Nature, Books, and Gardening

The trails have been busy lately.  Of course, the weather has been decent, so the people come out.  One day I was irritated by 2 large groups of high school kids running the trail for track.  Of course, they took up the whole width of the trail, not leaving any room for hikers or walkers.  To top it all off, their adult chaperons were keeping up with the groups by riding bikes...there is a sign posted at the beginning of the trail "foot traffic only".  Luckily, they were on their way out as I was on my way in.

There was another group of 3 who were walking and doing the exercise stations along the trail.  Two guys and one girl.  The girl was so loud just talking, you could hear her all over the place.  I tried walking faster so that I could get away from the sound of her voice.  I really didn't want to hear everything she had to say.  Haha.  Well the next two days the top of my foot hurt, I guess I overdid the pace.  Oh well, it's all better now.

The following are a few pictures from my last hikes.

The deep blue color doesn't show up very well in this picture.

I've seen quite a few bunnies lately on the trail.

Another pretty flower.

I'm always on the lookout for my turkey friends too.  This guy didn't want his picture taken, I guess.

This last video is from daughter's house.  Our flowers look nothing like hers...that's a whole different story.  Love the butterfly!

An update on our book clearing out.  Herb managed to sort through his books and rearranged them on the shelves.  Some of the older books that are outdated etc., he didn't get rid of.  He packed them in boxes and took them to the basement.  Sigh.  Soon we are going to run out of room in the basement.  Disappointed he didn't get rid of anything.  We still have a box and a stack still sitting in the room upstairs...and there still isn't any empty spaces on the shelves.

I am disappointed in him, he is disappointed in me because I did it once again.  Over the years, while trimming bushes with an electric trimmer, I have cut more wires than I care to admit.  I am always super aware that the wire is there and I try my darndest not to nip it.  Well, I did it again yesterday!  Yikes I was mad at myself, and I wasn't the only one.  I guess I just shouldn't work in the yard anymore.  It's not my favorite thing to do anyway.

All Varieties of Nature

Today's post has a variety of things I've spotted over the last week on my hikes and in our yard.  It's been a fun week.

The weather has gotten a little cooler so I've really enjoyed the hikes.  Since I've written about the problematic dogs I've encountered during my hikes, I've met them 3 more times.  They really aren't bad dogs, just the owner doesn't control them.  Once the ranger drove by and mentioned to me and another lady to keep our dogs leashed because they've been receiving complaints.   So I know they're on the watch.  Funny thing, the lady showed up again just a few minutes after he left.  Darn!

I love these next two shots.  From the side, it looks like a little alabaster bird bath.  So pretty in form.

I didn't bother to look up what kind of flowers these are and unfortunately their pretty blue color doesn't show up in this photo.  They were nice to see along the trail.

My daughter came over on Saturday to collect some wood for their upcoming family Halloween Campout.  When she picked up the logs, she found this little critter.  He is a harmless Eastern Garter Snake.  Finn didn't pay any attention to him, so I think he's safe in our yard.  I wouldn't want a snake in my house, but I'm not freaked out about them as long as I know they're harmless.  I love his pretty colors and his eyes.

As Emily was loading up her car with the logs, she passed by one of our cars that we don't use very often and she found this pretty (?) little guy.This is a black and yellow garden spider, they are harmless and eat lots of pests like flies and mosquitoes etc.This one is a male..they weave the zig zag webs.

Labor Day With Some of My Friends

I've still been hiking pretty much, but not taking a lot of pictures.  My new go to trail is a Parcours Trail at Winton Woods Park.  It's a trail that isn't used as much as the other trails, so less people to deal with.  When there are more people, like today, the trail is pretty wide, so it's easier to pass people especially if there are dogs involved. I get a good workout with several hills.

Driving through the park is always fun, and I'm always on the lookout for wildlife.  I passed these two driving through the park.  I think this path is used by the park employees to drive their equipment through when they mow the grass along the road.

This is another deer I saw peeking through the trees.  Can you see him/her?

I have to admit this isn't one of my pictures.  My son Paul, who lives in Florida, sent me this picture this morning.  So pretty!  A Zebra Longwing.

We recently bought a new computer, because the old one is beginning to have issues.  Right now, all of our pictures are on the old computer.  We have a way of moving our old pictures onto the new one (some kind of box...don't know what it's called), which is great.  However, any more pictures that  I download are just sitting on the old computer again.  I really need the old program for pictures loaded on to the new computer.  Until that gets done, I'm going to be blogging from the old computer.

A Conglomeration of Hikes

I haven't posted to my blog lately because I've been both busy and lazy.  I guess I've picked up too many activities I enjoy doing, but don't have enough time to devote to them.  Then there are days I just feel like a slug! Haha!

Today's post will be a conglomeration of different pictures from recent hikes I've done over the last couple of weeks.

These pictures are from Blue Jacket Trail at Shawnee Lookout Park.  One of my favorite parks but I have to have plenty of time because it's not real close to home.  I just love this little pass through on the trail.

I had forgotten how many sets of steep stairs there are on Blue Jacket Trail.

Oh goodie! Look!  Another long set of stairs.  I would much rather just climb a hill than to climb steps.  Steps are uneven, slanted, sometimes slippery and throws off my pace.  And the hand rails have splinters!

Pretty flowers marking the trails entrance to the parking lot.  The parking lot is quite small...holds about 12 cars and was packed that day.  When it's full, it's hard to park and maneuver around the large SUVs and trucks of today.  My car is the pretty reddish brown car.

These next set of pictures are from the Miami Fort Trail at Shawnee Lookout. This is a shot from the overlook on the trail.

A close up of the same view.

A boulder that is along the trail honoring Daniel Carter Beard founder of the Boy Scouts of America.

Finally, a picture of the Parcours Trail at Winton Woods.  A nice quiet trail to hike when you're not being over run by a cross country high school team like I was today.  Haha! This picture was taken 2 days ago when the trail was quiet.

All Things Bright and Beautiful!

After overnight showers, and seeing a cloudy and gloomy looking day, Finn and I took a chance and went out for a hike this morning.  We were lucky and didn't get rained on. 

The ground was still wet and we dodged a lot of puddles.  Saw a few other folks who ventured out, and Finn visited with a cute little dog named Sadie.

Didn't see too much wildlife, except for these two Mallards and a Canadian Goose.

We also passed some beautiful trees in bloom and just had to capture their beauty.  The blooms never last long due to rain or wind.  So happy I saw them in all their glory.

This is a picture of the entire tree.

These last two pictures are of some blooms on a sad little apple tree in our yard.  The majority of the tree is dead and my husband wanted to cut it down a few years ago, but I wouldn't let him.  Cardinals, Chickadees and Tufted Titmouse like to sit in this tree during the winter.  It is close to all of my feeders and gives a nice waiting place for the birds to sit waiting their turn at the feeders.  I'm glad to see there are still some pretty blooms on this tree.

The "iffy" weather has kept the construction crew from working on our part of the street today, so it's been more peaceful. 

It's Going to Be a Busy Week!

This is going to be a busy week for me.  Our son, Paul is coming up from Florida tomorrow (Tuesday) night..I'll be picking him up at the airport at 10:30 pm.  He's only staying until the weekend, then he'll drive one of his vehicles we have here back down to Florida.

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings are all booked spending time at church.  My daughter-in-law, Nikki is becoming Catholic and I am her sponsor.  I love church BUT with my son in town I really don't want to spend that much time in church.  Since that's the way everything timed out...that's where I'll be.  It's an exciting time for Nikki and I am happy to be her sponsor and walk with her through this journey.

I still try to get in my daily walks with Finn.  It's been 2 miles, 6 days a week.  Between the rain and the road construction really close to our house it's been a challenge just getting out and driving somewhere.  I try to only go out once or twice during the day while they're working.  Here's a short video of our street from today.  Who needs an alarm clock when they're here at 7:30 am every morning?!

 

Just thought I'd share a picture of myself that I took the other day.  Not the best, but it is what it is.

 This is a new area I visited on my hike.  If you look in the center, you can see a duck diving for something good to eat.

This is a spillway looking the opposite way.

I took this picture today of a daffodil along Kingfisher Trail.  I like all the shades of green in this picture.  I also saw a hawk, eastern towhee and an eastern bluebird.  Unfortunately, they were too quick and I didn't get any pictures of them.  Darn!

And finally, another video I took of the spillway. A much more relaxing sound than that of construction!

Wish me luck...I'm off to the post office to mail some bills.  Hope I can get out of the driveway!

 

A Little Color Along the Way

I'm back to hiking again with my little dog Finn and have taken a few pictures along the way.  They are nothing spectacular, but just a little color along the way.  These three are from the nature trails that I hike.

This next beauty is from the paved trail we walked.  We walked the paved trail after two days of heavy rains, we knew the nature trails would be muddy.

Although these are not actually flowers, they are just as beautiful.  I like the moss and the greenery surrounding them.

I found this pretty little orange and white moth sitting on the door of my daughter's house.  I had never seen one before...I guess I just don't pay enough attention.  My husband said, he's seen these before...oh who believes him anyway!  Haha! My granddaughter thought he was pretty!