Jake made it to the top of Twin Peaks on Sunday (not the sunniest of days, unfortunately)

How to fell a tree....

Cut a wedge.

Cut through the back side.

Then stand back!

Then the clean up work begins.

After:

Then it's split and stack, split and stack, split and stack...

When you heat with wood, it warms you many, many times.

This is how they displayed art work in our room at the Omni hotel in Dallas. I thought my forum friends might find it interesting. I hope the pix is right side up for everyone, even holding the iPad in the correct manner doesn't guarantee anything when posting.

I spent a couple of nights with a friend from BC in Seattle this week. Since it's only about an hour or 90 min from me, I seldom spend the night or do touristy things. But I've been wanting to visit the new Chihuly Garden and Glass display in Seattle, so we did. She took these pics with her iphone, since I didn't remember my camera. There is no way any picture can capture the magic and grandeur of this art. Each room (and sculpture outside) is prettier and more spectacular than the last. I'll post a couple and if there is interest, I'll post a few more.

Okay, now I want a goat pot, too.

Under this blanket is my French bulldog, who wanted to sleep in one chilly morning last week.

Our public television channel has run a program on Chihuly and how he creates those wonderful sculptures. Its amazing to see a behind the scenes of not only his work, but how they are put together. He is quite a character. Love his work. Oly, feel free to post more.

last hurrah...

I picked up this plant kind of late in the summer, as a total impulse buy, because I couldn't resist the vibrancy of the flowers. It was difficult to photograph because it almost glows. Well, it has bloomed and bloomed and is just now showing signs that it's going to slow down because of the rain and cold. I'd never seen it before - it's a globe amaranth.

I love the shadows in the fall. Even though this picture is from two years ago we just had a weekend like this and I was a little sad I couldn't get back out into the woods to take a few more pictures.

jstell2008, my family loves the Black Hills! We've been out an average of once a year for over ten years and I went at least three times as a kid. My husband and I used to lead geology field trips there for our university. And my daughter hiked to the top of Harney Peak the day before she turned 5! She was a rock star.

How did the big storm in October affect you? We have friends with a sunflower farm near Presho and it was devastating.

Fall bouquet. Mostly antique roses and TX natives. Best part....DH went out and cut them all for me in preparation for having some friends over. I might make a gardener out of him yet ;-)

Keep up posting your fall photos it is full blown winter here with 6" of snow.

A friend borrowed the curtains in our spare room for a play and I broke my foot I have to sleep with my shoe on so sleeping in there. I woke up to northern lights in the big dipper I never see northern lights I go to bed too early. So here they are junky pic through the window on an underwater camera.

countryatheart, beautiful photo.

clblakey, you can juuuust make them out!

Central Park, NYC:
{{!gwi}}

I pulled out this old photo of my dad. He passed away ten years ago and I miss him still and will always miss him. It was Veterans Day yesterday and he was in the Air Force for 20 years until he retired. This is an old photo of him being silly. He was often silly and very funny. Thought I would share.

Thanks, akt. Your dad looked like a fun guy.

Vet's day and this recent typhoon reminded me of the hair-raising story Dad told us of the time he was in the typhoon in the Pacific during WWII. He was at sea on a barge that had broken loose from the ship that was towing it...the cable having literally snapped because of the tension as the ship went up one wave while the barge went down the other. The cable pulled so tight that as it snapped up out of the water, he said it actually rang. Unbeknownst to him, they were able to continue tracking the barge on radar, and when the eye of the storm came, they reconnected with a rope that was so heavy and so long that it survived the 2nd half of the storm.

When they made it to shore, he saw the aircraft carrier with the flight deck completely folded down by the power of the waves. Amazing!

Oly, Globe Amaranth are super easy to grow..they also get bushy, and they make the best cut flowers ever. Cut them before a freeze and they'll last indefinitely.

Remember to plant them next Spring, (full sun) & they'll be your garden show stopper!

Annied & aktillery, great stories & pix on Veteran's Day. Thanks for sharing.

Awm-thank you.
Atk and annie-great pictures and stories.

Oakley, thanks! I just have never seen them in the PNW before. A friend has a greenhouse and starts plants for us, so I'm going to get some seeds online and see if she'll give them a try.

Geokid, we had about three feet of snow on 10/3, the most ever in October. We lost a lot of trees and were snowed in for a few days with 8 ft drifts. The city will be cleaning up the tree debris until late December. All the leaves were on the trees, which made things worse. We had huge pine trees just snap in half. The ranchers were devastated by losses to their cattle, and even horses. Glad you enjoy the Black Hills. Harvey Peak is a great hike. I don't think most people know the beauty of this area. Most think SD is perfectly flat........

Yesterday at Arlington National Cemetery. Wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Error

This post was edited by jstell2008 on Tue, Nov 12, 13 at 22:53

Stray tom cat decides the library furniture is good enough for him.

Schoolhouse - he must feel very safe there to be so relaxed. What a sweetie!

Happy Veterans Day (a day late) to all the veterans on GW. And thank you for your service to all of us.

This is a picture my husband took in Vietnam in 1970. He was a young pilot then, and during this tour he flew the CH-54 Skycrane. During other tours he flew the infamous Huey and the Cobra gunship. He survived a year in Korea at the DMZ, and 2 tours in Vietnam. He was shot down a few times, and we are so blessed he came home to us...he is our hero.

I haven't followed the last couple of these posts, but I'm loving the sweet pictures in this one. Wonderful pets, beautiful scenery, patriots. I'll have to go back to old posts to catch up on what I've missed.

Here's my contribution...morning sun through my old wavy glass windows reflected on the living room wall.

My DH's latest project. I must say I am proud of what he's done. The project is not finished, but he wanted to get it to a point where he could test it before winter. We will finish it up and do the plantings around it in the spring.

Wow, that's a lot of work!

The angle of the pic is very escher...it almost looks like the water is running up!

Jstell...wow....waterfalls in your yard....I wish!

arlosmom, how cool to have wavy light shining in your house everyday. May we see the old wavy glass windows?

jstell, that's beautiful. I'm impressed with your husband's work.

Lovely photos!

Schoolmom, your stray looks like ours who then had kittens. We kept two of them and we have a dog. Just snapped this cute photo.

Sweet.

jstell2008 that is a fantastically impressive homemade waterfall and stream

Thanks for all the nice comments. I will tell my husband about them. My husband began this creek and waterfall project as something to do and keep himself occupied after his younger brother passed away in July. It was good therapy for him to have something so demanding to do to keep himself busy.

Jstell, that is just fantastic! Your husband has done a wonderful job, and I can only imagine a peaceful, contemplative place when completed.

Loved seeing all the tributes to our veterans. Thanks for those photos of family memories and stories. And the kitties are so cute!

Jstell your husband is really talented! LOVE the project, and he has saved you a pile by doing the work himself!

They took out all the grass and 25 year old shrubbery yesterday.... It is waiting for new plants today! We are using Yuletide camellias on either side of the front porch and the same espaliered on the brick column on the house side.in front on the house side. At each setback in the façade we will have a Nellie B Stevens holly, boxwoods under the windows and yews in front. The bed will be strawed with long leaf pinestraw, which will extend out about three feet from the yews to form walkways to the side and back yards. Where the pine straw ends, there will be a ground cover (pachysandra most likely) in an undulating curved area to the retaining wall.

This struck me as funny. I'm in the ER with my Mum and noticed the supply cabinet. I don't see any Aeron chairs around here, I'm in some horribly uncomfortable thing while she has X-rays.

A sunny spot to contemplate life.

jstell2008, your dh did an amazing job with the stream and waterfall. I'd like to see more of it. It's so hard to make those look natural, or as natural as a man made stream can look.

texanjana, did you go to Turkey with a tour? A friend of mine leads a tour a couple of times a year. She spent a year in Turkey as an exchange student in high school and really connected with her family and the country.

Hhireno, what a funny thing to notice, lol! Hope your mum is all right.

kswl, how exciting -- new landscaping! Looking forward to the After pics.

schoolhouse, that is a contemplative scene.

To all of you out there that have a birthday today

Slice of life........more like ......"our cups runneth over".
Every snapshot is such a marvel.
Just when I think I have seen the best........along comes another.
This could have been named these [ Are The Days Of Our Lives ]!!!!
jstell...is that the view in your back yard? It looks like you live in paradise. Your husband is a keeper. Beautiful.

Babies and animals. I am still smiling.

My 8 yr old GD was in a wedding in Sept.
Here she is getting her groove on at the reception.
Notice the tennis shoes.
All of the maid's of honor wore the blue dresses and those tennis shoes (during the wedding).
My GD was prettier than the bride :)

Martia8. I can't take anymore pictures right now, my husband just drained the water from the creek this am. Will take more in the spring. Thanks for all the nice words.

Citiwoman. Yes, that is the view from our backyard. It is very peaceful and the creek will make it more so. Already planning where to put a hammock...... My husband is very skillful and his projects almost always turn out great, lol

DH ten days out of hip replacement surgery. We are walking to strengthen the muscles & to get the body working together again. He's up to 3/4 of a mile, then comes home & ices the hip.

Awm03, good for your DH getting out and doing his walks! Badgergal and city, those girls are so cute. They grow up fast. My oldest DGD will be 14 this Sat!

Kswl, I meant to write earlier but I forgot where I saw your post. The Nellie R Stevens hollies will get pretty big. I'm sure you know that, right? Or is Nellie B a smaller variety? It will be beautiful with the camellias and yews. And it's exciting to start fresh with new landscaping.

I meant to post this a couple of weeks ago, but had forgotten I took it. On my walk into the woods, I came across a most sculptural piece of driftwood.

Schoolhouse, you take wonderful photos.

Arlosmom, so cool!

Annie, is it really driftwood?

Well that's what I call it...it's really an old root ball from a fallen tree.