We enjoyed getting out and seeing the sights around Carlsbad, NM. My brother-in-law took us to his secret pecos diamond hunting spot which thrilled P, our budding geologist.
On the hottest day of our visit we toured the Carlsbad Caverns National Park. The view below was from the parking lot at the caverns.
On our last day my brother-in-law took us to more great spots with big views. The first stop was Sitting Bull Falls where miss P and her cousins played in the water.
We had our picnic lunch there.
The next stop was Dark Canyon. We were amused that my great niece read the sign as "Dark Canyon, LOOKOUT!"
We hiked to Cottonwood Cave, a much less visited cave than the caverns.
My brother-in-law knows all the best places to hike.
We finished the day with a sunset view from "the rim" and late night star viewing from dark canyon.
This really was a trip of big views.
Fiery Fall
Our beatiful days of sunny skies have continued well into October. I've been out trying to soak up as much sunshine as I can.
Our zinnias are still putting on quite a show.
The marigolds are not slowing down at all.
I know I'll want to remember all this fiery color in the coming dark months of winter.Miss P was channelling her inner Andy Goldsworthy while B and I harvested this year's Indian Corn over on the weekend.
I hope you are able to get out and enjoy the out of doors these days.
Spring Break 2015 - part four
Our last few stops for seeing the sites on the way home were in the Smoky Mountains. We would love to go back and spend a week camping there.
A Frosty Morning
We had a beautiful frosty morning yesterday.
I dashed out after the sun came up to get some photos of the frost on the chicken barn fence. It was very cold but I bundled up.
Winter Wonderland
To celebrate the start of winter today we went out to enjoy our freshly fallen snow.
We live on a glacial moraine that is filled with interesting geological features. Today we walked up a kame in the state recreation area. You can see the cone shaped hill there in the right side of the photo below.
Michigan is really a pretty interesting place to live. You may remember when I wrote about the kettle hole in our yard.
"The hill in front of you, known as a kame, was formed thousands of years ago when water from melting glacial ice flowed through a large crack in the ice. Glacial melt water carried sand, gravel, and rocks, depositing them at the base of the crack to form the kame. To help picture this, imagine how sand flows through and hourglass and creates a rounded pile of sand in the bottom of the hourglass."
I'm thrilled to have everyone home for a few days. Let the festivities begin!Happy Solstice.
An Afternoon on the Pocomoke
Last week while on spring break, we went to Virginia and visited B's mom. After a couple of days there we went to eastern Maryland had an afternoon canoe trip on the Pocomoke River. I took many pictures but have boiled the trip down to a reasonable number to share with you.
It was a great afternoon but I wish I had worn sunscreen and a hat.
Milkweed
Almost Spring
We had a beautiful "almost spring" afternoon, yesterday. I even went outside WITHOUT A COAT!P and I walked around the yard and found our FIRST flowers!
The chickens also enjoyed the warm sunny day.
They were soaking up some sun and pecking around. I gave them a pumpkin that I had been saving.
Cluck, cluck. I forgot how fun it can be to photograph the chickens.
We still have some snow
and lots of mud.
Still, it was a beautiful, blue sky, spring like day.
I guess I'm really not much of a winter person.
Thoughtful Sunday
"'Nature need not be improved upon,' she used to say..."Hitty Her First Hundred Years, Rachel Field, 1929
Patterns from Nature
P and I cleared out all of the waxed leaves to make room for our Christmas decorations. Before tossing them in the compost I traced some to use as embroidery patterns.
