Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Time For the Yearly Invasion


Well I have good news and bad.
The dreaded hard freeze and frost did not happen
as predicted. Thank Heavens! I was dreading looking
out the window to see all of the dead plants and
flowers. I just knew if it was 27 degrees they were a
gonner. When I looked out they looked a little wilted
but were not mush so I checked at in was 35 degrees.
So we missed the big freeze so far.
And now we are having a few days of beautiful
sunshine and some warmer temps, it being up to a
whopping 63 degrees. Yeah!!!
Buttttt--- with the warmer weather it means the
farmers are rushing to get in their crops from the
field which is good, buttttt............ when the corn is
getting picked and it is the last warm days of the season
that means that the old pesky, dirty, stinking Asian Lady
Bugs are trying to get into the houses for the Winter.
I will not expound on how much I hate them again this
year by posting a whole section on them .If you want to
read up on them go to a posting I wrote last year
Lady Bug Invasion



Oh, I know you just love Lady Bugs, Birds or Beetles.
So do I but these are not your usual Lady Bugs.
There is a big difference.



The Autumn leaves are falling so fast here
in the Hills this year. With a little rain all
of the pretty leaves will be gone and all that will be
left will be the brown oak leaves. The big Sycamore
trees along Salt Creek have already fallen and
the trees are bare but their white bark will still
make them pretty this Winter.



I have a stand of beautiful yellow Maple leaves
behind my house and they are falling off fast.







I also have this Maple tree that always has the
brightest red leaves on it and they are going too.
One year I had a car load of college students that
were from Japan jump out and set in the yard and
take pictures of it. I wondered at the time if they
thought they were on park owned land. I was glad
that they were enjoying the leaves.





There are touches of orange leaves around in
the woods behind the house too.







The Sumac are so pretty in Autumn with their
red leaves and berries hanging from them.



The Sassafras trees which are in large supply
are so golden yellow. How many love Sassafras tea?



Even the brier leaves are pretty in the Fall
with their variegated leaves.




The berries of the Green briers are in plain sight now.



The field across from the house was so pretty
last week with all of its colors and pines.



Trees of russet color are nearby.




Autumn splendor at its best.









13 comments:

cherry said...

Oh my goodness what beautiful fall colors. hugs, Cherry

Kit Aerie-el said...

Sorry 'bout the not-the-usual-lady-bugs there!
'Autumn Splendor' is truly at its best in your photos! Gorgeous colors.

Jimmy said...

The fall tree photos are breathtaking! As for the lady bugs, we them here, but it is not an every year phenomenon.

Debbies Doodle said...

Oh the view is beautiful.. The trees are great.. yes we have those pesty lady bugs too.. tonight when I was doing hair they were bussing around my clients head.. Thanks for the pictures.
deb

Janet, The Queen of Seaford said...

Your autumn colors are stunning. I love the Sassafras. Need to get some pictures of it in my area.

Phoenix C. said...

Oh those autumn leaves are totally delightful! I love the hillsides full of trees, and your photo with the ploughed (?) field next to it, there is something so evocative about the edges of woods.

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

I had no idea that there were different types of ladybugs. I wonder if we have them here, I've noticed a few around but not like you describe in your previous post.
You do have a lot of beauty around you, the color is just gorgeous. To see that many trees changing at once would be great.

Rebecca @ In The Garden said...

What absolutely glorious pictures, your fall colours are spectacular. I love the hillside, it reminds me of a mosaic. I'm afraid we won't have any this year, so I'll have to live vicariously through others. Thanks for the great post. :)

Robin's Nesting Place said...

I have them too! Every time I went outside today they would land on me. I also found one in the house.

Darla said...

Glad you missed the big freeze so far, sorry about the Asian Ladybug and my oh my, what gorgeous fall color you have shared!!

Dirt Princess said...

The leaves are just amazing! Beautiful!

Thsoe lady bugs invade our hunting camp every year! I vacuum them up, and the entire canister will be full of nothing but dead lady bugs!

Pat said...

You had me laughing about the lady bugs. Sorry :)
Give me more Fall color !
Can't get enough of it.
The trees,shrubs and berries are beautiful this time of year.
Love it.
Love it.
Love it.

Jeanne said...

You too with the lady bugs? Our first year in our new home, I was away on a business trip and my husband at home. He called to tell me he could not shut the heat off in our new home and the temperature was up to 80 degrees so he was calling the HVAC installer. Turns out that ladybugs had crawled into the mechanism and shorted it into the "on" position. This year's invasion began yesterday; I'm counting only a few, but just wait and see...