Strolling Through the Woods...

Stress sucks.  A lot of situations are adding to my stress overload, so Jack and I took a walk to capture the amazingly beautiful fall colors on Sunday.  (I say "amazingly" because I really thought that after the drought the leaves would just turn brown.)

Jack and I (and occasionally a kiddo, too) traditionally talk a picture-taking hike for each season change.  A perk to living in the woods is there is plenty to photograph.  Plus, Jack makes a great walking partner.  He usually stays about 10 feet ahead of me and will continuously look back if I'm not keeping up as much as he would like.

In the above picture, he was waiting for me as I stepped off the road to take some other landscape shots of some yellow and orange trees. I love my pup...

Birds of a Feather...

One thing I love about living in the woods is having ample opportunities to bird watch.  Yeah, maybe I'm strange that way, but I could lie on the side of my bed and watch the birds outside my window all winter and spring. (However, we do have a female Cardinal that harasses us from time to time.)

Bird Feeding in the Winter (ideas from Birds and Blooms)

• Garland.  String popcorn (best if out in the open for a day or two), fresh cranberries, green and/or red grapes, apple pieces, chunks of plain doughnuts, and raisins.
• Suet.  
• Add berries to suet mixture and cool in cupcake tins.  Hang the suet cups in the tree.
• Fill empty toilet paper or paper towel rolls with suet.  Cover one end with duct tape and freeze.  These fit well into suet logs.
• Apples.  Hang red and green apples by the stems.

Suet Recipes

• Melt 1 cup lard and 1 cup crunchy peanut butter.  Add 1/3 cup sugar to mixture.  Then add 2 cups quick cooking oats, 2 cups cornmeal, 1 cup flour, and 1 cup birdseed.  Form blocks and freeze.
• Melt 1 cup lard and 1 cup crunchy peanut butter.  Add 1/3 cup sugar, 1 cup whole wheat flour, cream of wheat, or oatmeal, and 2 cups cornmeal.  (Optional ingredients:  raisins, sunflower seeds (without shells), dried fruit, or eggshells.)  Cut into squares and put in freezer.