Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween Everyone!

I just could not resist posting a few pictures.

 It was a very chilly morning so we had the first fire of the season.

(We have been ready for awhile)

 Can't have Halloween without our Witch.

 And a spooky black cat,

 A glowing jack-o-lantern,

 What's this, a ghost in the yard?

Have a spooktacular evening!

Kat

p.s. the contest runs till Wednesday, scroll down to the previous post for the rules.

Cat Napping

All this talk about contests, 

gave Spontaneous an idea.

She is entering a cat napping contest at 

Kats Kats News 

(There sure seem so be a lot of cat lovers out there named Kat).

I think she has an excellent chance.

Don't forget, my contest goes till next Wednesday.

You can follow me,

leave me a comment,

or send me an email.

Have a great Nap,

Kat

& 

Spontaneous

Day trip part three, produce stands and home. Contest!

Almost forgot,

we stopped for a picnic lunch before our walk on Heintooga Round Bottom Road

(Don't you just love that name)

We had home made bran muffins with peanut butter.

We headed home after our lovely walk. 

We stopped at a produce stand on the way back down the mountain.

 Isn't this a great harvest display?

There are several stands and each is a little different.

 They have beautiful pumpkins

Some with nice twisty stems.

 An assortment of gourds.

Some of these are quite fantastic.

 There were several different kinds of apples on offer.

We bought some King Lush,

 and some Arkansaw Black apples.

They are organically grown.

They were selling several kinds of grapes too and you could smell them.

 Inside the place is an antique / stuff store.

It is choc-a-block with things.

Here we have an old telephone,

a fire truck peddle car,

and gallons of cider.

 Anyone need an old mountain still?

Just look at this place,

my Mom would have loved it!

 A display of canning jars on window shelves.

 One of the kind gentlemen working at the stand saw me taking photos

and suggested I walk around out back.

This is the view.

 From a different angle.

 This old sign sits out back.

Notice the bird with twirly wings on top?

Just so you know,

I could go for everything on the sign,

except the boiled peanuts.

No thank you!

The last bit of enjoyment for the trip?

German apple pancake made from the King Lush and Arkansas Black apples.

Guess what I am having for breakfast this morning?

Don't forget the contest folks,

It goes till next Wednesday.

I really would like to know who looks at my posts,

and what you think of them.

There are three easy ways to enter the contest.

1. Follow me,

2. If you are already a follower, leave me a comment,

(You can comment on any post between now and Wednesday, I will give one entry per comment)

3. If you do not wish to follow or leave a comment,

send an email too 

akatscorner@aol.com

tell me what you think.

Can't wait to hear from you,

Cheers,

Kat

Day trip part 2, awesome autumn, 300th post and a contest.

Since this is my 300th post,

I figured it should be a special one.

I think this set of photos is one of the best I have ever posted,

I hope you will agree.

Sit back and enjoy the walk,

can't you just hear the crunching leaves?

when we are done, I will tell you all about my contest.

 Heintooga Round Bottom Road

This is one of our favorite places to walk at any time of year.

I have posted photos from here before.

It is located just off the Blue Ridge Parkway

and it has to be one of the most beautiful places to look for Autumn.

 Here you can see why they call it the Blue Ridge.

I took this one on the way to Heintooga, but it was too pretty not to share.

 When we called before scheduling our trip,

the nice lady told us that the leaves were not as good this year

because the recent storms brought many leaves down early.

I do not agree with her.

 Everywhere you look,

there is beauty.

 My Sweet Husband agrees with me.

Where the trees are bare,

it just provides contrast.

 See what I mean?

In this case,

Nature is the poet.

 We have driven this road,

but usually we just park either at the top,

or if we have time along the way.

Then we walk,

(not the entire 14 miles!)

 Awesome,

When was the last time you really thought about the meaning of the word "Awesome".

It is for something that literally fills you with Awe.

(Did you notice, the leaf in flight)

 Yellow.

 Gold.

 Branches to frame the scenery.

 What will we see just around this bend,

and the next one.

It just keeps getting better.

 A crown of glory!

 Orange.

 Hillside color.

 A little higher up.

 Early evening shadows.

 Evening color.

 Looking up.

 Looking into the distance.

Autumn Red.

With all these photos,

I still need to post one more blog to cover that glorious day.

I promised to tell you about the contest.

I want to see who all is reading my blog.

This is a very simple contest,

all you have to do to enter is follow me.

If, you are already a follower,

just leave a comment on either this post or any subsequent posts between now and next Wednesday.

If you comment on more than one post,

I will give you an extra entry.

There will be a prize package.

I am not going to tell you what is in it yet,

but I think you will like it.

Spontaneous won't tell me what she thinks of this idea,

She is busy.

Cheers,

Kat

Don't forget to enter by next Wednesday.

Autumn day trip.

Sometimes, living in the country offers surprises.

The other morning

(well actually a week or so ago, but I am getting a little behind)

I walked past the kitchen window

I say something not right out of the corner of my eye.

I stepped back and looked again,

sure enough, something was not right.

   The big old oak behind the house lost a limb.

You can see it here in front of the elm.

It is as big as some trees.

  Here you can see where it broke off.

The limb is much to big for us to move.

We will have to have our "tree guy" out.

  Now we return to our regularly scheduled blog post.

All Aboard!

The Great Smokey Mountain Railway.

Part one of our day trip to the mountains.

  Any tour of the South should include a bit of Kudzu.

 Fontana Lake as seen from the train.

  Our train stopped at the Nantahala Outdoor Center.

(Remember our rafting trip last year?)

 Duck.

My Traveling Companion. 

Going round the bend.... 

Doesn't this place just inspire stories?

Seen from the window as the train went by. 

 I will close with that for now.

Hope you enjoyed the ride.

Next Stop,

Harvest goodies and a walk in the mountains.

Cheers,

Kat