First Snowfall of 2018...

It had to happen eventually...

Obviously by that comment,you can tell that I am not a fan of cold weather. I will admit though, that the first snowfall of the season is beautiful!

These first few pictures were taken mid morning...

...and this was mid afternoon...

Most of our trees seem to be late in dropping their leaves this year, so the snow is now scattered with beautiful yellow leaves!

We ended up with about six inches of snow by milking time...just enough that Jim cleared the driveway with the skid loader, as the milk truck is expected in the morning. The temperature is hovering just above freezing right now, so any precipitation is in the form of light rain at the moment. The snow may melt away, or the roads might be an icy mess in the morning.  We'll see what happens over night!

Fall 2015...

My camera and I took a walk this afternoon...

My camera can't do the leaves justice...they're so much brighter than they look here.  I think the bright yellows (which I have no pictures of) and the bright red/oranges are my favorites.  And oh, don't forget the dark reds.

Last weekend my sister and I traveled to a cross country meet about one hour north of here, and the drive was spectacular!  I'm so glad to live where we see the change of seasons.  Every year, without fail, we see God's beauty!

Yesterday's rain, along with the wind that has continued today, has brought a lot of the leaves to the ground...

Jim no longer picks corn, so an Amish neighbor asked if he could use our corn crib for a few loads of his corn.  He'll sell it later out of the crib.  It's nice to see it in use again...

The barley that Jim seeded is growing nicely...

And last but not least, my shadow, Murphy, followed me everywhere this afternoon.  When I went to visit a neighbor, she patiently waited for me along the edge of the soybean field...

What a loyal friend!

Leaves, Leaves, and More Leaves...

It's a beautiful day today.  Breezy and cold...a little too cold for my liking, but after all, it is November!

The leaves this year have been just gorgeous!  They've been hanging on the trees longer than usual, and the colors have been brilliant. Today though, they've been falling...and piling up...faster than we can get them raked.

This Maple tree is right outside our kitchen door.  The leaves were so thick this morning that I could hardly rake them...

I had some company.  Can you see who's hiding in this picture?

...and this one...

Banja and James loved burying themselves in the pile and then jumping out again...

Jim pulled up the manure spreader, and we filled it to the brim.  Then he climbed in and stomped down the leaves so we could pile it even higher...

After a while we switched places, and I stomped on the leaves as he raked. It's the only time of year that I take a ride in the manure spreader!  :)

The leaves will be spread out on the fields.  I wish I could chop them all, and spread them on my garden, but there are way too many...and they'd mostly blow away.  Bummer, because leaves make wonderful compost!

The cats couldn't stay away.  Of course, tractors and PTO shafts are meant to be climbed on...didn't you know that?

Here's that same tree, three hours or so later.  There are still a lot of leaves left for another day's raking, but so many fell already!

It's sad to see the leaves disappearing.  It's inevitable, I know...but it means that winter really...and truly...is just around the corner.  The boiler is already cooking away, and the cast iron radiators are throwing off the heat, trying to take the chill away.

What is fall like in your neck of the woods?

A Beautiful Fall Morning...

This morning as we were finishing up milking, I saw a beautiful sight.

I happened to glance towards the east as I carried the last milker to the milk house, just in time to see the sun at the exact moment that it was peeking over the horizon.  The colors weren't especially beautiful...no brilliant reds or oranges...but the sun light that streamed across the fields was breath taking.

As usually happens, by the time you grab your camera, the magic is gone. And...the camera never quite captures the images quite as beautiful as they are in real life, but I tried anyway...

This picture looking to the west, of the Amish neighbors' barn peeking over the hill, is probably one of the most photographed shots that I've taken over the years, in all seasons.  You should see it at sunset!

I think the hydrangeas are especially beautiful this time of year, and the sun only made them prettier this morning... 

The golf course across the road always gives us a show of beautiful leaves as well...

The leaves are late here this year...and we're enjoying them as long as we can.  It makes the fall more enjoyable, and at least makes me imagine that winter is still a long way off!

Linking to Rurality Blog Hop today.

God's Paintbrush...

The leaves have been changing here, just like they do every year...but all of a sudden this weekend we realized that they're at their peak!  These pictures don't begin to do them justice, but I hope you enjoy some of the beauty.

I started out close to home...across the road at the golf course...looking out one of the upstairs bedroom windows...

More of the golf course.  The wild geese were having a pow wow at the pond...

The deep reds are my favorite, and are also the most elusive colors to find.  This tree is just starting to turn, and the picture doesn't do it justice...

Next, I headed west...we saw these beauties on our way to Church this morning...

And then I headed south...

Along the way, I found evidence of a small tornado that was part of an unpredicted and swift moving storm that caused damage on Friday evening a few miles south of us.  This Amish farm sustained damage to the house roof, and the storm flattened one of their barns.  I saw another barn about 1/2 mile away that was also destroyed, but the debris had already been cleaned up and burned yesterday.  My guess is that it will be rebuilt by the end of the week!  You could easily see the path the storm traveled by the trees that were snapped in half, and the debris scatted through the fields.  Thankfully there were no reports of fatalities...

...and just around a few corners later, another unspoiled patch of beauty...

I've always said that Spring is my favorite season, but now I'm not so sure.  This has been a beautiful fall!

What is your favorite season?