We were visited by a flock of wild turkeys. Well, they might be wild, but they were'nt very shy. They were intrigued with the cat, but she bolted when they came toward her.

They also liked to eat my flowers!

Barb and David watch them eat cereal in the driveway.

We went to Oak Harbor tonight, and I had some time to kill while waiting for one of the guys, so I took some nighttime shots. I like this one with a large van going by the parking lot.

I also liked this one of the empty parking lot - it looks so forlorn.

It's mushroom time again, but not nearly as many as we had last year! Right outside the house we have a big patch of Shaggy Manes.

So cheerful poking up through the grass in the early morning sun!

Pretty sunrise over the house this morning.

Playing with the macro lens and the cat - you know she just loves having a camera right in her face! Here she impersonates her nickname - "Evil Imp of Satan".

I decided to try a night shot from my car, showing what the headlights illuminate. This is our driveway, halfway to the house.

The fairies danced in the woods today . . . . well, I guess they're really some kind of insects which were milling around in sunbeams. They didn't look anything at all like fairies until I saw this photo . . . so I'm thinking they had put a spell on me so I didn't recognize them . . . but you can't fool a camera!!

Anyway, it was a pretty fall day, the poplar trees in my neighbor's driveway are so tall that the tops were still in the sunshine late in the afternoon.

While deep in the swamp, an old nurse log continues it's slow decline back to the earth, covered with mosses and ferns.

This is fairly typical of our fall - cloudy, but dry, with leaves beginning to turn. It was slack tide - the water perfectly still at high tide, right before it begins to go out. The homes along Bercot Road reflect in the stillness of Holmes Harbor.

OK, so this isn't my photo, but I was looking at the kids' "MySpace" pages, and Cory and his friends had a photo shoot with props. I loved this one!

It was gorgeous today, but started cold - we had almost-frost on the grass, mist rising where the early morning sun hit the ground, scattering the sun's rays.

So, of course, I headed for the dew encrusted spider webs shining in the sunrise.

We're due for a week of nice dry weather in the middle of October!

Who would have guessed?? A lovely sunset at Mutiny Bay reflects off the calm waters.

Somewhere . . . over the rainbow . . .
A big cold front blew through today, bringing rain and showers, and, at the end of the day, the sun peeked out from under the edge of the dark clouds, lighting the tree and roof tops,
and painting a double rainbow for us to enjoy.

Another nice day, we got lots done outside. David has been hunting on the property this deer season, but of course the deer all know when the season opens and they disappear. So he hasn't had any luck yet. Tonight was no exception - he didn't see anything. I had left my sweatshirt outside earlier, so went out to get it, and, what do you think? There was a doe standing right next to the shop, watching me. Of course, it was past sundown, so too late to hunt. Maybe tomorrow! I took a picture of the front garden and entry of our home.

Along with the fall leaves are the dried flowers and grasses. I just love them. The Queen Anne's Lace has a pile of seeds waiting for the wind or gravity to send them to the ground.

It's silhouette against the sunrise.
And the grasses - I always seem to gravitate back to them, taking pictures with the sun, or the dew, or rain, or frost, or shadows.

Leaves are turning! The maple is one of Caveman's bonsai trees - he likes to bring the pretty ones out for us to enjoy in the garden. This one is just spectacular!
And the ginko is not as flashy, but every bit as pretty with it's golds and greens, especially with the early morning sun casting shadows.

Art day again - Carol and Gretchen (above) showed off the results of their 5-day workshop with Elizabeth Busch at Coupeville Arts Center. They learned how to paint on fabric with an airbrush and other techniques.

Gretchen is also taking an extension course at the Univ of WA on Fiber Arts, and above is the project from the first week, which one of her classmates loves, and is willing to trade artwork for it.
Carol's painted fabrics.

We picked the apples today, because the weather is going bad tomorrow. And, indeed, it has started to rain already!

Luckily we only have three young semi-dwarf trees, so there is a managable number of apples. Don't ask what kind they are! I took the small, misshapen and peck-marked apples and made a chunky applesauce that I can freeze. The rest we'll eat and make spiced apples - maybe enough to can some for later.

Today was the meeting of the local group of Surface Design Association members. We had a lively discussion about preparing for a group show, as I had finished the Artist Presentation book for the group. We also talked a bit about getting some sort of web presence - be it a webpage (more professional), blog or photo site.

After the discussion was Show and Tell, today we were to bring favorite art books, and there were many luscious offerings! What fun! Then our hostess let us look around her studio, where she weaves, felts, and does various other fiber crafts. Always a treat to see how others use their spaces.

Our resident barred owl was sitting on top of the pump house, and allowed us to get pretty close!

I talked to my sister on the phone yesterday, and she was going hiking. I thought, "I wanna go hiking!!" So today I did.

South Whidbey State Park is nearby, and has several nice woodland trails.
I found they had created a new trail, the Ridge Loop Trail, since I had last been here several years ago, so it was fun to explore. There are some large, old-growth trees along the trails,
and areas where the alders are filling in and making new forest. I had fun trying to photograph myself along the trails.
Sometimes the timing didn't work out so well!

Another trip to the mainland, but this time I had a chance to visit the park next to the ferry dock on the mainland. So here's a view of the ferry in dock, with Mt. Baker in the background, freshly white from last night's snow.

The highlight of the park is the lighthouse of the Mukilteo Light Station. It's open to the public now, but only after noon. You can also see Mt. Baker beyond the lighthouse.
I love the early morning shadows and play of light on the tower.
It was quite brisk, and the pigeons were huddled on the sunny side of the beach logs. Hat Island is in the background.

I heard them coming way before they came into sight, giving me time to grab the camera and go outside. There have been many large gaggles of geese flying in their signature "V" formations, honking loudly. If you look closely in the photo below, you can see that one of them has his beak open.

I finished the braid at Thursday Art day, along with finishing my Christmas cross stitch ornaments for this year! Actually finished not only one project, but two! Anyway, my first attempt at Kumihimo braiding is not very even, but not too bad. Keeping tension on the braid is key! This pattern is different on each side - the main side has an arrow pattern, while the back is more random. Also, I chose two colors in the cotton yarn, but the darker orange is a synthetic yarn, and it stretched differently, and is also a bit more fuzzy. So, learned some things to do differently next time!