Speechless, but feeling lucky, after the storm.

It has been a busy week.

I was off Monday and we spent the day goofing off. 

Monday night, a storm came in and it was a doozy.

We woke up Tuesday morning to find one of our old oaks, down across the driveway.

Good thing we were not planning on going anywhere in a hurry. 

 What a mess.

We were very lucky though.

If the wind had been blowing the other way, this tree would have taken out all three vehicles that were parked out front.

 See what I mean, we were not going anywhere in a hurry.

I told you we were lucky.

The tree guys were able to come out right away.

It took them quite a while to clear the way.

 Fallen giant.

This was such a lovely old tree.

We were much luckier than this guy.

I believe he is a former resident.  

After.  

We lost a ceder too.

Once again, we were lucky, it did not hit anything. 

The house lost a little trim too, but we were able to find all the pieces and it is already fixed. 

Just down the road where we walk,

two trees came down together.

I can't tell which one started it but they made quite a mess.

Our power went out during the storm and stayed out till late Tuesday evening. 

This interesting fellow was supposed to be my Wordless Wednesday post.

Check out that tail.  

Another interesting visitor.

I wonder what he will look like when he grows up. 

The dogwood is blooming! 

Flowers in the rock garden.

As for speechless, I lost my voice because of allergies.

My family who reads this will think this is quite funny as my Father always insisted the "Chatty Cathy" doll was named after me.    :)

Lucky for me, I have the next three days off and my Sweet Hubby says he will take care of me.

Cheers,

Kat

Wooly caterpillars

There is an old wives tale that says something about how if the woolly caterpillars are fat and furry, the winter is going to be a cold one. I don't know if this guy has heard that or not, but he is fine and fat and furry. Do you think we should go get some extra wood? Somehow I always associated caterpillars and butterflies with the spring. This is most certainly autumn and here they are. All these photos were taken within the last week or so.

We have had a bumper crop of butterflies lately. I have photographed three different species just on our road. The

orange and black is dressed up for the season. The midnight blue looks ready for a ball.

This part of South Carolina brings in the fall, ever so gently. It slowly sneaks up on you. I anxiously wait for the first yellow leaves then the first of the red. It is often cool enough in the mornings to snuggle up. Soon, it will be time to bring wood up and cut it for the fireplaces. My Sweet Hubby brought the afghans down from the attic. I love to stretch out on the couch under a cuddly throw. Anyone who knows me, will know that I

hate to be cold. I do, however, enjoy being just a little cool, IF I can cuddle. Spontaneous the cat is quite popular right now.

There are so many interesting things to photograph right now. Green has been our dominant color all summer, I am ready for change. I have photos of three different kinds of mushrooms from our walk the other day. Just this morning, as we walked out to the car, I spotted yet another kind, these have red and white caps. I did not stop to shoot as we were already running late. If they are still there, I will try to get them for next week.


These little puff balls look like some sort of confection (no
worries, I would never pick wild to eat, I am very protective of my own skin). The other two types really look like they should have fairy's near by.

These two posts have some good examples of what I mean.


http://akatscorner.blogspot.com/2008/09/hodge-podge.html

http://akatscorner.blogspot.com/2008/08/by-special-request.html
Maybe I will have to go fairy with my trusty little camera again soon (I still have great nieces that have not been turned into fairies yet and I want to make some paper dolls too).



After the mushroom photos, comes another great use for mushrooms, Pizza. No mushrooms on this, just pepperoni and lots of cheese. My Sweet hubby has the hand made stuffed crust down to an art form. Good stuff!

Below that is another great example we found at Earth Fair in Augusta. I read about it in Martha Stewart's Halloween Magazine. She recommends it for it's spooky appearance and even spookier name.
When I spotted the cheese, Jennifer, our favorite cheese guru let us have a taste and we were hooked. It is Morbier. The stripe is vegetable ash, I know, that sounds just a little odd, but you really should try it. Way back when they started making this cheese, families that did not have enough milk to fill the mold all at once would put the mornings milking in, then a layer of fine ash to prevent it from forming a skin. In the evening, they milked again and put the rest on top. Part of what makes it so interesting is the fact that the morning milking tastes different from the evening milking, so the two halves taste different. I think the story is kind of romantic. Can't you just see the little cottage with one cow in the back?
Last but not least, we have Jack o'lanterns on the steps. The Halloween decorations are up and I am already dreaming of pumpkin pie.