Color!

For Mersad's Through My Lens and Susan's Outdoor Wednesday, gorgeous Fall color!

I have an announcement to make, however...from now until the end of winter, I will be doing less blogging.  I have some winter projects I need to take care of, as well as working very seriously on my book.  The two hours I spend preparing posts, publishing them and linking in to memes, and then visiting others, is precious time right now.  I need to cut back to about two posts a week, and maybe 30 minutes a day online.  Once I get things taken care of, I will be back in full force!   If I don't visit you as often, I do apologize ahead of time.  I will do the best I can, I promise. 

Welcome to Redmond...we do our shopping and most of our Dr. visits in this town that is about thirty five minutes from our home.

There has been some lovely color in Terrebonne, however and on Crooked River Ranch where we actually live.

Most of these photos, however, were taken in Bend, which is where our kids live...it's about 50 minutes from our home.

Downtown Bend, Oregon

Bend is a tourist destination both winter and summer..there are winter sports and water sports that attract a great many people here year round.

Barns and Critters and My Town Shootout!

I am combining my next post along three lines of focus:  for Tom's Barn Collective and My Town Shootout with Mersad  then in a few days for Eileen's Saturday's Critters ....

Caught scratching his backside! :-)

Smith Rock in the background

Mt. Jefferson from my turn-off

Bluebird Painting

For Eva and Kristin's Paint Party Friday I have my new watercolor of a bluebird that landed on my geranium pot a few months back. 

I have a few other birds and a butterfly to share in photos, for Eileen's Saturday's Critters:

A Flicker

Flicker and Magpie

Juvenile Scrub Jay

Flicker on the suet feeder

Eurasian Collared Dove

Eurasian Collared Dove and juvenile Scrub Jay

Vocal Little Hummer

This and other black chinned hummingbirds are still active at our feeder.  I was sitting out on the deck one day and he flew and perched above my head on a branch.  He was being so vocal, I had to videotape him!  Unfortunately you can't hear his little chirring sound on the video...just the wind and the other birds nearby.  He still is a cutie though.  Joining in with Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Anni's Bird d'Pot:

And here is my video footage:

And one final photo:

Focus on Smith Rock

For Mersad's Through My Lens (Monday) and also his My Town Shootout (Wednesday) I am sharing a part of Terrebonne where we live that many tourists come to enjoy....Smith Rock.  It is a favorite rock climbing destination.

This shot was taken much earlier, on the fly from highway 97 at a bit of a distance...but the golden light on the rocks was impossible to pass up!

Deer Oh Deer!

For Eileen's Saturday's Critters:
We see the mule deer so often.  Someone said we needed to "tell them it's hunting season so they can go hide." :-)   But, we actually live on a 12,000 acre ranch that is an animal preserve, and that's why they are so bold.  I have to put fencing around anything I plant in the yard...but it's worth it!

Beautiful boy!   Look at his grass stem snack! :-)

Two buddies sticking together