Autumn Meanderings

Happy November!!  Please tell me... where did October go?

Is it me, or is there something magical about Autumn sunrises?  At this time of year, I love getting out of bed while it is still dark and heading out into the pre-dawn morning in time to see the fiery glow of the horizon as I work around the barnyard.  There's something about the warm hues cast by the rising sun on a clear morning, and the pastel hues seen on a cloudy morning that I find so inspiring.  Every morning, there is a new gift to unwrap... and every morning, it's a surprise!

With the Earth's axis now tilted away from the sun (in our hemisphere), the sun rises at a more southeasterly point, casting longer shadows and emphasizing textures.   The fiery glow makes for a more dramatic golden hour at this time of year.  All of this combines to evoke a feeling of awe... a pretty wonderful way to begin any day!

We've enjoyed a beautiful week, here on the farm, with temperatures rising by the day.

We take every opportunity to get out of the house and enjoy the land at this time of year... walks in the woods with the dogs...

and bike rides through the autumn countryside.

It's amazing how different our woods look this week compared to last week.  

There are far fewer leaves remaining on the trees, with the exception of the birch trees who seem to hold on to their leaves through the winter.  They slowly change from gold to a light shade of parchment by winter, and stay that way until spring blossoms loosen push winter remains.

There are also very few mushrooms left - and most of them have spread their spores and are drying up now.  Yesterday, we did find this white cheese polypore mushroom on a dead stump.  

If you've wondered what I mean by a polypore mushroom, it is simply this:  when you look at the underside of a mushroom, many have what are called gills - long pieces of mushroom flesh laid side by side from center to outer ring, around the entire circumference.  A polypore has hundreds of tiny pores instead of gills... making the underneath side look more like the surface of the moon!

After exhausting the dogs with a long woods walk, we grabbed our bikes and headed out to see the countryside...

And stopping to see some friendly neighbors along the way...

Everyone we stopped to see was quite curious about us... turning to try to figure out these two humans on wheels.

Oh, hello there!

It looks like someone doesn't want to miss his next meal!

Now that I've finished the current soap making batches, I thought I would use my leftover calendula infused oil (along with shea butter, mango butter, and organic beeswax) to make some solid lotion bars (they melt, slightly, into the heat of your hands).  I'll offer some of these with the next batches of soap if you are interested.