks.  The tips of the bare limbs will hold on to white bundles of seeds that look like popcorn which is why it is called the Popcorn tree.  The seeds are eaten by birds and spread around the area where it seems almost all of them spring up into more trees.  This is how the Popcorn tree has become an invasive species here in Grand Bay.   Thanks for reading my blog today.  I hope you have a good day today.  Bye.

Just a few more minutes of Summer

The field is decorated in fall colors

On Thursday morning the dog and decided to walk in the woods behind the unoccupied home just up the street.  The four wheeler trail is still a good way to get to the woods but the grass itself is starting to turn yellow.  Almost all of the fall wild flowers have finished blooming and have dropped their seeds.  The soybeans in the field next to this one stand dry and ready to harvest.   We walked on into the woods and found that the spiders that were there a few days ago have gone into hiding now.  They are most likely laying eggs and putting them in a safe place to spend the winter.  The webs will continue to hang in the woods untended until they deteriorate and fall.  The hunters have placed salt licks here to try and attract deer to the area so I always have to be careful when walking in the woods on the weekend or I could get shot.

The dog heads home with another prize.

We made it to the end of the trail and by then of course the dog had found a large stick to carry home.  He likes the rotten limbs that fall from the trees and break up on the ground.  As we walked back I noticed a very large Oak tree was covered in green moss at the base of it's trunk.

More moss on the north side.  

The moss made it look like something from Shrek or Lord of the Rings.  This tree is maybe 60 or 70 feet tall and has no limbs till somewhere around 40 feet above the ground.  It is a really nice looking tree.

It looks tall because it is.

 

We headed on back to the house where I had to clean up a mess the dog made.  As you know he is a collector and on Wednesday night during our walk he picked up the neighbor's new phone book which had been dropped off next to their mailbox.

He won't be making calls anytime soon.

He ran home ahead of me and began chewing it up and when he was inside the gate he tore it all to pieces.  I had to take my own copy down to the neighbors mailbox and leave it as a replacement.  I try to explain to the dog that it is OK to tear up the junk mail and discount coupons but that we may need the phone book at some point in the future.  I get the feeling he is not listening.  Thanks for reading my blog.  Bye.

Stinkbugs are not good house guests so I ask them to leave

Gloomy. A little overcast can go a long way. 

The weather on Wednesday morning was somewhat overcast when the dog and I left our yard to go walking.  The overcast gives the morning a rather sad outlook that is probably just my imagination. The temperature though was comfortable in the high 60's and the humidity was around 80 percent.  Except for the overcast this type of weather is very agreeable for walking.  We walked up to the turnip patch and found the turnip greens are being harvested in great numbers now.  Several rows of plants have been pulled.  For some reason the dog likes that field and walks around in the greens sniffing and occasionally stopping to pick up something to eat.  I think the owner of the field may have worked compost or chicken manure into the soil and the dog thinks it is something he can eat.  Yuck.  We made our way back to the house and walked around in the yard a bit.

The pink Mums say thanks again. 

 I found the Mums I have in a pot are blooming nicely now.  I rescued these mums 2 years ago after someone threw them out on the dirt road.  They have shown their appreciation by staying alive through the hot dry summer and then blooming in the fall.   Another plant I have in a pot is a Mulberry plant that my brother gave me which I need to plant in the ground this fall.

The Mulberry thinks it is spring.

 About a month ago the weather suddenly became dry after much rain and the Mulberry dried out in it's pot and the leaves fell off.  I thought it had died but I watered it and the leaves grew back out again.  After the leave came back on it produced some Mulberries which it has never done before.  I'll make note of how they taste when they get ripe.  As I walked up to the house to feed the dog his breakfast I saw that a group of Stinkbugs had huddled on the brick wall.

Stinkbugs got to go.

 The temperature is apparently to low for them now and they have found a warm spot to stay for a while.  They may stay there through the entire winter in a semi hibernation.   They will move if touched but very slowly.  I will eventually be moving the entire group down the road into the woods as they are a pest in my garden in spring.  No use in making my spring garden their first buffet after a long winter's nap.  Thanks for stopping by to read my blog.  Leave a comment if you like it,  or leave a comment if you don't like it, either way it's OK with me.  Bye

Giving a voice to a silent stream

The stream is sleeping till it rains again. 

On Tuesday morning I had the dog back walking with me again.  He was ecstatic about arriving home on Monday evening and ran around in the yard and could not wait to play ball or walk or ride in the truck.  This morning he was ready to go for a walk so we ambled down to the pig farm.  The pigs have now departed for the Greater Gulf States fair in Mobile Alabama which is not far from my home.  All was quiet in the barns now.  We turned aside into the woods where the little stream runs.   The stream has now gone dry and is showing the red sand washed down from the paving of my road several years ago.  The leaves falling from the trees are beginning to cover the sandy bottom of the stream and will eventually cover it completely till the next big rain.  The woods are somber and quiet at this time of year when the activities of the animals who live there are beginning to decline.

Magnolias guard the ground jealously.

 I stopped to take another look at the magnolia grove and noticed that the leaves that have fallen on the ground are forming an impenetrable layer.

The Magnolia leaves take on all comers.

 Almost nothing can grow through the leaves and if anything does manage to get through the shade created by the magnolias will starve it for sun light. No need for a lawn mower here.   It was good to be walking with my dog again this morning.  You don't realize how much company that even a dog can provide.  I missed the dog for those few days I was traveling.  I enjoyed my trip out of town but it is good to be back home where everything is normal again....Sort of.   Thanks for reading my blog today.  Bye.