Leaves Still Hanging On to Life

A Bleak and Dreary Day

 It was foggy this morning and the rest of the day turned into dank and wet weather.....very depressing. I thought I would find some photos to cheer me up. These were all taken on the same day in June 2013 at Overland Park Arboretum. I remember that day vividly, with so many shots to take and the color and smells. I love that place!

 Pink Roses

 Poppy

 Peonys...white and pink

 Red Climbers

 Hummer

Indigo Bunting

Trapper's Run

 Pulled into the parking lot at Lake Erie Metropark and was greeted by these two lovely creatures.

 It had rained all day Friday so when it dropped below freezing on Sunday everything was coated with rime. Not as beautiful as the snowfall last weekend but still pretty non-the-less.

 I love the squirrel nests dotting the tree line.

 I think this is Bittersweet....not much color anywhere in November. It's all browns and grays.

 Rime on a branch

 Look-out on the canal

Cropped this one so you can sort of make out the 3 Herons

(click to enlarge, Herons center left)

Look who stepped out onto the trail......made my morning!

Fence in Winter

Click to enlarge....

A View at the end of the Canal.

This is Wyman's Canal near Trapper's Run Trail at Lake Erie Metropark. There is an overlook that I like because I usually see something interesting. At the very back, there are 3 gray lumps....those are 3 Great Blue Herons. Also, there is a bird that I thought might be a Red-headed Woodpecker. It was so far that I couldn't ID it for sure and don't know if they migrate south for the winter. Some ducks in the front as well.  Anyway, I could see all of this through my binoculars, not with the naked eye. Again, wishing that I had a bigger lens on my camera.....darn!
I had a nice, early morning walk....no snow today like last Sunday but everything was covered in rime and it was cold but quite pretty.

Getting Ready for the Holidays (but not baking Kolache)

I made a good start today, getting all my outdoor decorations up and all the wreaths hung. It was about 40 degrees out so not too bad out there. My son helped me with some last minute yard work (that oak is still hanging on to some of it's leaves). We moved furniture around and I am now ready to bring up the tree and all the rest of the decorations.

This was last weekend!

Today brought to mind all the Christmas baking that my Mom used to do. I don't bake any more. I used to try to keep the kolache tradition going but when I could no longer eat all that sweet stuff, I gave it up. I used to make my own log roll and press cookies as well.

My Mom was an excellent baker and turned out so many wonderful cookies and other treats. She made a chocolate sheet cake covered with marshmallow and then a chocolate ganache....yum! She also had a deft hand with pastry (most recipes from my Grandmother) turning out kolachi, kiffles, date bars, nut roll covered with icing and much  more. The Kolache were nut, poppy seed, apricot,and prune. 

Sorry that those days are gone for me now and I must settle for a dried up sugar-free cookie.

In this picture is my Mom's pastry board where all the magic happened. Behind, is her well used kolache pans. I don't even know if you can buy them anymore. It would take my Mom all day to make 12 kolache rolls and she usually froze half. At Easter she would only make 6 rolls. She also made a roll with sweet cottage cheese.....one of my favorite
Mom would bake all day, clean up and then make dinner....what a woman!!!
The Pyrex bowls are from my vintage collection.

Always think of my Mom and Dad at this time of year with such fond memories and miss them everyday.

Bird in a Bottle