The "Color" of Rain~

Hydrangea bloom~

 I'm missing my addiction!  Even with one of the five wettest October's on record, it still seemed like I had many good ride days.  With the coming of November - Rain!  For those of us in the convergence zone, not just a little rain, but torrential downpours that come in waves.

Cottage & Golden Ninebark

On such a wet, gray day - I took the camera with me on my morning walk.  Looking for the beauty in the day & finding plenty.  There were originally three planted around the pond, with the shade of the Big Leaf Maple overhead, two didn't get enough light.  Then - the maple lost a big branch & the remaining shrub flourished.

Vine Maples

Up in the woods, the yellows seemed So bright!  Nothing like yellow to brighten any morning!   With the non-stop rain of last night - I could hear the creek from the house!  It was no surprise to see that our little creek had expanded since yesterday.

Water under the bridge :-)

 The wild cherry trees have dropped their leaves, faster than I could get a photo of them while still on the trees - but - they're still beautiful on the ground.  Luckily I always have plenty of projects that I save for those rainy days that will continue coming for several months now!

Let there be Light!

So - as I usually do this time of year - the lights come out!  I love the amber lights that Ben Franklin sells in their seasonal lighting displays.  It brightens my day every time I look out the sliding door & see the warm glow.  We found the lantern at our favorite garden/gift shop on Chuckanut Drive.

With the time change, Butch is now coming home after dark & it seems much later than it is - at least it will until I get used to it!  Sunset?  4:44 p.m.!  :-)  Happy FALL!

Sunbreaks!?

Farah enjoys the Greenery

It really did look like it was clearing as we left home.  I wanted to try the Garmin Transmitter V-Max adapter kit that I'd finally ordered from Action Rider Tack.  I've never even tried the human heart monitoring options that came with the 310XT.  I had the watch configured, put the electrodes where they're supposed to be - & obtained NO reading!   OK, I thought - we'd just get out there, do some trotting - work up a little sweat & it would work.  Not...  So I was off the saddle, adjusting, moving, re-clipping the ends etc.   Did it work?  No...  Back to the drawing board.  I've never ridden with one & after all this time I don't know why I want it now!

Thinking that we'd do our short loop, since there were some really DARK clouds moving around over head - we had to fight our way out to the old logging roads & power lines.  There's just no way I'm getting through again without going up with power equipment & getting some of the brush cut back.

Pouring Rain!

We didn't even make it up the hill before the storm struck!  The wind came with it & it was really nasty.  Farah actually wanted to just hunker down & wait it out - maybe with some grazing while we waited?  NO!  Keep going girl!  Lets at least get back into the trees!

Elderberry in the rain/sun

We got into the woods, it really didn't help any - I was soaked to the skin, but the sun did come back out!  Rain falling & sunshine!  All the rain put all the branches right in my face...  Farah's too.  A couple times she would stop & wait for me to move an especially nasty blackberry vine out of her way.  With this rain & the quick heat that comes with the sun - they're growing about a foot a day!

On the final hill~

Before we even got down the last hill, the clouds thickened again, darkened & the rain came back with a vengeance!  Once you're soaked, it really doesn't matter :-)  Back at the barn, I stripped my saddle & turned on the heat in the tack room to dry things out.   We did log over six-miles on our short loop & are hanging on to seventh place in the Distance Derby!