The other morning this was all that was left as color on our burning bush hedge. I think the colors have intensified with the frosts we’ve had the past week. It was grey outside so the leaves took on their own persona. Pretty.

Early morning shadows on the back deck.

Our weather station was not recording rainfall amounts anymore after more than 15 years of hard service. It drove us crazy not knowing how much rain we got this past week. So, for Christmas we bought a new one. It was supposed to be saved and wrapped and put under the tree but we just couldn’t stand it any longer. Rick got it installed yesterday. Here is Sam having fun with the box. Sam does love his boxes!

Our turkey came out looking and tasting wonderful! In fact, our whole meal was one of the better Thanksgiving feasts we’ve ever tasted.

Bella and Alex thought the turkey looked awfully good too! Mom, are we getting any?

Our weekend weather is supposed to be glorious—sunny and in the 60’s so we are thinking Ms. Mia is definitely going for a drive. It might be the last chance for weather this incredible. After that it can snow a little if it wants to get us all in the Christmas mood.

We still need to run Johnny over the yard one more time for a final leaf pick-up, then he can be switched out to the snowblower. Right now it’s hard to imagine!

I hope you enjoy your day and your Thanksgiving feast today, not matter what you choose to eat! “My” turkeys showed up this morning for their Thanksgiving feast! Aren’t they cute?

I am at a loss for blogging at the moment, so I would like to redirect you to hubby Rick’s site and his stunning photo of an immature bald eagle we saw on our walk two weeks ago near Monksville, Reservoir.
Follow this link.

My neighbor Aileen’s pig, Ollie, that is. You remember meeting him last month, right? He’s so darned cute! Her little granddaughter made this sign for Ollie’s summer house. See the little curled-up pig tail on the “O”? Trouble is, Ollie doesn’t have your normal curled-up pig tail—his is straight as can be and it wags all the time like a dog’s.

I took Rick over to meet him two weeks ago so he’d stop making jokes about getting both eggs & bacon from our neighbors. He understands now how special Ollie is.

He comes running when Aileen calls him, grunting and making little piggy oinking noises the whole way. Just don’t try to pick him up. He squeals, well, like a pig!

Mary-Anne the sheep shares Ollie’s summer home and doesn’t understand why all the fuss over a stupid pig! Look at me, she says, at least you get wool from me! What does he do to deserve all this attention?

Aileen’s chickens lay wonderful eggs and I am totally spoiled getting fresh eggs when she has them. She recently “weeded” out the old chickens and the roosters so one chicken house is empty now. Ollie will move in there for the winter so he can have a heat lamp. I’m thinking Mary-Anne is saying “good-riddance to that hammy pig!” (multiple puns intended)

Although we had roosters right next door we hardly ever heard them. Not so with our neighbors two houses down from us. They have chickens too. And very noisy roosters. It starts at 4:00 a.m. and goes until 6:00 a.m. Right now we still have the bedroom window open some so there’s no avoiding him. It’s not your normal cock-a-doodle-do. If it was it might not be so bad. But this rooster sounds like it either has a sore throat or something stuck in it. Every few minutes it lets out a croaky rendition of the old cock-a-doodle-do. It’s not pleasant at that hour of the morning and it makes me cranky. I keep threatening to go down there and make coq au vin out of him.

We may have been cheated on the most of the trees’ autumn foliage, but the burning bushes didn’t get the same message to tone it down this year. I’ve taken photos here before of them, but this year they just seemed to be everywhere, and spectacularly so! All the following photos were taken on Thursday of this week.

These trees all seem to be wearing bright pink tutus.

 

 

A few of the maples didn’t get the message about toning it down either.

Underneath the big red maple that stands so majestically by the road.

And this one by the old falling-down house.

 

The Ironworks park is not only a very beautiful place, but interesting as well because of the old houses and outbuildings they rescued from the destruction of the old community that used to be here when the ironworks were still in operation. The whole area has a strange feel to it, as if there are still people living there. It can be eerie. They still use them as a backdrop for their re-enactments of the Civil War that they put on every year. (Follow the link for photos of the re-enactments that I took in 2008.)

Some of the outbuildings are in a sad state of repair, like this old shed. I liked it though. I tried several different angles to capture its air of neglect.

Looking out its only window.

And this old chair left sitting forlornly on the front porch of the big white house.

The shadows are deep and strong this time of year because of the angle of the sun. Here, a tree imprints itself on this old house.

More shadows.

This is my favorite of all the houses. I love the location where it sits and the big old sycamore tree that frames it. I love the stonework!

The old outdoor fireplace on the house grounds. As you can see, plenty of autumn color here!

The house’s location is enhanced even more by a small branch of the Wanaque River that now flows freely past it and down in to Monksville Reservoir instead of being harnessed to power the ironworks. A serene and beautiful spot in which to imagine living, don’t you agree?

And, so concludes our little walk to Long Pond. I’ll leave you in a ‘reflective’ mood with reflections in the reservoir.

Note: A little snippet of local history! The name “Long Pond” does not refer at all to Monksville Reservoir which was constructed back in the 1970’s, but to Greenwood Lake, a little further away. Long Pond came from the word the native americans used to refer to what is now called Greenwood Lake.