September Ends

Hi all
Finishing up September at the lake.
Enjoying the fall colors and the cool weather.
Millie has been quilting away and I have been working on images.
Keeping us both quite busy.
Friday we took the day off and went to Maplewood State Park near Pelican Rapids, MN.
Mostly sunny light winds and about 70.
Just a lovely day to hike and drive the park loop.
The fur kids were so happy to get out and hike. They also slept real good last night.
Here is a series of photos showing the fall colors details.

And here's the gang!

And the scenic views showing the beauty of this park.

And playing with Photoshop and HDR

Make your day great
Tom and Millie

Weather changes back and forth

Hi all
Love September in the North Central states.
One day 93 breaking a record, couple days later only mid 50's.
Sunny or misty and rain.
And the leaves are beginning to change.
Unfortunately, it all portends Winter is coming.
We all know how to survive and thrive during those months,
just dream of being where it is warmer.

Enough with the weather report,
now on to the photos.
Leaves showing off!

Sunset cruise!

Some fun photographing an Osprey.

Foggy morning.

Rainy day.

Stormy sunrise.

An Autumn sunset 

And finally Smokey Moon.....
Not too bad for an 8 megapixel camera.

The last hot day we had friends of our visited at the lake.
Wonderful day with Dennis and Connie and wonderful weather.
Spent much of the day out on the lake.
I know them because I contracted with their company for many years.
They have been a big part of my life and so nice to spend time with them.

Hope your summer has been memorable
Make your day great!
Tom and Millie

Post Labor Day

Hi all
Crazy summer is transitioning to Autumn.
Working to spend some time at the lake and with friends.
When winter closes in seems so hard to get together.
Sunset photo showing the effects of all the fires west and north.

It appears we are not the only ones that enjoy relaxing at the lake.
All though this is the first time Lefty has tried to be a pillow!

Grooming for the fur kids tomorrow
then friends (used to work for their company in another life) on Wednesday.
After that, we will be flexible and figure out what to do and where to be.
Will either be the lake or home, just don't have much of a schedule until the
RUMMAGE SALE.
That will be a crazy couple of days.

Make your day great
Tom and Millie

Not ready to give up on summer!

Hi all
Well, this coming weekend is the unofficial end of summer.
School has started in ND and will begin next week in MN.
Harvest has begun and the trees and grasses are beginning the turn towards Autumn.
We plan to enjoy the lake as long as possible and not start travels until after New Years.
So many projects to get done and beautiful Autumn days at the lake to enjoy.
Smoke from Western fires make for some interesting sunsets.

Our friend is still stopping by many mornings.
Unfortunately it is early enough to be borderline for my camera capabilities.

Tuesday we picked the grapes on our back fence.
Brought them to the lake and processed them Wednesday afternoon.
We got about 15 cups of concentrated grape juice that we froze.
Use it later to add lots of flavor to commercial juices.
May use some to make jelly this fall since we will not be traveling till later.

All is well and making travel plans.
Make your day great.
Tom and Millie

Minnesota late summer

Hi all
Finally caught up with summer and now able to spend some quality time at the lake.
Millie is quilting and I'm trying for a few shots with the lake camera.
Quilt tops are piling up and more fabric is arriving.

Many of these tops are going to church and that group will finish up the assembly.

I however look for ideas and light to get some photos,
Usually not enough lens, light and pixels,
Still able to get some fun shots.

Stare down!

Smaller flying thing.

This seasons baby loon, almost all grown up!

And the Double Suns of Earth! Was this caused by the eclipse? LOL

Also I'm spending a little time at the Sportsman Club Gun Range,
working to get the holes closer together.
That's about it other than mowing lawns here and in town.
Weeding and picking garden produce.
Soon be picking grapes and making juice!

Make your day great!
Tom and Millie

Still playing catch up!

Hi all
As you have seen a few posts ago,
we went to the Pyrotechnics Guild International Grand Finale.
I hope you saw the videos and enjoyed them.
If you ever hear of the convention somewhere else, or here again,
GO, GO, GO!
They display all week and have competitions and their last night is spectacular.
Oh yeah, that's why they call it a Grand Finale!
Well, I finished up the still shots and will waste no more time
Here they are.

Pretty neat, ready for more?

Really great show, and if you ever get to go to one,
wear ear plugs!

Make your day great
Tom and Millie

Perfect Day

Hi All
Yep, perfect day for editing images and getting a post that was promised a few weeks ago.

A few weeks ago my cousin Kay and her husband David,
hosted their annual get together of Kays siblings and growing families.
They were gracious enough to invite cousins and needless to say
we jumped at the opportunity to spend some time with family.
We were even lucky enough to have our cousin Rob and his wife Chris
fly in from Salt Lake City area and join us.
Also, our parents cousin Ken and his wife Muriel came from southern MN
and joined this wonderful get together.
With Ken and Muriel, a total of 4 generations were represented.

OK, I will get to the photos and if I make a mistake on any names, well,
it shows we just don't get together often enough.
Our hosts!

The cousins

And our spouses, with Ken and Muriel.

Next generation of cousins, unfortunately not all were able to join us.

And the next generation!

Some of us just relaxing, enjoying the food and the company.

So exciting to watch as the families grow.

Dang, this family has cute kids!

Some of the other activities.

Shots!

Then out on the lake.

Everybody goes by this place, pretty amazing and it is not Kay and David's, just down the beach.

Back on shore as evening comes.

Had so much fun and so glad we could all get together.

Thanks again to Kay and David for opening their home for all of us.

And thanks to our tour guide, best "garage" I have seen. 

Cousin Kay and Millie

Sorry it took a few weeks to get the post up, and hope you are all able to enjoy

some of the pictures from a great day.

Make your day great

Tom and Millie