Around the neighborhood...

FYI, it's not too hard to snap 227 pictures during a fine autumn day in the Wisconsin countryside. Here's a sampling of our particular neighborhood...

Of course the main attraction right now is the glorious fall color we are enjoying this year. Tour buses from other states are making their runs into Wisconsin now. The weather forcasters have a daily map of where the color is greatest, county by county, with percentage noted as color comes on from north to south. In the middle, we are now at peak - it almost hurts your eyes!

The native grey stones makes a nice backdrop for brilliant leaves.

These martin houses hosted quite a few families - they all left mid August this year, hope that wasn't a weather warning...

Some evergreens sprinkled throughout the woods point out the vivid coloring of their neighbors.
Mountain ash is not only a good source of winter bird food, the berries are stunning as part of a landscaping scheme. This particular tree is provided by Mother Nature, but I hope to add a couple to our yard next spring.
Horses are popular around here, so of course we wanted to fit into the neighborhood by providing our own version of "Bonanza".
These white trunks are so brilliant against the maple leaves. There are several varieties of the poplar family around here, including glorious aspen.

Just down the road there's a field the radio-controlled airplane fans use - note the windsock on the far left.
I spent a couple of hours driving back and forth on errands along the same two mile section of road. I finally just left the car window down, there were too many "Kodak moments!" This field of corn will soon be harvested for dry corn storage. The green chop corn is already cut down.
Some of the fields have been plowed to lie fallow for the winter. Others, like our back field, have been seeded to winter wheat.
One of the things that has appealed to me about our neighborhood are the number of little cemetaries. They just seem - well, homey. Sort of a sign of a settled, comfortable land, with history, and love of family. Homey.
I knew this building was going up, but the last time I passed it the roof wasn't finished. I literally put on the brakes and gasped with joy when I saw this stunning purple roof against the painted hillside. WOW! I wonder if they choose that color just to set off the fall glory in their back yard?
Very un-farmer like, I might add. This is just outside Tisch Mills. Right across the street from the Crazy 8 Bar. Hmmm.

And next door is St. Mary's. I couldn't resist this window, with that burst of blazing color just behind it. I even backed up, and drove into the parking lot to get this shot. Never get in the way of photographer and fall foliage...
And, next to the church are two cemetaries. This one fascinates me. I just can't help wondering why they think the farmers are progressive around here. From what I've noticed, they are more likely to use the "dis is da way we've always done, and dats dat" approach...
This was also the subject of a snow-covered series of photos I had previously posted, last year. Autumn is just as photo-worthy, don't you think?
Oh boy, I was SO excited to catch this flock of turkeys scuttling across the road! Lee was with me, and spotted them about a quarter mile away. We sneaked up on them (well, if you can "sneak" in a big ol' Suburban), and managed a couple of quick photos. Also gives you a feel for our roads, eh? It may LOOK flat here, but we've a more rolling terrain than it appears at first glance.

Just after the turkeys came the combines. No connection. These are a common sight right now, as teams harvest soybeans and lentils. You don't argue road rights with these guys. With few stop signs to slow their ponderous progress, they roll right along. When ever I see them working a field, I try to stop for a few minutes to watch. They are amazing works of engineering.

Did you notice this in the background of the first combine photo? This is something very few neighborhoods have. With two nuclear plants only 12 miles apart, this is the warning system if there is a containment problem in either plant. It is tested at noon the first Wednesday of every month. It took me a couple of months to get used to their blare. Trust me, you don't want to be too close when they go off. They are spotted around the neighborhood, since we are right between the nuc plants.

And here's the reason for all the back-and-forth driving that day.

After some experimenting, we found our composting toilets worked best with sawdust. Not shavings. Sawdust. And lo and behold, only about two miles down the road we found an old fellow running a one-man sawmill. Ed Miller became a good friend. I treated him with chocolate zuchinni bread and homemade breads and cookies at least once a month, as a thank you for letting us glean sawdust from the big blade. Sadly, Ed passed away in August, the day I returned from my Oregon trip. His son Al, who is taking over the sawmill, has continued to extend the neighborly gift of sawdust, for which we are very grateful.

The boys help keep me supplied, by climbing into the truck bed and shoving the dry, aromatic cedar sawdust out the little doors in the back gate into waiting feed bags. Whenever a full truck load is accumlated, it's delived to a local farmer for his calf pens. But Ed always said, "Just help yourself, he'll never miss it, doncha know."

I miss visiting with Ed, he was a fount of Wisconsin native wisdom - and the unique dialect.

The punks make any job a source of fun and jokes - they are a joy to work with.
We made 5 trips, filling the bags then emptying them into storage barrels at the cabin. The punks get a kick out of this job - as Collin commented, "You feel like you get a lot done, but you don't have to work hard!" They also get icecream bars from the Merc at Tisch Mills, just down the road from Ed's.

I do so love cheap labor!
My favorite corner on the stretch of Tisch Mills Road between County B and Zander. Good thing we don't have to worry about too much traffic, I frequently stop right in the middle of the road to admire this vision!

Would you believe, I never got out of the Suburban to take any of the foliage photos?! Telephoto lens are a wonderful thing...
Part of the day was spent doing the final harvest from the garden. Some of the pie punkins will be doing double duty as jack-o-lanterns, the rest are destined for the oven.
The harvest included butternut, delicata, acorn and spaghetti squash, as well as the pumpkins. The mums were a treat to myself for fall - I love their final burst of color before the snow flies.
The front porch is the temporary home for the squash, onions and potatoes. The shelving is right by the door so I will be reminded to USE this bounty.
The MacIntosh apples are headed for canning jars as applesauce. This nice box full of juicy crisp Macs was a gift from a newly met older neighbor, who just gives all his apples away. He's been coaching me on what to spray and when, to get the best harvest from our little orchard as it matures to production.

Our neighborhood takes in about a 5 mile radius. Farms are usually not closer together than a quarter mile, so our version of a neighbor may not be your version - especially if you live in a town. But our neighbors are just as important to us as if they were across the fence. Strong friendships with lots of give and take, sharing of time, talent, knowledge and harvest, and just plain good visiting, are what we experience in our neighborhood.

I love our neighborhood.