A GOOD BIRTHDAY

Sunday, November 15, (my birthday) broke sunny and truly beautiful!!  A gift to me from the very start.  Despite the unhealed broken toe which occurred on Sept. 16, two months ago, Freddie and I took a short 'hike' on our own property.  I would have loved to hike the Reserve but a longer hike was not in the picture for my toe, plus there was hunting on the Reserve which deters me.  Nevertheless, our property is stunning and varied, too.

One of our favorite places, hiking through our pine forest.  It is not unlike the quiet and majesty of a cathedral.

Just one of the views on our 207 acres.

This hike was filled with small wonders, nature's gifts...

Everywhere I turned there was something beautiful to capture the heart and the eye.

On the last leg of our journey we came across this tree, which I do not recall having noticed before...

I could feel the hug of the tree on the right, honestly it looked like such a loving gesture, and I accepted it openly.

Jonel, Andy and the girls had a birthday dinner for me...filled with good food, lots of love, and for this day, a blessing, Andy felt very good.

Hankering after a cheesecake, I made my own, along with some cupcakes for the girls.

What a gift they are to me!!

....and oh, the night included some real laughter as Grandpa tried to get out of this (Swedish) chair....

and the girls rushed to his rescue.  And as Grandpas everywhere do, he milked the situation until we were all in tears.

A wonderful birthday...I pray for another year of good health, much love, Andy's cure, and peace for this sweet young family.

HALLOWEEN AND ?HIKING?



These goblins came to my door on Halloween day...Quinn, Abe, Iris, and Elsa....

and to get ready for them I made bread pumpkins



...two little ones for Iris' 'boys'....

and bags of popcorn, plus two little ones for the 'boys'

The next day, a beautiful Sunday, was screaming at Freddie and I to take a hike.  I broke my baby toe on Sept. 16th at a very crowded County Fair...jostled in the group, toe pulled back




these being the only footwear that I can put on my feet...nice four-five inches across...



as

my baby toe looks like this, it is almost three times the size of my other baby toe.

So we tried to hike, just on our own property, which is actually quite beautiful,

and we came upon this tree which grows at the top of the hill to the north



 



we have been told by county foresters that this tree is upwards of 200 years old...a mighty oak!

and just before heading down to the house

this vista greeted us...amazing even after all these years.