Orion Over the Barn

 

Just before 7 this morning, Orion in all his glory over the barn.  See the three little stars lined up?  That's his belt.  The bright star below the belt is one corner of his, uh, skirt.  The bright star above the belt is one of his shoulders.  Here's a map:

You can't see all the stars that make up Orion.  The camera didn't capture them all, though the sky was so clear and crisp this morning that I could see them!

I hope this means that the stars are aligned for us!

Sweet dreams

Nekkid girl!

It's been drawn to my attention that there's been a rather big change here at Busy Solitude Farm and I failed to explain it.  So here goes.

My princess, Ulani, had to be boarded for two nights a few weeks ago when I went to a conference out of town.  I decided to have them groom her and give her a bath.  Such luxury!  Since Ulani is 8 years old and has never been professionally groomed, I told the groomer that it was not necessary for anyone to get stressed, and if it was easier, she could cut Ulani's coat.  But I specifically asked her NOT to cut her "fall" (aka "bangs").  Specifically.

This was Ulani a week before boarding:

And this was the evening she came home:

Look how long her legs are!  But she's "butt nekkid", as they say.  And in case you can't see it here...

...they cut her bangs straight across her nose.  Aargh!

I don't despair.
I've not a care. 
It's just hair. 

The End of the Staycation

A beautiful, chilly morning here at Busy Solitude Farm.  It's the final day of my weeklong staycation.  Too short, no surprise.  I accomplished some things on my list but the rest will just have to wait for another day.

A light frost covered this morning's yard.  Can't complain when I hear about eleven inches of wet snow covering friends' trees out east.  Rain is due here, but Ulani and I did get a nice walk in this morning.

And then I began creating two "pumpkin" pies for my book group meeting this evening.  My favorite is made from roast butternut squash, which I did yesterday.  This morning I baked crusts, adding a half cup of toasted, crushed pecans to the dough.  Then I mixed up the custard and now they're baking away.

The crusts browned too quickly, so there's some foil covering parts I don't want to blacken.  And the extra crust dough?

I made pie crust cookies to enjoy with a strong coffee, topped with whipped heavy cream.

That's what staycation is all about!

Autumn color

 The sun rose below a heavy bank of clouds.

 I thought the slight pink highlights on the grain storage across the street had an interesting softening effect.

 Then I experimented shooting through different trees.  Which sunrise gets the nicest frame?

 Evergreens make a lovely frame this time of year.

 Especially when they go all black silhouette with nice color behind them.

Later in the day, coming home up my road.  I love the soft, golden fields after the beans have been taken in.

 Almost home.

 There's the barn.  And what's that?

Barnard greeting me!  Welcome home!