Fall leaves

Aren't these leaves beautiful? Yes, and I'm pressing and drying them in a book right now. Not that I know what I'm going to do with them once they are dry!?

Aren't these leaves beautiful?? NOT!

They are in my yard and they are nagging at me to rake them up.

There are just a few leaves hanging on by a tenuous thread. I might as well let them all drop. We just had 3/4 of an inch of rain, so I need to let them dry so they are not so wet and heavy to rake. I'm not procrastinating or anything ;~)

Now before I go, I'll give you a peak at Roger's new grain trailer. I'm glad the search for that is over. I guess it has all the important features he was looking for...Ag hoppers, aluminum body, good tires, air ride, airconditioning, heated seats....you know you need to give those kernels a good ride! Oh wait, he said the heated seats weren't available, maybe next time....

A trip through Central MT

We went to visit Grandpa in his very pleasant new home.

Here's Grandpa and sons in the great room.

Family posed around Grandpa in his private room...

This is the home from the outside. It look like Grandpa will be comfortable here.

We hope he will be happy here too.

From Lewistown, we went on to Billings to attend the memorial service for Fred Wallis.

This is the front of the memorial folder. We were told there is a printing error on the front page...he was actually born in 1951 as it states in the obituary.

It was a very touching and fitting service for a wonderful man.

The music and the message from our three brother workers was beautiful.

Grandsons Page and Paedin found the courage to stand up before everyone and read the poem and a letter to their Grandpa. They and all the family will miss him so much and will need lots of courage and prayers and support.

Fred filled some big, big shoes. He had a wonderful testimony and his passing will leave a big gap.

We were really glad to spend time with my sister Anne, and her family before the service. Her family met with the Wallis family most every Sunday for many years, and will feel the loss very keenly as well. I was glad to hear from them, many stories about the kind of man Fred was....a man with a big heart and love for all.

Anne knows first hand what it is like to go on after the loss of her husband. She has done an admiral job of carrying on....carrying a huge load on her shoulders. She had recently been interviewed and her store photographed for an article in the Billings Gazette. It happened to come out in the paper the morning of Fred's service. There she was on the front page! I thought the pictures and articles were very nice. You can go here to have a closer look yourself.

I scanned these in from the copy of the paper we picked up in Billings. The reporter was so impressed that she mostly heats the store with wood, so they enclosed the fine picture of Loretta feeding the stove. Way to go Anne! We all think you are the best and are so proud of you.

Not a pretty sight

Our neighbors shop burned down Saturday evening. We really feel for them. We know how we would be feeling under the same circumstance. It's hard to tell if there was machinery stored in there or not. Their big tractor and air seeder and sprayer were not in it....we saw those parked apart from the damage. Thankfully, it was not a home and no one was hurt. I'm sure they are hurting inside though!

Roger and I were sitting in our den. Roger was reading. I was busy making a couple cards. We started noticing a lot of vehicles going by on the road past our house. That seemed strange. Sometimes there is a lot of traffic by here during harvest, but not on this country road on a Saturday evening. We stepped outside to have a look and could see flashing lights down the road, so Roger went to investigate. By the time he saw what was going on, he could tell the shop was going to be a total loss. Too bad!

My flowers were burned this last week too!

Not by fire, but by cold....very cold for mid October.

Where did the bees go? They were not swarming around these spent marigolds, that's for sure.

My roses are looking a little black on the edges, but they must be tough. They look like they fared better during the freeze than the annual flowers. Leaves are falling green off the trees. They didn't have time to slowly change colors, then fall. I hope it won't be hard on the trees!

Decked out for Fall

I love fall decor...

colored leaves and pumpkins....

a country welcome...

Indain Summer air....

and flower pots filled with fall mums.

My husband thought the mums looked like a bunch of glorified dandilions, though. "Why can't you just stick with roses?" Well, I love my roses, but mums and marigolds have their place too!

The bees are especially loving the marigolds. They look better this fall than they have all summer. I think next year I will amend the soil in the planter box with compost and stuff to make the soil lighter and richer. The blow dirt was plentiful and easy to get, but it didn't grow the best flowers this year. It sounds like this season is just about over...single digit temps are forecasted for mornings later this week! We have enjoyed our flowers and now it is time to enjoy the changing colors of fall.

This photo isn't from my yard, unfortunately. We recently saw some beautiful landscaping ideas on a recent home show tour.

We liked the waterfalls and the rock gardens...

ideas for 'someday'