Autumn in the Ozark Mountains

 

Autumn in the Ozarks has begun.  This is a picture taking a turn out of our place.  Temperatures are reaching the high 70's and lower 80's during the day with a gentle breeze, strong enough to begin to blow the leaves around that have started to fall from the trees.  The nights are staying around the low 50's even though we had a real good threat of frost last week that didn't really amount to much.  

We are attempting to pick the last apples from the trees in whatever way we can reach them, which can be pretty creative at times and between trying to catch them and getting hit from them, we all get to laughing pretty good.  I don't know how many more apples I can stand to peel and I can't help but wonder if we won't be growing tired of apples by spring.  At this rate, I might still have apples by next year's harvest!  Probably not, but I really

don't know if I have that many apple recipes!  I'm hoping that I will find more wonderful apple recipes on the outstanding blogs I have been finding.  I didn't even discover blogging until this year and there are so many great blogs out there with so much information.  It is fun to see how others do things and their creative ideas.  I usually try to include them in my sidebars either with a link or a button, so be sure to check them out.

After living up in northern Wisconsin for 9 years, it is still hard for me to grasp the fact that the growing season isn't over immediately after Labor Day.  There was still a hummingbird here last week (a hummingbird in October, unheard of in Wisconsin) and I finally took down all of the feeders, washed them up and packed them away for next April.  Can you believe that my roses are still in full bloom?    This rose was brought in yesterday, October 11th, in full bloom.  It is so large that it dwarfs the pint jar it is in and the smell is the true rose smell that you don't get from the hybrids or flower stores.  These are the classic Abraham Lincoln roses called 'Mister Lincoln' and they can get over 7' tall.  Ours is at least that tall.  I have to admit that roses are not my favorite.  I'm more of a daisy and sunflower woman.  Bring me a bouquet of wildflowers and I'm thrilled.  Roses seem to be for the more high maintenance woman, which I am not, however, I do like my ole' classic rose bush and the smell of the house when I occasionally bring a bloom or two indoors.

The Zinnia's are still in full bloom, the beans are blooming, the tomatoes are hanging from the vines and the woods are full of mushrooms.  We picked Morels this spring right out in our very own woods and then fried them up in the skillet.  I've never done that before, but after hearing how great these mushrooms were, I had to try it.  There are plenty of warnings out there telling you to be careful when mushroom hunting, make sure you know what you are getting etc...and then they'll warn you to say that each individual could react differently to different mushrooms so my first taste of Morels was cautiously taken, but WOW, they are SO tasty!  None made it to become leftovers.  Today dear daughter found the mushrooms pictured here, in the woods.  Now if anyone can tell me what kind of mushrooms they are and include some recipes too, I would be extremely grateful!