Shadow Shot Halloween

Shadow Shot Halloween is sponsored by Tracy of Hey Harriet. Thanks for giving us this opportunity each week, Tracy.

Yes, children, it is Halloween, and who knows what is lurking in the shadows?


What's out here? Let me in !!!



What is it? It's inside!



What creature is this?!!



Aaaggghhhhhhhhhh...!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Hallo Cat

There's a new cat puzzle on my sidebar for Halloween.
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Think(ing) Green Thursday

Be sure to check out our host, Michelle's Think Green today. It's a real winner for Halloween!





I apologize for posting rather late today. The rain this week prevented me from making the visit to the place I wanted to post about. It is the "Green Cemetery" at Steelmantown that I posted about last week. I really wanted to see it for myself and take some pictures. This morning my friend, Lisa, and I drove out there, and this is the result.

As always, click to enlarge photos,



I believe we both enjoyed the visit very much. It is a lovely place, and very interesting. There is history to be discovered there, since it was established in the 1700's. As Edward Bixby, the owner, has stated, "The ways of the past are the way of the future."



There are nature trails to be explored as well. I did take my "Hugo" walker, but did not venture far on the trails, except for 100 feet or so, but Lisa did enjoy them.





As I told you last week, Green Burial means that embalmed bodies are not permitted in the cemetery, so as not to pollute the earth. Many markers are only wooden crosses. Most are natural stone, many of which have the names of those buried there crudely carved by untrained hands.




I am sorry the chapel was locked at the time of our visit. I would have liked to see what it is like inside. But it did look lovely. You can see a bit of the inside if you go to the website at: http://www.steelmantowncemetery.com/. There is a video on the site, showing the cemetery in all seasons.




The grave markers are fascinating. Some are now unreadable and moss covered. 800 years is a very long time.


We saw many birds while we were there, including a hawk soaring over us. Wildlife abounds in the surrounding woods. There are nine acres of pineland forest.


I'm sure that other Green Cemeteries must be as beautiful. Perhaps worth your while to explore.

Sky Watch Friday

On Sky Watch Fridays we all thank the team: Klaus, Sandy, Fishing Guy, Wren, Louise, and Sylvia.

Autumn skies can be unpredictable. One day last week the sky was full of clouds - first fluffy, then thicker, then a very heavy cover. But guess what - it never did rain that day.

Where Did the Little Boy Go?

Kitty just posted more pictures on Flickr. I could not believe what I was seeing. I had commented to my family last time she posted pictures of Isaac, how. up until that point every picture of him looked so exactly like his mother at the same age, it was hard to tell who was which. A week or so later, every picture of him looked exactly like his father instead.



And now she has posted pictures after he had another haircut. I'm sure you remember, because so many of you commented on it, his very long, wavy, blond hair. The haircut he got a little while ago made him look very different, but still just like Kitty.



This time I think he looks like a completely different boy. And so much more grown up! No more grandbaby. I guess I have to get used to this.






Short hair or long, I don't think he will ever comb it. He's much too busy to bother with such things as that.
Maybe that's why he almost always wears a baseball cap.







Wow! He's almost five years old. Just four more months until his birthday.


Hmmmmm. Now that I look at it more closely, I guess he does still look like his mother. But his expressions are more and more like his father's. I guess that's pretty natural, isn't it?

Jigsaw Puzzle

Just for fun. - Daryl was kind enough to send me to another jigsaw puzzle site: www.jigzone.com. It's as much fun as the yahoo games one, and has more puzzles to play with. You can also decide how many pieces you want to make of each puzzle, and even what shape you want them to be. (I made mine into bird shaped pieces.) You can also give them one of your own photos and have them make a puzzle of that.

Here's another of their butterfly puzzles. They have all kinds of course.

I put one on my sidebar. Just click on the one on the sidebar, and it will take you to that puzzle site with not too many pieces, if you want to try it.

My daughter and I love these things. I do them every day.

Very, Very Tall

Another rainy morning. But I went outside to take a picture of my extremely tall flowers. I used to know all the flowers in my garden, but this year some really surprised me.

What kind of flower is this? Can someone please tell me. I have never had such tall flowers in my garden before. First it was the cosmos, growing five and six feet tall. That never happened to me before.

Now this one. It is at least eight feet tall! Maybe taller. That's what has me puzzled. I have never seen any so very tall. Would appreciate a certain ID. Here's the flower, and a close up of the leaves.

Mellow Yellow Monday

Thanks to Drowsy Monkey for hosting Mellow Yellow for us each Monday.


Every day I start off by doing the Daily Jigsaw puzzle on Yahoo. This is the finished product of one I did a while ago.

Shadow Shot Sunday

It's Shadow Shot Sunday, and thanks to Tracy of Hey Harriet for hosting.

Today I found a shadow behind a cute little scarecrow.


And outside - there's that neighbor's cat again.

Appalachia

You may have noticed on my sidebar that I am concerned with ending the big coal companies' practice of mountaintop removal. This practice is a very serious danger to the environment and to all human beings and other life forms that happen to live in coal mining regions.

Coal company executives have long been bullying their way through life without regard for their own workers health and safety, nor for the families of those workers. The danger extends far beyond the mining areas, since it also pollutes land and water supplies.

Their battle to continue and extend mountaintop removal, has become very ugly. Those protesting are being not only verbally, but physically threatened.

This is the time to push Congress to send the Clean Water Protection Act to Mr. Obama. Please, would you take a minute to go here: http://www.ilovemountains.org/pass-the-cwpa/ and do that. It won't take long, and it could do so much to help the people of Appalachia. Thank you.

Halloween Preview

The California contingent visited Earthbound Farm about a month ago. Isaac had insisted on decorating for Halloween very, very early, and decided he wanted to dress as T-Rex when the big day arrives. Kitty sent me pictures of the pumpkin choosing of course. I thought she might post some herself, but so far she hasn't, so I'm going to share.







It's become their tradition to choose pumpkins at Earthbound every year, and I have a whole series of pictures of Isaac among the squash there. They also enjoy the corn maze. Previous years they have sent videos of Isaac wandering through it. This year he and a friend went running through so fast, there wasn't time for a video.









Bert and Ernie are the result of Mike and Isaac's carving this year. I showed them on my Mellow Yellow earlier.


Pretty cute, huh?







Here at home I haven't done a whole lot of decorating, but I do have this.

Heading Up the Road

Now isn't that a pretty sight? I was driving up Route 9 yesterday, and saw this. There was no parking along this stretch, so I just put my arm out of the car window and clicked. Considering those conditions, I think it came out very well.

Farther along, I saw an entrance to some sort of complex, and I like that too, even though it was man-made rather than natural. Sometimes man does some pretty good work.



Then I got onto the Parkway, and found more autumn beauty.
























If I hadn't had an appointment to keep, I would have stopped for more pictures. Maybe I will take a ride up that way when I have more time.

Sky Watch Friday

Every week, on Sky Watch Friday, the team goes to work and plays host for us all. Thank you so much, Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy, Louise and Sylvia.

Please use the link to visit us and view beautiful photos of the sky from all parts of the world.

The last of this year's garden are the cosmos. I hope that my readers aren't tired of seeing my cosmos. I have shown them frequently this month. Here they are again, reaching for the sky, one photo on a lovely, clear day and the other with storm clouds gathering.





Do check out my Think Green Thursday post. It's a bit different this week.

Think Green Thursday

Michelle hosts Think Green Thursday for us each week. Thank you, Michelle. It is a really worthwhile project.

My post today is a little unusual. It deals with a subject that many may not care to deal with, and may not appeal to many readers. I never realized it was even a possibility, until I read an article in one of our local papers over the weekend. I like the idea very much myself.

In Steelmantown, NJ, two miles past Woodbine off of Route 557, is located an historic old cemetery, first established in the 1700's. This lovely, rustic old place is what is known as a green cemetery. No embalmed bodies are permitted to be buried there. Contrary to popular belief, there is no law requiring the embalming of bodies, so long as burial takes place in a timely manner. That means that there are no poisonous chemicals to pollute the earth. Burial may take place with the body wrapped in a blanket or other wrapping so long as it is of a natural material, or in a wicker coffin. There are no vaults. Headstones are usually large natural stones. In the oldest part of the cemetery, markers are cedar planks, and over the years the carving has worn away.

Embalming of bodies became popular after the Civil War, when bodies of soldiers killed in the conflict were returned to their families, and it was necessary that they be preserved for the trip. Until that time, it was not considered necessary.

There is a small non-denominational chapel on the property, built in 1910 of all recycled materials.

The newspaper photographs show a lovely, peaceful wooded place. I wish that they were suitable for reproduction here, but they are not, and I do not live close enough to have made the trip to take pictures of my own in the past few days. I have attempted the clearest one from the paper, of the chapel, here. The photo of the trail in the cemetery is from their website. Steelmantown Cemetery may be contacted at 609-628-2297. Edward Bixby II, Prop.

Other green cemeteries do exist, but the closest to our region would be in Ithaca, New York, and in Ramsey Creek, South Carolina. There are some others scatttered over the United States. You can find their locations here. There is a movement at present to establish natural burial cemeteries in Canada as well. At the same link you can look into such places in the UK and Europe.