Wednesday, October 29, 2014

the last few nice days

Two days ago - Monday - was probably the last nice (read: warm) day we'll have here
until next April. I decided to take advantage of it and go for a hike in a beautiful bog area
that's just an eight-minute drive from my house. If you've never walked on a boardwalk through
a bog, it's quite interesting. The path is a little shaky and wobbly since it's resting on top of 
water, so it's a little scary at first, but you get used to it. I had practically the whole place to
myself and I felt like I was transported into another world, walking through the tall grasses
and woods. I brought my new camera (the DSLR that Tim gave me) and decided to give
it a try using the automatic setting, not the manual. I previously tried the manual setting like
Tim suggested and let me tell you - my pictures were awful. I also have no idea what all those
buttons and dials and settings are for and how to use them, so I have a lot of learning to do.
And I do want to learn, because I love photography. I guess winter will be a good time to
use on-line tutorials and look at some books that I have.







At the end of my hike in a more open area, I came upon some gorgeous oak and maple
trees that still had their leaves. Most of the trees in my area - including the beautiful red
maple across the street at my neighbors house that I've showed you pictures of - have lost
all of their leaves already. 


I laid down on the grass under a big oak and daydreamed and let any stress
and worries just melt away. I almost fell asleep! How long has it been since you
laid under a tree? I highly recommend this free therapy.


This is what I don't recommend: moving furniture.

 
That was Sunday. I had the brilliant idea of trying to rearrange my living room.
I cleaned behind all the furniture while I was at it. The worst part was that once
I rearranged things, I didn't like how it looked, so everything needed to be moved
back to its original places. Good thing Brian was home from work by then because
I was worn out and my back was very sore. 

The daytime temperatures here are now in the 40's and 50's, but it goes down into
the low 30's at night. The extended forecast shows temps going down to 28 on Friday
night (poor kids and parents who will be trick-or-treating!) so yesterday we put my
rose bush to bed for the winter.


This photo was taken just five days ago. Yesterday, there were no blooms left at all.
Brian took dirt from our compost bin and mounded it under the bush. Next step will be
to cover it with leaves and put a wire or styrofoam cover over it. We still have a couple
of big planters with some flowers in them that are still somehow hanging on, but we
really need to dump them before we get a big freeze. I somehow feel like a plant murderer
when we have to do that. 

Happy Wednesday, everyone.
 

34 comments:

  1. Melanie, that's such a beautiful place to walk! How lucky for you. Would you believe it's still kind of summery here? It did finally drop down to 80ish but it's still green outside. Not sure that we are going to have a fall.

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  2. Your photos are just beautiful, Melanie! We have turned over into cold weather now, too...I have a feeling we won't have too many trick or treaters...

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    1. Glad you like my photos, Linda. I don't expect many TOTers here either.

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  3. "I somehow feel like a plant murderer when we have to do that." That made me chuckle. A few weeks ago I sat on the porch and watched my neighbor across the street pull up all her live and very pretty annuals and toss them. I just cannot do that as long as they're blooming and pretty. The time will come, however. Our low last night was 27°...

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    1. That makes my heart hurt (what your neighbor did)!

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  4. I've walked on bogs before, but I never realized that they were floating! Your photos are amazing on the automatic setting! I know Amy at It's Overflowing has some excellent photography posts on using your camera on the manual setting.

    It's been snowing on and off for the past 2 days, so there won't be many little trick or treaters out this year. More candy for me to eat?

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    1. Well, the bog isn't floating, but the boardwalk is. Thanks so much for letting me know about Amy having photography posts. I will definitely check them out. Snowing?! Ugh, so sorry. Please keep it there!

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  5. This looks like so much fun and totally relaxing! I've never been near a bog before!! And your pictures turned out great...that's the nice thing about automatic. I'm sure you will get the hang of everything soon, you're smart.

    We were probably doing the same thing on Sunday with our living rooms. I got a new area rug and Emily helped me lay it. Then we thought we'd try an new look for the furniture arrangement and it just didn't work. Hard to do that in small spaces I guess. Thankfully Al walked in in time to fix it because my hands were killing me.

    I now hear we will be in the high fifties on Friday with rain. Ugh...not much better.

    Jane xx

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    1. You'll have to take a trip out to northern IL next spring and go walking through a bog! Make a day trip of it with your husband or your daughters. Too funny that we were doing the same thing on Sunday.

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  6. Your hike looked so pretty with all the fall colors.

    My daughter flies into Chicago tomorrow evening for a long weekend. Her boyfriend's brother plays on the US Rugby World Cup team and they are playing New Zealand this weekend in Chicago. KC has been checking the weather daily. She just went up to the attic to find her heavy coat, a waterproof jacket and some boots.

    Watch all that moving and pushing furniture. It can't be good for your back or the carpel tunnel in your hand.

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    1. I wish our weather would be nicer this weekend for your daughter's trip! Oh well, Chicago is such a great city that she'll have a great time anyway. Yeah, my back is still hurting even despite daily yoga stretches and walking. Lesson learned!

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  7. Your pictures are beautiful. I enjoyed watching the different colours of the leaves. It's still warm here and most leaves are still green. I have a feeling will go from summer to winter and will skip fall here this year.

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    1. Glad you like my photos. Hope fall doesn't miss you - it's a beautiful season!

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  8. Beautiful Melanie....Wish I had gone with you!! Maybe next year when everything comes to life again. :-)

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    1. You would love this walk, mom. This is where Suzie and I went last summer, too. Remember my photos with all the beautiful flowers? I will most likely go back to the bog sometime this winter as long as there's not a lot of snow. Even though things will be bleak and lifeless, there's still some beauty to be found in the structure of the trees and tall grasses. It makes for some beautiful photography.

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  9. What a great place to walk, it looks very peaceful there. I'm glad you had some time to relax and be alone with your thoughts. I think we all need that sometimes. It sounds like it's already getting really cold there, stay warm!

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    1. Thanks, Jennifer! It definitely is a peaceful place.

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  10. You have such a gorgeous place to take a walk...your photos are stunning, Melanie! It is good therapy to get fresh air and enjoy the beauty around us.
    Mary Alice

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  11. What a beautiful place! I love the boardwalk photo stretching out...all lovely photos! We are having similar weather here and a cold front coming through just in time for the poor trick-or-treaters also :(

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    1. We woke up to snow showers this morning - which are now gone. But it's only 30 degrees and the winds are whipping.

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  12. Gosh, if you can take beautiful photos like this on automatic, I stay stick with it! The third one down is just stunning, it looks like the most amazing painting to me, it is so beautifully composed and the colours are just perfect. I hope that you can get the garden winter protection done so that everything is safe and sound. xx

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  13. Walk a great day for a walk...so glad you got it in before this crazy weather today. The trees are so pretty..an soon their will be none :-{
    Good old fresh air...I couldnt believe how windy and cold it was. We hardly got any trickers! Now I'm stuck with all this candy, ugh!

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    1. I sent most of the leftover candy with Brian to work and then saved a little for Tim. I'll give it to him when we see him one day next week.

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  14. Lovely pics of pretty leaves in your neck of the woods, Melanie. I could almost feel the same effect of lying under a tree and daydreaming, from your description. I've moved furniture around many times, only to move it right back, too. Take care of your back!

    Happy weekend!

    Poppy

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    1. Lesson learned, Poppy...next time I get a notion to move furniture, I'll wait until Brian is home to help me. My lower back is still hurting!

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  15. Thanks for visiting and for your kind comment. We usually get 150+ kids because we are on a great walking street in a subdivision in our town but this year with the rain and wind we were down to about 110. My sister two streets away gets a dozen kids and my sil in town here got only four. I was tempted to hang it in this year but there are so many neighbours' kids. I'm now following on gfc. We had snow overnight and flurries throughout this morning, with a small amount of accumulation. Just a bit further north here in Ontario, there was a lot more accumulation. Your Fall hike looked sounded very enjoyable. Moving furniture can be a pain but it looks like you have a nice big space there.

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    1. I can't imagine getting that many trick-or-treaters! I actually don't have a big space - that's the living room in the photo. It's actually a small room. I guess it's just the angle of the photo.

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  16. Well you're doing great so far! It takes forever to learn all those bells and whistles on the camera, even on a point and shoot! A DSLR just intimidates me too much. That bog looks like just my kind of spot. Love it!

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    1. I will not let a camera intimidate me - I will conquer this beast! ;-)

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  17. I think your photos are great! Just keep taking shots, so much easier now with digital cameras to take all you want.

    I kind if felt like a plant murderer last week when I cleaned up our yard too but it had to be done.

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    1. That's the one great thing about digital cameras, isn't it - we don't have to worry about wasting film!

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Thank you for taking the time to leave a kind comment - I read and appreciate each one!