November Rain

A good portion of November has been cold and rainy, therefore inhibiting our outdoor adventures. That said, I've really enjoyed the gloom this year. I suppose it's because I'm getting older, but the cold and rain gives me permission to cozy up on my sofa with Netflix and a crochet hook. I enjoy being at home more than anything, these days as opposed to out avoiding aggressive drivers and long commute times.

I did meet up with my friend Angela, her clan at the local park. It's been awhile since I had been there, so it was really nice to venture around it. Walking in nature is good for the soul, I wish more people spent time outdoors romping around in nature, I think it would do the world some good.

I was a little disappointed to see they had put up a barrier around my old shack. A sure sign that my little private oasis no longer going to be just mine. More people, means more rules and more mass control. Loss of freedom...

The farm cows were out. The kids were really good at luring the young ones to the fence...

Toby and I had to go downtown to grab Bo another chew toy at GREAT OUTDOGS. Bo is a huge dog with a lot of chewing power, so those little sissy chew toys found at Walmart, Petco, etc. last less than a day with him. Great Oudogs has the best selection of chew toys for powerful dogs.

I just can't help myself of taking a zillion pictures when we're downtown. Austin is such a picturesque city. I love the way the leaves are changing this time of year, and I'm pretty sure my phone is not capturing the real beauty...

 

We ventured into The Capitol.  I remember the day you could just walk in and nobody batted an eye. Now you have to go through security. Again...loss of freedom.

I thought they may have had their beautiful Christmas trees up, and I wanted photos. I'm supposing the Capitol keeps to tradition and waits until after Thanksgiving before they erect their decor....

On the way back to the car, we walked through an area we've never walked before. There were some beautiful old homes turned into businesses now....

Here are some other random photos I took throughout the month. I think these are the seeds from the Osage Orange tree. They fall from the trees every year. I think they are so cool looking....

Bo's paw....

Someone in our neighborhood has a lime tree. They've turned yellow now, but I can't believe how full and beautiful the tree is....

When animals take over your sleeping quarters....

My purple shirt matched my purple margarita....

I cried when I found this picture recently,  because I thought they were lost and gone forever. Back when we just had a regular camera, Toby had taken Lucas's graduation pics off and transferred them to the computer. He thought he had not saved them because he couldn't find them after he downloaded them. Apparently, something had gone awry, because when I found them the other night, they looked like they had been corrupted somehow, hence the reason Skye's head is cut off from this pic of me, Lucas and his friend Mike after Lucas graduated....

Beautiful lizard friend on the rose...

Halloween and Hiking

Once again, the rain decided to pay a visit on Halloween this year. We never get rain when we need it, and always when we don't want it. Unfortunately, you can't control Mother Nature.

Some of our neighborhood kids were troopers though, and trick or treated in the rain. Toby and I were having a blast scaring the small children. Some people take offense to their kids being scared, but isn't that what Halloween is for??? They were really scared of Toby...the devil himself.

We all dressed up this year....

Wonder Woman does not like to be photoed....

Yesterday, Toby and I decided to hike down to Sculpture Falls. It was beautiful, as usual, and I got prime photo ops because nobody was out and about.....

 

There was a guy fly fishing....

This tree was so pretty with the moss all over it....

Here's a short video of Sculpture Falls....

Another Bike Ride

I'm really enjoying my bike this year. And I know this probably will sound like southern blasphemy, but I've also been enjoying the cooler, gloomy days. Those days make it much easier for me to amp up my exercise routine. Even though I enjoy warmer weather, the extreme heat just zaps my energy for exercise and all I think about it Margarita's and basking in the springs.

We took another trip to the Southern Walnut Creek bike trail and biked the opposite trail as we did last time. This portion of the trail is a bit more strenuous with its steady elevation. At least the trip back down was fun...like a roller coaster on a bike.

I didn't take many pictures, because it's not easy to stop and take snapshots when you're in the groove. I've thought more than a few times how it'd be nice to have some kind of attachable device on my bike for photos or videos...a Go pro of some sort?? Maybe I will have to put something like that on my list for Santa this year.

I did stop off for a shot of downtown...

We rode about seven and a half miles. It was a good workout because of the uphill incline...

The sunset was beautiful last night...

 I hate my phone camera does not capture the sunsets as beautifully as they really are. I've been thinking of a beginner type DSL camera lately. Hmmmm.....another thing to add to Santa's list.

I'm definitely not lacking in ideas for Christmas this year when Santa asks.

Chocolate Milk

Yesterday I had to make a trip downtown to Whole Paycheck Foods to replenish my supply of turmeric and Monk Fruit Sweetener.

When we're downtown we always take advantage of the trails. We decided to walk around the lake and see what all the water shortage hoopla was about.

Instead of it's usual emerald tone, the water was the color of chocolate milk, swirling about. Not a pretty site, but definitely interesting to look at...

Toby mentioned how the old fire tower gets lost in all the tall buildings now. If you look hard you can spot it standing lonely in the pic below...

I felt sorry for the old fire tower, so I gave it recognition when we passed by it...

I also took a few short video clips....

Here's a map of our walk. Not as much as we should have walked, but we got out late and I wanted to beat the downtown traffic home....