November Already?

Raindrops on clover leaves.

Watering cans being drained before being stored for the winter.

Looking up. This is a color photo.

Interesting color in the wetlands on a cloudy day.

The green is especially vibrant today.

So many vines to photograph.

Some trees are already bare but this one is holding on.

The red really pops on an overcast day.

So many leaves. I think they are beautiful♡🍁

UPDATE: Here is an end of the day (5:15pm) photo showing deer in the back. I used the most powerful zoom lens and this is as close as I could get while standing on my balcony. They were closer to the house but ran away when I opened the door to go outside. It cleared up after an overcast couple of days and it's good to see some blue sky again.

Walk over and I'm still enjoying photographing all the stages of fall. Can't quite believe it's November already but the calendar doesn't lie. There has been a lot of fog but mild temperatures requiring just a sweater. I know I will wake up one day soon to a hard frost but we've been spared one so far. All of today's photos are right out of the camera with no further editing. I am pleased and this is saving me a lot of time. Let me know when you've had enough and I will try to find another theme. 

xo

H A P P Y 🎃 H A L L O W E E N

I took this spooky photo at 8:45am when a dense fog rolled in. That's the sun over the trees. Of course I edited the photo, but only a little.👻  

Scary Fireplace found on Instagram HERE 

Very appropriate for a fire on Halloween.

xo

Sunday Ramblings

A real scallop shell on a boxtop with shell engravings.

A scallop shell coat of arms photographed from my 

Royal Book of Crests.

This is the huge rock Lisa D. asked about next to the mushroom on the right that is now broken halfway up the stem. The rock was once sticking out of my driveway just enough to be a problem for a snow plow. My mason dug it up never thinking it could possibly be this big. It was very heavy too but he did it.

Such a beautiful dark blue sky today.💙

A remnant from the days when I had a clothesline.

Pine tree, needles, and a colorful leaf.

Puffball (mushroom) is looking rather like leather.

Puffball looking toward my house. 

Giant sycamore leaf. It's so much fun to walk through these leaves because they have such a satisfying crunch underfoot. 

UPDATE: I posted a video (my first story on Instagram) of me walking toward my house thru another patch of very large crunchy leaves with sound. If you want to watch, click HERE and then click VIEW STORY. 

Be sure to turn on the sound.

https://www.instagram.com/stories/contentinacottagerosemarybeck/2961198633422189598/

Are you bored yet? Please let me know.

xo

Two Favorite Things on My Wall

Two things I love that hang behind my seat on the sofa in the living room. The shadows from two antique decanters are added interest. The gold framed item is a little crooked and I have straightened it. Taking photos around my house lately is requiring a lot of straightening and dusting you know! The dog painting is oil on board and the dog is a water spaniel. I took the photo after dark on night mode.

This 18th century hand drawn pen and ink birth record is from Hanover New Jersey and records the birth dates for Ellis and Sarah Cook and their children. This is the way I bought it and I was told it was a page from the family bible. The angel drawing across the top was a popular motif to carve on early American tombstones.

Have a great weekend.

xo

Storybook Mushroom in My Evergreen Grove

This is Day 2 for the discovery of this most unusual super large mushroom and the interior orange color has gotten very pale, probably bleached by the sun. The cup is filling up with dry spruce needles.

Day 1: I discovered it yesterday (Thursday) and the interior color was much more vibrant inside.

Day 1: Looking inside.

Day 1 photographed in early morning light.

I took this one on Day 2 on Friday afternoon (today). It's very large and I have never seen anything this unusual on my property and it definitely belongs in a storybook. I wish I knew more about it. I'm just so happy I found it. 

xo

Photo Edits on My Phone

I tried a great feature on my new iPhone. I was just playing around to see what it would do when I hard pressed on a photo, copied, and saved to my photos. This is the first one I tried. I was thrilled that it did an exact outline of this urn, the stand, and the geranium without the background.

Here is the full photo!

I have my phone on DARK MODE to conserve battery power.

I had to do a screenshot of the first photo to preserve the black background. So I can also have a white background on the first photo but the black is more dramatic since the urn is white.

I love learning new things when I get a new device. I always dig deep(ly) and find out things some people never learn. 

This feature will bring new life to old photos that have distinct outlines like this poppy from two or three summers ago! I bought a packet of seeds to sow in late winter or very early spring so I will have them again next summer. I adore their crepe paper petals.

This portrait of one of my cast iron roosters is fresh out of the camera. I snapped him on my way out the door for my early evening walk down to the wayback. The camera was on portrait mode with studio lighting. He looks very proud, doesn't he? That's all folks.

xo

Views Around My Cottage

A corner of my living room. There is an opening opposite this table that leads to the kitchen area where my sideboard is located. The attic door is next to the opening and there is a coat closet where the corner is located in the lamp area. 

I have posted this recessed nook in my kitchen many times but here it is again. I got a new phone and have been testing the camera in case you are wondering why I am posting so many photos you have seen before.

TAKE YOUR DOG WITH YOU BY RAIL

I got a Christmas present in this shopping bag years ago from my good friend Stacey Snacks who has a food blog. I love this bag so much with a dog and suitcases advertising a rail line.

xo

An Accidental Insect Photo + Turtle Night Light

I went out after the rain stopped this afternoon and was taking random photos again. I didn't notice the insect until after the photo was snapped.

It was a Spotted Lanternfly and he flew away before I could squash him.

Sometimes I forget to look up. I captured the 5 minutes or so of blue sky and white clouds before it became overcast again.

This realistic tortoise night light is one of my favorite things. The body is iron and the shell is glass. I leave it on all the time down stairs and it makes me happy each time I walk by. I got it years ago at a house sale and I've never seen another one.🐢 I have a 5W bulb inside so it doesn't use too much electricity.

UPDATE: I had a special request for interior photos of my turtle lamp from Charlene. I went downstairs and took 5 more. She has a snail lamp that she thinks is similar to my turtle.

I couldn't resist posting this engraving of a snail

from my Royal Book of Crests!

xo

Monday Musings

The green ornamental kale is thriving.

One more limelight hydrangea I rooted from a cutting.

It's in the front hiding an electrical outlet in my brick wall.

I keep this tin cat face with marble eyes in my front door window almost all year long but it's especially appropriate for Halloween season🐈‍⬛🎃👻

A dog painting I got at an estate sale.

I think the dark spots in right corner are candle burns.

I am using the seat of a gothic chair as a display table.

I enjoy it so much now that it's in my line of vision next to my TV in the living room. Have a great week. 

xo