If you didn’t know it was there you would completely pass by the tiny hole in the thick wall of trees. But I know it’s there. The opening to the Kingdom of the Thorn Queen. The path through the woods.

The Thorn Queen rules this particular section of woods. The minute I walk through the hole she reaches out her thorny fingers and plucks at my jeans as I attempt to walk by. Pluck, pluck, little girl. You’d better beware. You should behave here in my kingdom.

Today she only half-heartedly tries to stop me, whereas in the past she has drawn blood. She used to frighten me but not any more. I figure with all the blood I’ve given her over the years we should be blood sisters by now.

I continue on down the path, out of reach of her thorny grasp. Still, I am mindful to watch my ways. I sense that I am being watched as I make my way through the woods.

The temperature on this day is perfect. Not too hot; not too cool. Just right. The woods are turning but it seems slow this year. Many trees are still green yet the path underneath my feet is carpeted with spent leaves which give off the wonderful earthy smell of decomposing plant matter as I step on them.

I come out of the Thorn Queen’s Kingdom onto the road that leads down to the pond.

When I reach Green Turtle Pond there are just a few fisherman. A slight breeze ripples the surface of the pond. It’s quiet and peaceful.

I always forget about this cross until I come upon it again. I wonder if it’s a beloved dog that used to like going fishing with its master? Or is Austy a person that loved fishing?

Back up the road I go until it’s time to enter the Thorn Queen’s Kingdom once again. I reach the hole where the path ends and meets the main road. The Queen doesn’t care if I leave, so she keeps her thorny fingers to herself and I exit the Kingdom unharmed.

You just never know what is going to turn up next here. Life in the country.

The other day it was a doe deer and her fawn as I pulled in to the driveway at the bird feeding station in the front yard. Too bad I had the dogs with me who saw them as we pulled in. Sigh. I waited a while and went to shoo them away, but they were already gone. I let the dogs out of the truck right by the garage and thankfully they just went right in and didn’t pursue a chase.

Every morning Tom the Turkey and his sidekick arrive for their breakfast.  If I don’t pay attention, Tom will stand and look fixedly at the house. Where is my breakfast?? So I fill up the pail and make my way outside where Tom turkey-talks to me the whole time. His sidekick does not trust me and skitters off, whereas Tom stands his ground and we have a quick conversation. Turkey-style. Sort of quiet little gobbley talk, but not full-out gobbling.

Tom and friend

Late yesterday afternoon I noticed that he dogs were fixated on the neighbor Aileen’s yard. (Aileen is the neighbor who has chickens where I get my farm fresh eggs from, sheep and Ollie the Pig.) I went outside several times to figure out what they were looking at. I failed to see anything.

Then around the time it started to get dark I went outside on the deck and I could hear chicken clucking noises coming from the direction of the street. Totally opposite of where it should be coming from. I suspected Aileen was not home this weekend, so I called her. No answer. So I took off in my sweats and slippers like any good neighbor would do. I got to the top of our driveway and could hear the chicken making a racket.

There it was: a beautiful buff-colored hen sitting on their split rail fence clucking away. It spooked when it saw me and flew up into the tree. No way was I going to catch that bird!

I walked down their driveway to check on the chicken coops just to be sure the chickens weren’t all out running around loose. They were all tucked away in their respective coops, so all was good there. The sheep baa-ed and came over to see what I was doing. They all looked at me as if to say “what are you doing down here?” But sheep always have that wide-eyed surprised stare anyway, so who knows what they were thinking?

After a few pats on sheep noses stuck through the fence I headed for home. The chicken looked like it was asleep in the tree. I hope it stays safe. At least it was supposed to stay above freezing last night.

Ambiguous statue at Ringwood Manor.

What is the opposite of “going stag?” Doe? Bizarre how there is really no antonym for going stag when you’re female. Going doe just somehow doesn’t seem to have the same punch.

Hey, I went DOE to that party! Yeah, not the same.

But yet that’s where I find myself this weekend. Alone. Doe. Minus stag. Or whatever.

Rick is in New Orleans (trade show) eating those absolutely decadent, gorgeous, mouth-salivating Gulf oysters at the Acme Bar. I was never a fan of oysters until I ate them here. OMG. And Rick was eating them tonight. Without me.

Instead I am here holding down the fort. Three attention seeking dogs and one lonely cat. Hamburgers fried inside; mac & cheese on the side. Hardly the same.

Whatever.

I am pretty much prisoner this weekend. Our town is holding their annual ALF (Autumn Lights Festival) that snarls up traffic and bring tourism to our fair corner of the world. Roads are closed off. Sheer pandemonium. I did grocery shopping today because tomorrow I won’t be able to even get a spot in the parking lot at our local ShopRite.

If that isn’t bad enough, you might be led to believe that the Autumn Lights Festival refers to the beautiful changing of the leaves in our fair town. Au contraire, mon ami! It celebrates a traffic light in the middle of town! Hurrah! I know. When I found out what it was all about I was pretty bummed out too. They close off a major artery in town and fill it with food, booths and what have you.

I would normally go up to Warwick on Sunday to the farmer’s market but unfortunately this Sunday is AppleFest Day which is also immense crowds of people (we’ve been before and it’s not fun), so I am steering clear of there too.

What is a doe to do?

This has become our favorite little late afternoon drink on the weekends.

The “Autumn Evening”

1 oz. lemon vodka
1 oz. apricot nectar
1/2 oz. Cointreau
1/4 to 1/2 oz. vanilla extract, according to taste

Mix in a shaker. Pour over ice. Sprinkle with some cinnamon.

I know it might sound a bit odd, but oh my goodness, it’s GOOD!

My last post covered a delicious edible mushroom. The following mushrooms have also sprouted (or the proper term is actually fruited) over the past two weeks with all our rainy weather.

I don’t know what these are but I call them my ghost mushrooms because they are transparent. They grow in the mulch in the planting bed right under the front windows. They only last a few hours.

This type of mushroom grows in our compost pile of leaves and grass castoffs. I love how it’s veil is still partially attached.

There are a variety of mushrooms that fall into the polypore category rather than a true mushroom. I love them because they come in all colors. They fruit on dead wood and pop out literally overnight sometimes.

This one is called Turkey Tails.

Sometimes most of the tree can be consumed by hungry fungi, like this one.

I’m always keeping my eye out for interesting mushrooms every time I venture out into our yard and woods or on a walk. You never know what you might find!