Mushroom stomping...

When I was a kid my siblings and I enjoyed stomping on puffballs to make them "smoke" (release their spores). Mama always told us not to, but I don't think we were doing any harm. We were just speeding up a natural process!

I suppose I'm still a kid at heart because, at age 52, I still enjoy stomping puffballs! We've had a lot of them this Fall, especially in the front yard. Yesterday I noticed this one near the chicken pen. It's pretty much lost all its spores, so stomping on it wasn't much fun.

Then I got lucky and found another one that still had plenty of smoky spores. After I was finished with it we'll probably have a field full of puffballs next year!

Puffballs are classified as Basidiomycetes and do not have a cap and gills. As a result, they need an external force to disperse their spores, a force I'm quite happy to provide!

It's my understanding that puffballs are edible, but since I am not an expert on wild mushrooms I'll stick to stomping them instead of eating them!

Busy as bees around here!

Today has been humming with activity...literally! There was the humming of my neighbor bush hogging his field behind us and the humming of farm equipment across the road and on the other side of the creek as farmers hurried to harvest the last of the cotton and soybeans. On our South side there was a bustle of activity as hay was loaded and taken off. Late this afternoon there was the drone of Army helicopters flying low overhead.

As you can tell, my dogs were busy as could be in the front yard playing with one another! Right now they're busy barking in the front yard, just letting the coyotes nearby know that they'd better not come up here!

I figure everyone was extra busy today because we're supposed to get heavy thunderstorms Monday night with a drastic drop in temperature accompanying the storms. If predictions are right we'll see our thermometers dip into the 30s for the first time this Fall. I can't wait to build a fire in the fireplace! There's nothing quite as cozy as a little fire crackling in the fireplace, or the smell of it wafting in the chill night air.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go round up some very loud dogs. I think they've been busy enough for one night!

Endings...

As I was sitting in my rocker on the front porch trying to finish the book I've been reading (Horns by Joe Hill) I looked up and noticed we had yet another spectacular sunset. Odd thing though...it was in the southern sky, not in the western sky! It's a phenomenon we've noticed here on more than one occasion, although it's usually to the east, not the south.

Whichever way it was, I sat and enjoyed the beauty of another day's end. I can't really say that I enjoyed the ending of my book however. I always feel this NEED to gobble up a good book and then feel sad that it's over when I finish. It's as if I didn't get enough and want the story to continue.

Last night I sat and wept because of something that happened in the book. I can honestly say this is a rare thing for me to do when reading a horror story. The only other book in this genre I can recall making me cry was Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz. Silly of me, I suppose, but what can I say? I'm a cry baby!

Finishing a book also leaves me feeling at odds...I'm not sure what I want to read next. I need a day or so to mull over this book before moving on to a new one.

Any suggestions?

Was I missed?

Last week was a long one, but the hard work paid off and we made over $3000 on our annual yard sale. My brother (as usual) made the most, but I made more than I did last year so I'm happy!

I'm also happy to be home and it seems I might have been missed. My little dog, Aislinn, has been getting in my lap to nap...something she didn't do before I left. The other dogs were all wiggling and giving me kisses when I got home Monday night and Don was waiting in the driveway to give me a hug when I got out of the truck!

This morning Don brought me the lovely wildflower bouquet above. It's a mix of Joe Pye Weed, Calico Asters, Goldenrod, brilliant red Sumac leaves, Brown-eyed Susans and a white flower I haven't been able to identify. I'm not handy with flower arranging so I just put this bouquet in a vase just the way Don brought it to me. I think it is gorgeous and love having a bit of Autumn in the house to enjoy.

Personally, I think Autumn has just as pretty a display of flowers as Spring does with all it's golds, reds and purples, which are some of my favorite colors (red being my absolute favorite). I also love the way Autumn paints the leaves on the trees with reds, rusty browns, gold and yellow colors. All this glorious color set against a bright blue sky is just breathtaking.

I hope you get a chance to go out and enjoy this time of year. Soak it up...it's fantastic!

Fifteen miles of bargains...

Imagine, if you can, this yard covered in STUFF and I don't mean that white stuff! Tomorrow I am headed for Alabama to help out at the 6th Annual County Road 93 Yard Sale in the Pebble Community (between Haleyville and Double Springs). The big event is Friday and Saturday, Oct. 7-8th.

Every year for the past six years my brother, sister and I congregate at my mom's house and set up a HUGE yard sale with something for everyone. One of our customers last year said we were the "Wal Mart of Yard Sales" and I guess we are since we have everything from A-Z.

It's a lot of work, but it's also a whole lot of fun. My mom really enjoys having all her kids there and we have a lot of laughs. It's also quite profitable. If I remember correctly we made around $3000 in two days last year!

Of course, I won't be posting all next week...sorry! However, if you're in the north Alabama area come on out to find a bargain and say "Howdy"! I'll be set up next to one of those big magnolia trees doing my yearly cashier job.

For more information (and a map) go to http://www.pebblecommunitycenter.com/. Hope to see you there!

Best buds...

As I sit here at the computer desk Aislinn and Possum are having a grand old time. It looks like our two newest family members are going to be best buddies!

It has always amazed us how the newest addition is always taken under the wing of the addition just prior to them. It's happened since the first two dogs we had...Huck and Becky and has progressed on down the line to Caoilainn and Aislinn. Now it looks like Aislinn is going to take Possum under her wing and show her the ropes!

I can't recall this ever happening between dog and cat before, but perhaps that's because Aislinn is more cat size than dog size!

Oh well, it's all fun and games until someone gets her nose pinched in the crate bars (Aislinn is now pouting in her own crate)!

It's cotton picking October!

On my way to the grocery store this morning I noticed that cotton picking as begun around here. We don't grow cotton on our place, but are surrounded by fields of cotton, soybeans and corn. Once all the cotton is picked the local farmers will harvest soybeans (corn was harvested in September).

One year I picked up a twig of cotton that had fallen off a trailer onto our driveway and sent it to a friend in Virginia. She's never seen a cotton field, or raw cotton and was very intrigued. She even shared it with her niece and nephew who took it to school for show and tell. I also sent some to a friend's son in California as he was doing a report on Mississippi and needed some "authentic Mississippi cotton" for his visual display.

Cotton is the third largest crop in Mississippi, with approximately 1.1 million acres planted in cotton each year. By the way, Mississippi has 30, 020, 454.4 acres of land. Obviously Mississippi isn't one big cotton field from Tennessee to the Gulf of Mexico!

The fields are very pretty in summer when the plants are green and even prettier this time of year when the cotton bolls open up fully.  From a distance it looks like there's snow on the fields! On my way home for the grocery store I slowed down to snap the picture above of the field across the road from us. Isn't it pretty?