Trick Or Treat......

.....our first Halloween visitors were Matt and Jen and their little giraffe, Charlie. They are our neighbors across the road.

Beauty All Around!

Can you see why I gave this title to this blog entry! These are the two granddaughters of friends of ours named Bud and Chris. Their names are Abigale and Leah. Although I've heard about them, Sunday was the first time to actually meet them. When I saw them getting into their car at Chipotle I asked Bud if he would mind extracting them from their car seats so I could take their pictures in the afternoon light. Needless to say he oblidged and I got these shots.

.......and aren't you glad I did ????!!!

Cassie (left) andGriffin (right) Guarding The Neagos Back Porch

Pat took the picture out our kitchen window.

Canoeing The Licking River

What a beautiful day to launch into the Licking with Tevis for a canoe trip. Interestingly as we were about to launch, along came Preserve Manager, Officer Greg Seymore, to check our boat license and equipment. He "let us by" he said because both life vests were extra larges and Tevis was not "extra large!" I suppose he could have sighted us for improper equipment but chose to "let us off the hook."

....we saw these geese....

....and sights like these all along the way.

Surprise Around the Turn

...a highlight of the trip was seeing a pair of adult bald eagles....

...one stayed put while we paddled right under it as it purched in a tree above...

.....you don't forget sights like these!!

....or these.

....we approach Council Rock where Indians gathered to knap flint into arrowheads at about the same time Christ was walking the shores of Galilee. The top of Council rock is strewn with flint chips all brought there by Indians.

...the stone wall was built at the base of the rock to accomodate mules pulling the canal boats through here.

...we head into port under the Toboso Bridge...

...happy for having had a beautiful, interesting, eventful afternoon.

So I Got Up This Morning......

.....and the first hard frost of the season had deposited a layer of ice on the fish bird bath.....

Loving fall as I do, I decided to go to the top of the highest hill in the area (as can be seen just above the Pleasant Chapel Church steeple) and check out the Valley from a different perspective.

....a view of the Licking Valley....

...a view toward our house......

......our house (just to the right of the church steeple obscured by our big oak tree) from the hill top.

....and of course I couldn't resist this perspective on the horses down the road!

Today After Church We Decided to Go To Dawes

Jennifer, Bill and Pat enjoyed lunch by the lake......

.....some time for warm hugs in the cool crisp October air.....

....then lots of scenes and pictures of the most beautiful natural paintings on the planet......