Farm stand and a couple cuties

Mom and I went to a local farm and nursery during her visit.  I have plans to visit it earlier on in the year next year.  I was pretty impressed with what they had.  There were bins full to the brim with squash of every variety imaginable.  I stocked up on what I thought I'd be able to use this winter.  Next year, I intend to grow some of my own.  In fact, I bought an heirloom pie pumpkin for the seeds as much as for the flesh -- you can be sure I'll be saving some of them for my garden (and still have plenty to roast).  

I also bought some onions (mine didn't grow well this year - I had plenty of pearl onions though) and a huge cabbage.  

Of course, my mother and I cannot pass up adorable kittens without picking them up and letting them know how adorable they are.  There was a whole batch of kittens that lived in the green houses and farm stand.  Aren't they handsome?  For a quick minute, I thought Mom might smuggle one home.  

I spent all day so far just grocery shopping and cleaning up the kitchen.  Oh, and I baked a squash to have later for dinner.  Alas, I have to get the yard winterized -- I can tell that snow is not far off for us.  Time to get moving if I am going to get anything done today.

My new friend -- puff pastry

My mother came over for a visit this past weekend for a much needed "girls weekend".  We had a great time, even though the Christmas shopping crowds seemed to start early this year.  I had absolutely no groceries in the house due to all the long hours I'd been working -- so we went to the store to figure out what to have for dinner.  Somehow we decided to make brie en croute with raspberry jam.  This was my first time using puff pastry and I have decided I love the results!!!

Have you ever had this stuff?  The brie gets all gooey and melty and the puff pastry is so flaky and delicious!  I really liked the seedless raspberry jam in there.  It added an interesting level of fruity goodness.  I don't think I need to add another recipe for this on the internet.  Just check out the Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry site.

We had only used half the package of puff pastry, so the next morning I tried a recipe I intend to use Christmas morning (My family is coming my way this year).  Basically, you scramble an egg with oregano for about a minute then put it on one end of half a sheet of pastry.  Top it with some cheddar cheese and a thick slice of tomato.  Wrap it all up and bake it for 20-25 minutes at 425 degrees.

You absolutely MUST try this!  I'm really sorry to my gluten-free and vegan friends -- you are missing out on one of the most amazing breakfasts I've ever tasted!  I'll admit, our dinner/breakfast concoctions were very rich and not exactly healthy -- but they were good for the soul.  They were a perfect addition to a lovely weekend with my mother.

Happy Halloween!

I've been very busy with work lately -- working lots of overtime.  The paychecks are good, but I haven't really gotten out much.  Subsequently, my blog has been kind of neglected.  Anyway, I'd like to kind of catch up on a few things.
The same day I shot the portrait of Sassafras, I got some photos of the stray cat and her baby.  The baby kitty was finally getting friendlier (it was very wild compared to mama cat -- who rubs against my shins to get food).  Sadly, I found the baby kitty had been hit by a car just a couple of days after taking the photos.  I know that stray kitties don't have a long life span, but this was particularly tragic -- she was just a baby.  :(

(The black one is the baby, and the grey one is the mama)

Sassy doesn't mind that the baby is gone though.  She doesn't like sharing her backyard with the other cats.  Sassy doesn't go outside a lot, and she has always been a scardicat.  She goes outside when I am out there but when the stray cats come around, she goes on the defense.  The day we shot the photos, the kitten was trying to play with Sassy - unaware that Sassy wasn't really amused.  I snapped a photo at the very instant Sassy decided to take a swat at her.  I guess she just got a little to close to my big old cat.

I've been feeding the birds and enjoying their presence right outside our front bay-style window.  I've had finches at my thistle feeder, a couple varieties of woodpeckers on the suet, bluejays going after corn, and chickadees, nuthatches, cardinals, and juncos enjoying the sunflower seeds.  Oh, and a tufted titmouse just flew up to remind me that they like the feeder too.

A pretty chickadee -- when our trees still had leaves left on them.  

All the leaves came down last week with that huge windstorm that rolled through the midwest.  I work in customer service at one of the large electric providers in Michigan -- needless to say, we were busy this week.
Last night I met up with three of my friends from work as they were getting ready to go to the bar.  I had fun taking photos of their transformations.

Getting ready

Elizabeth as a sadistic June Cleaver, Cristin as Marilyn Monroe, and Nikki as a sexy skunk.  We also hung out with Liza (Elizabeth and Nikki's good friend) and some of their guy friends...

Liza as a peacock 

"Where the Wild Things Are", "The Hangover", and a couple of beat up zombies.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween!

Another Autumnal Photo

Sorry, folks, for only posting photography lately.  I have been very busy with work and find little time to do anything else that is really noteworthy.  I have a two-day weekend though and should have something to discuss after that.

Sassafras -- Autumn portrait

My beloved cat enjoying the season

Fall Photography

Here are a few snapshots I took yesterday morning around the yard.  It has been a lovely weekend to be outdoors.  I spent some time today to pull all of the plants from the veggie garden and put some of the herbs into pots for the winter.
I've also added a few photos that I shot with my TTV camera in the previous post.

Through the Viewfinder Fall Photography