Nature's Trick (or Treat)...

...depending on how you look at it.

This weekend marked the first snowfall of the season.

It is not unusual for us to get some hard frost or a flurry 

in this neck of the woods at this time of the year,

but it is unusual to get several inches, 

5 inches to be exact,

at this time of year.

It is kind of strange to see our orange Halloween flag

flapping in the wind amidst snowfall.

I took these images before the snow got deep

but by the evening

all 4 kids went out and built a snowman, 

went sledding,

and had a snowball fight!

The leaves on the trees are still turning colors, so they peeked out

from behind the snow like brilliant jewels

on a fair skinned woman's skin.

It was beautiful to see.

What's not so beautiful is that the kids

will be trick or treating tonight 

and I hope the one local neighborhood

has cleared the sidewalks and driveways

so all the spooks and goblins

(or in my case Spiderman and a Fairy Princess)

won't have to trudge through snow to get the goods!

But then again, it might make for a quick night if

their tootsies get too cold...

Hmmmmmm...

maybe trick or treating in the white stuff is 

not such a bad idea! ;)

Happy Halloween everyone!

♥♥♥

Hope Is a Thing With Feathers...

"Hope is the thing with feathers 

That perches in the soul, 

And sings the tune without the words, 

And never stops at all" ~Emily Dickenson

Happy Wordless Wednesday!

*images taken with my Canon G11 from my driveway

Ravens Game Day

Y'all know what a football fan I am.

So, you also know how excited I was to be able to watch

this week's Raven's game from the BOA skybox!

Because I was not allowed to bring a camera with a lens larger than 

6 inches long, 

I brought along my Canon G11 and took these shots.

A panoramic of M&T Bank Stadium

I took the above panoramic of the stadium by stitching 5 images together in photoshop.

Even though it isn't perfect, I was happy with the results considering it was 

taken by a handheld point and shoot camera (my G11).

I didn't even have a tripod or monopod to help out!

Below is the suite where we were pampered

but I was not in there for very long.

I plastered my rear end in the front seat of the skybox outdoor area

and took in all of the excitement of the game outside.

I didn't want to miss the roar of the crowd, 

the smells of the concessions, 

and all of the crazy football fans acting like nuts outside!

I got chills when the Raven's Marching Band 

formed the letters USA on the field while playing

God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood.

There were members of all 4 military agencies represented

who carried the American flag.

You can see them off to the right.

I still am in awe of all of our service members and families

that serve our country and make sacrifices every day.

The whole crowd stood up for them as they paraded in

and I was so glad we showed them the proper respect they deserve.

Here are the Raven's taking the field...

It was an exciting game with the Ravens coming out on top!

Nothing like a home game win.

The weather was PERFECT...

had on jeans and short sleeves and put a sweatshirt on at about half time.

I am so excited the Ravens are having a good year. 

It makes this girl a happy football fan!

I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing...

...in perfect harmony.

"I'd like to build the world a home And furnish it with love Grow apple trees and honey bees And snow-white turtle doves"

"I'd like to teach the world to sing In perfect harmony I'd like to hold it in my arms And keep it company I'd like to see the world for once All standing hand in hand And hear them echo through the hills For peace throughout the land."


~I'd Like To Teach the World to Sing
Bill Backer / Billy Davis / Roger Cook / Roger Greenaway


Hoping everyone has a wonderful beginning to the week!
Happy Monday, y'all.
Sing loud and with the windows down today!

To Sing Along, Click Here.

♥♡♥

Sympathy For Its Decay

Autumn wins you best by this its mute appeal to sympathy for its decay.

~Robert Browning

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it,

 and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.

~George Eliot

My sorrow, when she's here with me, thinks these dark days of autumn rain are beautiful as days can be; she loves the bare, the withered tree; she walks the sodden pasture lane. 

~Robert Frost

Now Autumn's fire burns slowly along the woods and day by day the dead leaves fall and melt. 

~WilliamAllingham

Bittersweet October.  The mellow, messy, leaf-kicking, perfect pause 

between the opposing miseries of summer and winter.  

~Carol Bishop Hipps

Postcard Mosaic

Since last time I have posted, we have received 9 more postcards

to add to our map!

In an effort to display them differently, 

I went to Big Huge Labs

and used the Mosaic Maker to show you a glimpse of each card.

Working my way from top left to right, here is where each card is from:

Row 1: Kansas, USA; Belarus; Australia

Row 2:  Siberia; Taiwan; Ukraine

Row 3:  D.C., U.S.; Netherlands; Estonia

Thank you to everyone for our hugs in the mail!

We love getting them!

AND

We are learning geography!

To see our map of growing countries,

you can check out our map here.

If you would like to send us a postcard from either

your hometown, a nearby city,

or from your travels, we would love to get it!

You can kindly send postcards to:

These Nine Acres

P.O. Box 133

Stewartstown, PA 17363

Thank you!

Signs of Autumn

It's my favorite time of year...

Sit a Spell Under the Pine

Digital Painting
Picnic Under the Pine

If you were here,

I would ask you to sit a spell

right there at the picnic table with me

under the white pine on this autumn day.

And I would tell you all about the exciting things happening in my life right now

such as getting back into substitute teaching

and getting ready to take the last 3 credits I need

to get re-certified as a Maryland teacher.

The classes are self paced and online, 

but since they are through Johns Hopkins,

I am sure I will be one busy girl in the next 8 weeks!

As if I wasn't busy already...

4 kids, photographer for two football teams,

and producer/assistant for an upcoming commercial shoot with Jodie!

It has been a long road filled with red tape,

but I always carry scissors in my back pocket for such problems ;)

It is a huge weight off my shoulders and a big fat sigh of relief

to finally be back on track to possibly teach full time next year!

I added the above digital painting to my Resting Places series

that you can find on Flickr.

Hope you all are having a great week.

Hugs from this crazy girl to all of you...

thanks for being there and supporting me all these years!

Snake Wrangler

Meet the snake I found in my house today...

getting ready to slither into Ladybug's room.

Thanks to having a bucket and a paint roller handy, I was able to capture

the errant baby snake believed to be a juvenile black snake.

Or corn snake.

Or milk snake.

Depends on who you ask (on Facebook of all things because smart people like me 

know you can get expert opinions on any subject from Facebook).

As for me, I could care less what kind of snake it is

as long as it isn't poisonous.

This little feisty fella was NOT happy to be caught and

hissed, snapped, and rattled his tail at me to prove his point.

But, undeterred, I rescued him anyway and had Brian release him

back into the woods to continue eating mice and other vermin around the farm.

Snakes and I?

We get along nicely as long as they stay out of my house ;)

P.S.  That hair is not, in fact, a snake beard.  It is cat hair from my basement floor

that he picked up when all in a tizzy over getting caught.

I, being the smart cookie I am, was not about to get close enough

to his mouth to remove said cat hair before his portrait session.

A little fur coat never hurt anyone...