A Mountain Tour & Ron's Birthday Gathering

We've climbed to the ridge of mountain we live on, which gives us an "up high" view of the same mountains we see from our porch (I've shared pictures of that view many a time).  But it also gives us a tree obstructed, 135 degree (or so, picture 3/8ths of a pie) panoramic view of the mountains and valleys south of us.  Today, we took a drive along the road that winds up and down the south side of our mountain, giving us the details of what we are looking at when we look south.  It is the first time we had been there, besides looking down from the ridge.  It was a beautifully scenic winding drive, with much undeveloped land, many old cabins, and many old farms and homesteads.  The road was narrow with little place to stop, but we did manage to find a few spots for photos...

This is an old storage barn with several old, rusty tractor like vehicles sitting about.  Behind it, there is a long field of drying corn stalks standing tall.  Though this picture did not capture what I had originally intended (the decaying building and vehicles), I love what it did capture...the sparkle of the sun with the bare tree and the shadow of the building and vehicles...

This is the field of corn behind the storage barn...I found it beautiful.  If you are wondering why the sky is so blue in the photo above, and less so in this one, I had focused my lens on the sky above (one of the reasons everything else is so dark) and on this photo I focused on the tops of the rows of corn.

This is a cow pasture near the top of the mountain (we believe it is just on the other side of the ridge we usually climb to).  The pasture was surrounded by a fence, but Mountain Man really wanted to climb in there and see if the white spots he was seeing were puff ball mushrooms, which are good eating (you will be happy to know I reminded him that fences mean private property and he did not venture out there).

This is an old log cabin along the road that reminded me of days long gone.  It ignited a feeling I sometimes get deep inside like a momentary connection.  For some reason today, I felt like we needed to respect the space and not disrupt it.  So I was quick to take my pictures, careful not to disturb anything and headed back to the car, though Johny lingered longer than I.  I was glad once we moved on, though I still find the place enchanting.   

On our way home from our day's tour, we received a call from Charlie, who was helping to spread the news that our mutual good friend/neighbor Bertie and her visiting daughter Robin were having a spontaneous birthday party for husband/dad Ron, because Robin would not be here for his actual birthday.  Of course we had to be there, and here are just a few of the celebration's pictures...

Ron, blowing out his candles...80!  Happy Birthday Ron!

This is Bertie, sitting on Ron's lap for photos:)

Of course, when we received the call to come celebrate, we got right on task of making a card.  Johny looked through his archives to find a photo of Ron, and we chose what we felt was the perfect one...Ron displaying one of his wonderful wood carvings (Ron is a master carver) while he was standing in his wood shop.  So Johny printed the photo while I wrote the card.  Ron seemed tickled with it...and it's funny, I never noticed his suspenders until I saw him holding this picture:)

This is Ron and his daughter Robin.  I had not spent any time with Robin before this afternoon, but it was easy to see what a great relationship she had with her parents, and I sure did enjoy getting to know her better!

This is Robin's husband Clyde, another master carver.  He carved this duck for Ron, you can see how pleased Ron is (if you enlarge this photo you can see the level of detail...absolutely exquisite!). 

Clyde also carved a duck he presented to Charlie & Andrea as a thank you gift for helping Ron & Bertie whenever they need something...I think Charlie was genuinely surprised and humbled...you know what they say, what goes around comes around!  

Bertie then said, "I don't want you to feel left out John", and gifted him with this little woodpecker...now if that don't beat all...here it is Ron's birthday, and everybody gets something!  You may not think Mountain Man looks like he is thrilled, but he was actually enthralled, watching the darn thing peck down the pole!!!

And this brings a close to my day.  It's been a good day.  A very good day.  I hope you've had a very good day too!

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise