The Hills Are Alive With Color and A Days Outing

Today is a gorgeous day outside but it not to last.  Tomorrow it is suppose to be cold and rainy and possibly some snow by the end of the week.  What is wrong with this picture?  We don't get that awful stuff here that early, not until January, sometimes December, but not very often.  We don't know how to drive in that stuff.

Anyway, enough of that.  Our hills are beautiful with color.  We took a drive today out in the country and wound up at War Eagle Mill again.  We go there several times a year.  Here are some of the pictures from our area and also the War Eagle Mill area.  This is picture heavy.

These were taken on my way home from work one evening and some of them are from our yard and in our neighborhood.

From the parking lot

I took this while at a stop light. It is by the office.

House across the street

The next ones are of our outing today.

This was taken alongside the road.  The farmer hasn't hauled in his hay for the winter yet.

The colors behind this house have already been at their peak.  They are not as bright as some of the others.

Going down the road.

This family has a lot of wood cut for heating this winter.  Most of these homes are very rural and with the ice storm we had last January and being without power for 30 days, they are now prepared with lots of wood.  It is no fun being without power for that long.

One of the old abandoned closed businesses at Sharp's Farm by War Eagle Mill.

I posted about War Eagle last summer but here are some shots of it in the fall and some interesting views.

This brick pillar plus one more is all that holds up the bridge above.  It is a one lane bridge that is very old.  I don't like driving on bridges but this one is really scary.

The water wheel that powers the grist mill inside.

The fall decorations outside the mill.

The facilities.  It gets mighty cold in there in the winter time.

This is the restaurant on the 3rd floor of the mill.  They serve really good soups, sandwiches and cobblers.  We had lunch in there today.

You have to climb these 2 flights of stairs to get to the restaurant.  There are no elevators here, very primitive.

After lunch we headed home.  We snapped a few more photos on the way home.

I hope you have enjoyed fall in my part of the country.  It is very interesting to see other parts of the country and see your fall and color.

Everyone have a very blessed week.  Hopefully I will be back more often than I have been here lately.

Maxine

We Had A Great Time On Vacation

We got back from vacation late Tuesday afternoon and had a great time.  We took a bus tour around Lake Michigan and it was absolutely beautiful.  We have never taken a vacation like this so it was something totally new to us and we have never been up North either.

This is our bus driver and the bus we went on.  There was a total of 57 people on the bus.  This was the most patient man I have ever met.  He was so gentle with everyone.  We had several older individuals on the trip and he was really good with them.








The scenery was great and the leaves were beginning to change.  It was overcast the whole time and very cool.  Mackinac Island was so interesting.  Any place that doesn't have cars is very interesting.  Horse drawn carriages and bicycles or walking are the only modes of transportation.  Here are some pictures of places we visited.

This out building is at Sturgeon Bay, WI.  This area is called a miniature Cape Cod.  It is so pretty there and everything looks like it should be in the Northeast.

We had  lunch at this restaurant.  It is designed as an old English Inn.   The food was very good.

We had a fish boil one evening in Wisconsin.  It was with white fish that was caught that same day.  It was so good.  First the boil the fish, then douse the fire with kersosene and then the fire goes out.  In with the fish are potatoes and onions and it is served with rye bread, coleslaw and cherry pie.

This is after the kerosene is put on the fire.  The smoke then rises.

These are some of the waterfalls in Michigan.  This is such a pretty state.

They were beginning to get a lot of color and we were told this was the last week for the tourists up in the Mackinac area.

Here is some of the color we experienced. 

These are some photos of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.  I believe there are  around 86 rockers on the front porch.

The hotel has red carpeted steps leading up to it.

This is one of the taxi drivers that takes you down to the main part of town from the hotel.  We had lunch at the hotel and it was so delicious.  I believe this is the longest buffet I have ever seen.  All kinds of different foods and oh so good.  I do believe we all gained some weight.

It is back to work, as of today.  All good things must come to an end. 

I'll be back later.  Everyone have a great day.

Maxine

Fall Decorating and A Vacation

I have done some fall decorating and have taken a few pictures.  Here are just a few of them.  These are outside in the front.

This is the front of our house.   I didn'tdo much outside this year, so far.  I have lots of pansies to plant yet.  Our water feature was really pretty until a large dog decided he wanted to go swimming.  He really made the water cloudy but I guess he got cooled off.  It didn't make my husband very happy though.


These are just a few of the things I have done inside. Usually I do things differently than I did this year and I usually do a lot more but since we won't be home for awhile, I didn't do much.  When we get home, I will probably change a lot of things around and do something different; but for now, this will have to do.

This is my mantel. It looks so much better in person.  I have a terrible time trying to figure out what to do with my mantel.  Our home is not an easy one to decorate in the primtive style that I really like.  The garland is much more full than what it looks like too.

This is above our TV cabinet. 

This is in our entry way.  I have so many crocks and in different seasons I put different things in them.  I have some really large crocks and it takes a lot to fill them up.

This is the picture I have on my header.  The object behind the table is an old bread dough riser that came from an old bakery.

This is all I have for now.  We are leaving to go on a great vacation and we are both very excited.  We are going on a tour through Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and will wind up at Mackinac Island in Michigan.  I have never been to any of these states or any northern state for that matter.  I have been to New Hampshire for work.  That was in January several years ago and there was so much snow and it was so cold, it wasn't  even enjoyable for this southern girl.  We are just not use to that type of weather and don't know how to dress for it. 

When I get back from vacation, I will have many pictures to share.

See you in a couple of weeks.

Maxine