Here are the photos from McCormick's Creek State Park. I could not get them to load for the last two days! Arrrrgh!!

McCormick,s Creek State Park

Saturday was a beautiful day. The sun shone brightly, the air was sharp and clear, the trees were in their fall glory!
E and I went to McCormick's Creek State Park for the first annual "McCormick's Flavor", an event to celebrate the joys of outdoor cooking. But...we couldn't find it! Then discovered that I didn't check the date! It is NEXT weekend!!! Since we had already paid our 5.00 to get in the park, we drove around the park and took photos. It is truly a beautiful park, and it is 5 miles from our house!

Here is a couple of photos that I took while we were in the park.

Hiking In Autumn

Last Sunday my baby sister and I went to Greens Bluff Nature Preserve and hiked down a beautiful narrow trail to the Bluffs. There are large hemlock trees growing on the face of this huge cliff, overhanging the creek. Here are a couple of her photos. The trees were just starting to change color so there isn't much in these photos, but it was a quiet, restful, beautiful place. Come and go with me, and we will do it again, now that the trees have really changed. We can walk her from my house. It is about a 30 minute walk, maybe a little more.

Stinky!!

A couple of summers ago, I went to a plant sale put on by one of the churches in Bloomtown. I spent all of 50 cents! I bought a 3 inch, single stem, rooted cutting of a Carrion Flower.

It has grown very well, and recently it sprouted 5 flower buds. Two of them actually developed into flowers. Here is a couple of photos that I took within the last 3 weeks. The flowers just opened today. They are 8 inches across.

Why is it called the Carrion Flower? Well, if you get your nose within a couple of inches of the flowers, it smells exactly like 'road kill' ! I suppose in the wild it attracts insects for pollination.

I think this was my favorite view of the lake. In another week or so the trees will be in their full colors! I want to go back and take more photos, and just enjoy the scenery.
This isn't a large lake, but is was beautiful. The water was clear, and the trees are just beginning to turn colors. A walk around the lake was so relaxing and peaceful.
The Bloomington Photo Club, of which I'm a member, had our annual Club picnic in Brown County State Park, yesterday. It was an absolutely beautiful day!! Here are a couple of photos that I took of Strahl Lake, where we picniced. And I didn't even know Brown Co. had a lake!!

Here is the chute that Ed made, for us to be able to unload hay, with just the two of us doing it. The other end of the hay elevator is up on the loft floor, and I stand on the trailer and slide a bale down the chute and he catches it at the top, and stacks them. Wasn't he clever? It has sure made a hard job easier! We load the trailer with 80 bales, and put 20 in the back of the pick up truck. This week we hauled 204 bales of hay from the farmer and put them in the barn. We have approximately 55o bales of hay for the winter. That is one job that I'm glad to see done for the year!!!

An Afternooon Trailride

I liked Ruth's idea to include us in her early morning walk with the dogs. I ride Katie 3 or 4 times a week and thought I would take you all on a trailride with me. In the photo above we are just leaving the barn area. We will ride down the hill, (in a wide zig zag fashion, as it is easier on the horse than walking straight down). We will enter the woods at the red arrow.
Here is where we enter the woods at the bottom of the hill. The weeds have grown all summer and some of them are 6 feet tall! There is a deer trail that we follow. We are heading for that open field in the distance, through the trees in the photo below.