New sign in Morris and more Fall color

Morris Fire Department got a couple new signs they look nice. The trees are getting more color by the day. I took a couple of pictures from the top of my hill. I would say we are at about 30 percent. I would expect 50% color by the weekend with the peak sometime the following week.

Mostly Maples and Cherry trees have changed. The oaks are starting here and there. The Larches are still green. Seems they are the last to go. The bears are starting to eat the apples. I noticed some applesauce piles on my walk today. This means if I want apple pie I need to make haste picking some for me before they eat them all.









The smell of leaves (not burning ones) is in the air and the sound of crunching as you walk is pleasant to the ears. The ferns are also changing yellow and then brown. Soon there will not be any reminder of the green blanket that covers the mountains with during the summer.

I am back working a small amount mostly supervising others and picking up materials. The day is still much longer than my back has a mind to feel good, but I am sure in a month or so it will be much better. I am limited to 30lbs of lifting so that leaves out several of my tools.

Mountain girl, Paula enjoying the view and logging out!

Fall in Cedar Run

This summer has been so dry I thought I would get a picture from the old train bridge just North of Cedar Run. It is now part of the rails to trails and is shown in the first picture.

The second picture shows the creek bed close to the bridge so dry you could walk across most of the creek. The third picture is looking downstream from the bridge and shows the poor water level continuing.

Last night we got our first decent rain in months, which gave some relief to the plants. I didn't notice much of an increase in the river level. I swear you could almost hear the sound of the trees slurping up the water as fast as it came down. I believe we got a couple inches of rain. Looks like a chance of rain during a couple days next week and that will continue to help things out.

Lee and I were also invited to Brad's house for dinner last night. He had his friends over: David to the far left, Walt, me, Lee and
Brad. Lee cooked a peach pie and some summer squash and the boys cooked up some nice chicken, a salad, and some mixed vegetables. We had a good time visiting and enjoyed the company.

The leaves by my estimate are about 20 percent changed. The next couple weeks will show the big display before the gray of winter. I always enjoy natures last good show.

Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.

Fall and Construction

Across from the house is this beautiful Cherry tree that has just turned red. I took a picture of it the other day when it wasn't raining. It started raining last night...thank goodness for we have had a long dry spell. I am going to try and get some more pictures of the trees changing to show you where our color is at. It varies quite a bit from one side of the mountain to the other.

Our peace and quiet was broken all week with road work on Leetonia Rd. They are putting down 6 more inches of gravel and doing work on the culvert in front of the house. The constant dump truck traffic is not a welcome sound in the mountains. The dogs however seem to enjoy visiting with the workers as they arrive each morning. The "vicious Pit Bull", is
ruining the mean reputation of all Pit Bulls by his eager noiseless greeting, followed by his insistence of being petted by all workers. To tell you the truth I have never owned a Pit Bull that was at all protective against people. They don't care much for other animals invading their turf, but they love people. Scooter is just as lovable and they both push each other away for a simple pat in the morning.

I always think it is so funny that people are scared of Leo the Pit Bull, who is the biggest baby in the world. But it is nice to have a dog that you don't have to worry about biting people and yet still has the same effect of keeping people who don't belong here from poking around.

If it don't rain all week they should be done with the road and that will be a welcome return to silence for the Mountain Girls. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

First day of Fall

Today is my 200th post since I started this blog a little over a year ago. It is also the first day of Fall and as you can see the trees are starting to change a little. Looks like the apples will be ripe in the next week and I am looking forward to apple pie. We are down to a couple of hardy hummingbirds who still seem to be at the feeders. Lee is taking them down as they are emptied to pack away until next year. It is always sad to see them go.

Good news on the healing front. I got my brace off last Thursday!
The first couple days were rough. My back and stomach muscles are gone and without support for my back it gets tired fast. The doctor was confident I could rebuild the muscles with my exercises and said I should be back to 100% work by December. I am doing a few hours of work a day, but I get tired fast and am not allowed to lift more than 30lbs. The lack of exercise added about a pound a week so I also have some work in that area as well.

Scooter and Leo have been energized with the cooler weather and I have to say it is a relief not to be sweating so much. Too bad it wasn't like this when I had that hot brace on. I pretty much missed the summer of 08 and plan to be much more careful as to not miss anymore time.

The creeks are the lowest I've seen in a long time. It seems we have missed all the big rains. The creek along our house is dry and you can walk across Pine Creek almost anywhere. There is no rain in sight for a week so relief is not close. Enjoy the first Fall view and have a great Leetonia day. Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.

September Moon

After a violent night of wind storms and loss of power today. The moon rose over the mountains. A full moon up here is amazing. It is like someone turned on a large streetlamp outside. You can walk anywhere without a flashlight and see amazingly well.

On a night without a moon you best have a flashlight. I have had to walk long distances twice without light and it wasn't easy. The first time it was from my neighbor's house a mere quarter mile away. I had talked longer then the sun wanted to stay up and was rewarded with a shuffle home. I couldn't see my hand in front of my face or tell were the road was. My son was with me at the time and we both slide our feet down the gravel road and reached in front of us hoping not to feel anything furry. It wasn't until we were within a hundred feet of the house light that we could see a thing.

The second time happened to me in the winter about 3 years ago. After becoming stuck in the snow for the 6th time. I decided to walk home and get the snowmobile to bring the groceries home. Our car had driven fine on the road when it was below freezing but the warmer temps had made it break through the crust to the 12 or more inches of snow and hang up. I knew it would refreeze tomorrow and come out easier(and it did). But neglecting to have a flashlight in the car gave me a three mile walk in the dark with my dog, whom I only felt brush me now and then(at least I hope that was him). The snow on the road reflected just enough I could see it. That was a one long cold walk in wet clothes. No moon that night.

To me seeing the moon gives me comfort and hope. And when the world around you seems to fall apart, I hope it gives you comfort as well. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Flowers of the forest

It seems this time of year as we know leaves will fall and flowers fade. Each late blooming flower becomes even more special. I noticed this flower along the edge of the road as I walked and looked it up. It is called, "Closed Gentian", which explains why the flowers don't open up. I kept thinking it might open at night, but this is all it offers.

Although, I will say the blue is very deep and quite a contrast to the surrounding green. The herb book says the roots of Gentian are used as bitters to aid in digestion. The roots are dug up in the fall dried and used in a tincture.

There isn't a plant around here that doesn't have a purpose, but knowing which to use for what can be a tricky proposition for the beginner and mistakes can be fatal. Like mistaking the honeysuckle berry for elderberries will end your herbal career. So much of this knowledge has been lost to our grandparents and elders who understood what to eat and what not to eat. There is a lady in Mansfield, who literally fed her family for years off what she could find in the forest. She didn't do this as an experiment, but out of need to eat and was quite successful. I wonder how long I could go if I could only eat plant things I found in the woods? It is definitely food for thought. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

September pictures

Just thought I would share a few fun pictures I took today. As you can see Scooter has gotten much bigger than Leo. They love taking a walk with me even though they can go anytime. They only go when I take them.
The next picture is some pretty blue flowers. Sorry I don't have the name right now. Guess I should have looked it up before I posted. And the last picture is one I take quite regularly from the top of our hill.

The view down the valley towards Leetonia and Cedar Run. There are a few trees changing colors, but as you can see not many. It just finished raining as I went up to the top and it feels cool. It is supposed to be dry tomorrow, but only in the lower 60's. After being in the 80's that will feel cool. If this were after winter 60's would be sweltering. Enjoy the view and have a great Leetonia day. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.