Warning!!! Snakes!!!!!

For those of you that don't like snakes-STOP- do not look!!!

Yesterday as I was walking to the mailbox, there was this little

brown snake with a red belly. I had never seen one before. Now my

kids would tell you I am an old person and should of seen one

by this time of my life but ,No, I had never seen one before.

This is a Redbelly snake that eats grubs and insects and also

is nocturnal. Now the only reason I could figure out as to

why he/she was out and about this time of day was that it

wanted to get to the other side of the road.

He/she was just a little snake, about 12 inches long.

The last of the bumble bees for the summer

If you look closely you will see this large bumble bee trying to get some nectar before

the summer is over.

Aidyn showing how to hang on her bars

Aidyn showing me how to hang on the bar. Now, she did not ask me to try this.

I am sure she knew that would be an impossible task for this g'ma.

Aidyn and I had a lot of giggles while she did this. What a great kid.

Some wild flowers

This summer Jerry and Justin built a raised flower bed at the Lodge.

Justin and I then planted wild flowers in it. They were on their own.

They are blooming now of course and some just started blooming

and there was frost so they are no more. This is what is left and they

are doing very well.

I don't know the names of any of these flowers
I would guess these might be sunflowers
And another sunflower

Ranting and raving

I need to rant a bit about the drivers around Bismarck area. I swear they think they are the only ones on the street. Twice lately someone has decided to move into another lane and oops there seems to be a driver there-- that being me. This means I get to slam on my brakes, turn out of their way and definitely I use my horn. Everything on the front seat flies onto the floor. Luckily there wasn't anything breakable in that mess that is now on the floor boards. They then look and see me, move back into their own lane and go on their merry way. Now I have always thought the drivers in Bismarck were meant to be out on prairie trails in the first place. I have grandchildren that are better drivers then they are. By the way, this has happened to me on the interstate too. Some dude just in la-la land tries to move into my lane with his pickup and trailer. I slam on the brakes and turn out onto the shoulder and lay on the horn. He then throws up his hands and realizes he should check his mirrors before doing that again. I like to drive but dislike the people that don't look before moving into the next lane. I should invest in a giant air horn.
Now, wouldn't that be fun to blow that thing when some dude screws up on the road.

More snapshots of the orchard

Jerry picking his favorite apple of the dayG'pa trying to be William Tell although without the bow and arrow
Jeff hoisting Aidyn to get an apple.
Nolan and Aidyn sitting with the pumpkins
Now this is an antique apple peeler. This would be something

that I would love as I dislike peeling apples. The biggest problem would be

to find a spot in my kitchen for this needed item. It takes just seconds

to peel an apple and it peels several at a time plus it cores them. Now

that is my kind of kitchen gadget.

A visit to an apple orchard

This is on the way to the apple orchard itself. They herded us into a wagon

that was pulled by a tractor and the way we went.Jerry, Jeff and Kristi looking forward to picking

their own apples on a beautiful fall day.

One of the many apple trees that was loaded with apples.

This is another shot of the same tractor/wagon contraption.

Jeff holding Nolan high into the tree so he could pick a certain apple.

Good for muscle build up.