Early morning walk...

Yesterday I walked in 90 degree heat, so this morning I decided to beat the heat and walk early. I didn't carefully plan for this yesterday. I just happened to wake up before 6 and thought it looked nice and cool out. It will reach 90 again today, so I ate a quick breakfast (peanut butter and banana on cranberry/wild rice bread, yum!) and was out the door about 6:15. I followed Adam's truck out the driveway as he headed to work.

It was a breezy 70 degrees and just perfect for walking. I decided to take my 2 mile walk up Elk Haven Drive, which is right across the county road from my house. I even took my camera, so look out! Here come more pictures than you really want to see, lol.

Heading out my driveway.

The gnarly oaks and hazelnut bushes are well leafed out. The breeze was ruffling the leaves so their silvery undersides shone in the morning sun. Poetic, eh?

The farmer who owns the adjoining property is  baling hay. Working like mad to get it done before thunderstorms set in tomorrow. He worked late into the evening yesterday, and is back at work this morning.

Who's that on the left?

A wily turkey. There are two, and they gobbled quietly at me, not happy that I had interrupted their morning jaunt.

As I walked on they headed for the road.

Turkeys, like chickens, always seem to want to get to the other side.

See the jeep on the left? And the white box-like thing behind it? That's the little free library. He's revamped it to hold more books. Now it contains six (I think) large bins with books. There's a new sign on the side that says "Not so little free library"! I like his style! Can't wait to paw through the books. :)

There are lots of interesting little driveways going back into the woods on this road. But, of course, it's all private property, so we only get a glimpse. There's also an area that's a game preserve. Micah once saw a bear wandering across this road, so you won't find me walking here when it's getting dark.

As I type there's a pileated woodpecker at the bird feeder. For such a shy bird they sure do talk a lot and draw attention to themselves. If I look over my left shoulder (I'm sitting on the couch) I can see him hopping around the trunk of the tree, trying to position himself to breakfast on suet.

This photo is just to show that there are houses all along this road. It's a dead end and I think it's on sort of a peninsula, because there are lake homes on both sides. It ends in a big loop. If I stop right before the loop and head back home it's about a 2 mile walk. I've never walked around the loop. I'll have to do that one day when I'm full of energy. That would make it about a 2.7 mile walk. (I've measured it with my car.)

Another mysterious driveway.

There's the loop at the end of the road.

Back home again. I noticed a couple of wild roses in bloom.

 The barn framed in greenery.

 The view from my camp chair in the front yard, where I sat for a few minutes until one of the local barn cats came pleading for its breakfast. :)

I did a lot of APC (altered playing card) creating in the last couple of days. These APC swaps can go on for over a year to get a complete deck finished. I decided to finish this one up early and get the cards sent to the host. My postman must wonder why I've sent five envelopes to the same address in the last few days. I could bundle them together, but I think it's easier for the host to have them separated according to the swap they belong to. So, I finished up these sets. The theme was "Female with Text", so they just had to have a female on them, and some text. Weird, huh?

Here's a random Butterfly and Flower card that I couldn't find when I posted pictures of that swap. Got to use up some of my dried flowers!

We had another unusual swap called "Funny Fish". The only requirement was that they fit in a 9x4 business size envelope.

And now to enjoy the cool breezes coming in my windows as I have some time reading scripture and other good Christian books. And I just may need a little more breakfast! (Second breakfast?)

Eye doctor update: No glaucoma! Thank you, Lord! She'll monitor me every six months.

I hope you all have a great week.
Shalom and love to everyone!