Good bye 2008...

It is cold and windy with the sun peaking through the clouds every now and then for this last day of 2008!

Remembering Christmas Eve.....

Kristopher was the chef for our Christmas evening meal. The menu was beef wellington, pearl onions, glazed carrots, sweet and baking potato gallette, and chocolate cake with ganache filling. Thanks Kristopher....everything was wonderful!!!!!

Pheasant

A pleasant surprise.....pheasants on Christmas Day!!!!

Cristmas Day Trifle

Christmas goodies

Wonderful week of Christmas

Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning tea ring

Christmas Eve

Presents from Houston

Burrrr

Wintery, blusterly, snowing, wind
puff up the feathers to keep out the cold
clouds hide the sun
warmer temperatures
a distant dream of yesterday.

"Hawkeye"

Powerful

Just seconds before the hawk took off after a dove.

Snowing

Hawk enjoying the snowfall or looking for a dove!

Hawk

hawk just before taking off to chase a morning dove

Cold outside!

Cardinal trying to stay warm!

Look out...

There were no other birds in the area as this hawk perched on the feeder this afternoon!!

Happy Thanksgiving

This is some of the produce from my brother's garden.

Going south

First night out and stayed in Carthage, MO at the Precious Moments hotel.

Among the trees..

Looking out the window this morning there was a red-bellied woodpecker among the trees.

Done...

The roses are all done blooming. It is so cold outside and wintery winds are blowing.

sun today

Finally the sun was shining today. All week has been cloudy and rainy. The sunset was beautiful this evening.

Two...

Saw these two on October 29th

And then there were three...

Went over to the farm today and a third kitten had surfaced!!!

Old garden gate

Remembering...

The way it was a month ago before winter arrived!

First snow day!

Today is my 56th birthday!! I was really surprised to see snow falling this morning!!

Three friends

Buddy, Gurgles, Callie

Want to play little boxelder bug??

Catching the wind

Southern view

This is a favorite view of mine. It is from the front porch of the house my grandfather was born in. This looks south across the gravel road into my uncle's fields. They are busy harvesting corn today.

So cute..

Went over to the farm today. These are the baby kittens at my brother's.

Fall colors

Missed posting pictures while waiting for Quest to repair the phone line! Sunday it was so windy that there are not many colored leaves left on the trees!!

Happy Birthday Nicole!

Our sweet little girl was born 31 years ago. She truely lights up our life!!

In the shadows

Red grass

Like the complimentary colors in this picture.

Late afternoon shadows

Welcoming the morning

One of the two juvenile male cardinals. Sure would have been fun to get them both in the shot!!

Feed me

Two juvenile male cardinals flew into the apple tree this week. What a treat watching mom still feeding them sunflower seeds from the feeder!!

After the rain..

right before sunset.

Morning light

Looking back...

Looking back in the rear view mirror. And here I sit looking back on the past day of riding in the buddy seat next to my brother on his birthday. God blessed us with a beautiful day and blessed me with a wonderful brother 50 years ago!!!

Back with the empty wagon..

Mom bringing the wagon back to the field.

Riding in the combine...

The field we are combining in is right next to Renner cemetary. We think about our Dad who loved being a farmer. We have missed him for 11 years.

Mom taking a load of beans to the elevator

Soybeans filling a wagon

Soybeans going though the bean head..

View from the buddy seat..

In the combine sitting beside my brother moving down the bean row watching the combine chomp on soybeans!!

Buddy seat

Thes is the buddy seat next to my brother where I am going to sit and ride along!

Beans ready for the combine