October before the Storm

October is a beautiful time of year on the farm. I was even inspired to ride one of my horses yesterday, after almost 3 years of not riding. I knew storms were coming and I would not be riding again very soon. But mostly I took photos of the mist in the hills. I love the drifting, ever changing fog...

And fall colors...

My dahlias are pretty now, too. Many thanks to friend Ron who gave me the tubers to plant... This is the first time I've grown dahlias.

The fall produce is colorful, too. Some of the rainbow carrots grew a lot too big before I pulled them. Many more carrots are still in the ground, hopefully not growing bigger any more. I'm hoping to be able to harvest them all winter. The onions are harvested, though.

On Tuesday, I set up a new trail camera, then hiked to the creek. While looking downstream, I noticed something blue stuck under a log. I zoomed up with my camera and discovered it was a raft. I decided to hike closer and try to retrieve it.

The creek was not too deep where I needed to cross to the log. Except the last 4 feet or so... I took off my shoes and socks and waded to a rocky "island"...

rocky "island" in bottom right

A floating flat piece of log was trapped in the area between my "island" and the log jam. I hoped it would hold me as I stepped on it. Well, it held me but it moved so I made a flying leap to the log jam. Success!

Having learned from past disasters, I did not take my camera with me but took a photo of the scene of the rescue after getting back to dry land with the raft. The return trip was easier... I just flung the raft onto my island, then jumped after it. Then waded back to shore carrying the light raft.

It likely belongs to our upstream neighbors. We have rescued their rafts before. They make a habit of leaving them on the shore close to the stream, which goes up and down with the rains. It will be interesting to see how high the stream is after this series of storms has passed.

Back up by the house and barn, the birds have been happily eating the seed I provide. Here is a fall-plumaged American Goldfinch.

And a few of the jillions of California Quail that call our farm home...

Visiting yesterday was a young Cooper's Hawk who made many passes at the quail and other birds but caught none while I watched.

Our resident Barn Owl has been hiding out in the barn loft days, making it difficult for me to feed the goats their hay without scaring him outside, where the jays harass him. Thankfully, this morning he was not in evidence. I will bet he spends this rainy night inside, though! For the first storm has arrived with lots of rain.

I'm glad I was able to enjoy the farm's autumn beauty before wind and rain change the scenery...