It's Autumn! Finding Reasons to Live at Apple Hill.

Hello loves.  

I came here to try to get back on track.  And as I stated in my previous post (which I just came on here and found, so I finished it and published it), I have been struggling with my mental health very badly lately.   

Following advice from both my therapist and psychiatrist, I am trying to restore my faith in this ugly world and one of the ways that I do this and heal myself is by road trips into this beautiful gift from God called Earth.  

So last weekend I got up early and headed up highway 50 to Placerville and Apple Hill.  It was a gorgeous morning and I wanted to beat the crowds so I could have some peace and take some photos before doing a small bit of shopping.  :-)

Most of the farms weren't even open when I got up there just before 8:00 a.m. so I decided to drive around and look for Autumn colors to photograph. I drove up past Abel's Acres and went down the road to El Dorado Orchards (I think) since they have a big gloriously colored tree in their parking lot.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do with this information because...well...it's just a lone tree in a parking lot!  Not very photogenic.  haha  

But today, the morning light in the distant orchard highlighted another beautiful green tree and I thought it might look cool framed by the red, yellow, and gold leaves of the parking lot tree.  

From there, I just drove a big circle by heading down to Hassler Road and following it back around to Abel's Acres.  

Oh, such MAGIC I saw along the way!!

I came around one corner and saw an amazing and colorful vista with different shades of green, red, and orange and had to pull over to snap some pics.  And the best thing for my Autumn photos??  There was a wild turkey right there walking amongst the trees!!  Awesome!

I took one photo and zoomed way in (which of course caused some deterioration since this is a small sensor bridge camera) for the turkey.  But fortunately I think it looks kind of cool processed with some AI filters along with a layer of "paint strokes".  

Cool!  So happy.  

One thing I love in rural areas is when people put old trucks to new use.  One of the main things I see done is to use a truck as a flower bed, which I love.  These folks on Hassler Rd multipurposed their truck as both a flower planter and a mailbox!  Cute!

Yes, I had to quickly stop and get a picture of the gorgeous tree line road leading me into the light!   

And then I saw Lava Cap Winery and stopped.  No, not to taste some wine (which I totally would do if it wasn't 8:00 in the morning with me driving alone, etc.) but because the groomed fields looked so beautiful!  

I couldn't park where the vineyards are so I had to walk around a bit (good for me!).  

In the process, I saw a small rubbish (But the rubbish was so beautiful though?) pile and HAD to stop and take some photos.  The purple colors (my favorite) were so lovely that I was very tempted to take some home with me.  Only the wrath of my daughter stopped me. haha

The vista that originally caught my eye from the road...

So while I was walking around Lava Cap, I saw (behind their locked gate) some pumpkins sitting amongst the gardens and I thought it looked pretty cute.  Then I remembered back in the day when I would take a little companion on my trips to be in some photographs.  And by companion I mean a stuffed animal or photo prop of my BTS friends. 

So I decided to go do my little bit of shopping and buy a pumpkin to take some pictures of.  Since it was Halloween and all.  I headed to Abel's Acres but got sidetracked by some horses and birds.  lol 

Yes, the next picture is of a dumpster.  But it's a dumpster with a Western Bluebird on it!!  lol  

And this is a female or juvenile Western Bluebird UNDER the dumpster.  Well, not quite under.  But there is a sparrow of some sort more under.  

Chipping Sparrow!!  So delightful!

Abel's didn't have the apples I wanted, so I headed over to Boa Vista and bought Arkansas Black apples for me and Terrie. They were a disappointment unfortunately.  Most apple orchards in Apple Hill were damaged this year and the apples didn't look right.  But I hoped they would still be delicious but they had a weird texture and didn't quite taste right.  The texture was chalky and was pretty off-putting.

But I had more success in my other purchases of delicious apple cider and two kinds of fudge (chocolate and apple pie).  And a green-striped pumpkin to star in some photos!  :)  I promptly took him over to a lovely red maple tree I had seen by a house down the street from Lava Cap.  

And by this pinecone and cool rock!

And in my beautiful rubbish pile!!

And, finally, amongst the gorgeous flowers in the bed by the Lava Cap Winery logo sign!

And then...my magical morning got even MORE magical!

When I'm going through this crisis of mental health and faith, I'm not afraid to ask for a sign from Father God that he is with me and still carrying me when I need it.  

I used to pray like 10 times a day.  But in the ugliness of this world and what passes in the news for so-called Christianity (from IMO the people who are the LEAST like Christ that I've ever seen), that number has fallen to usually once a day.  Sometimes nunce a day.  

I'm trying to change that.  Because my relationship with the Lord is just that.  MY relationship with the Lord.  And I can't worry about what other people are doing.  Or what they think of what I'm doing.  The hard lesson I learned when my brother died is that the people that I love do not always love me in return.  

I so miss my brother, but to be honest, I'm grateful that they did not live to be a part of this world.  Because I don't know how that would have went and I'm so sad just thinking about it. 

So I seek out God's beauty in God's creation.  I ask questions but also try to rely more on faith, because my over analytical mind just questions everything and runs a million miles an hour - especially lately. 

So on this incredibly beautiful morning full of God's light, love, sounds, and sights, I was feeling His spirit.  

And then came another sign carrying all of the above.  I heard a beating sound.  It was pretty loud and sounded like a Harley coming from down the road.  But nothing came. 

I kept taking photos.  And heard it again.  And again.  

Finally I realized that it was coming - not from the road - but from right beside me.  There were 3  delicate and yet grand hummingbirds admiring the very same small plot of flowers that I was.  

Just after I realized what was making the sounds, a truck came by and they all scattered.  I sat down on a rock.  And said a quick prayer that I may be blessed with the return of at least one so I could try to get a photo.  

And one came back.  Just one.  Just for me. You'll never convince me otherwise.  :-) 

It's drinking!  Look closely and you can see it's long beak going into the flower.  It's body looks a bit weird though.  

And last but not least, I even got a mostly CLEAR PHOTO!  

It was a very good morning that I will tuck away into my memories to pull out when I'm feeling sad or hopeless.  Thank you. 

xoxo

Panasonic Lumix FZ80 bridge camera with Topaz DeNoise & Sharpen AI editing software

Autumn - Where Every Leaf is a Flower - Apple Hill 2017

I just love Autumn!  While it's not true that the seasons never change in California, and also not true that we don't get a lot of Fall color, it can be a blink and you miss it moment some years.  

This year we had an Indian Summer that was hotter than most of the regular Summer.  So Autumn came and went pretty fast at the higher elevations.  There is still some gorgeous foliage here in Sacramento, but who wants photos of gorgeous trees with urban sprawl?  Not me!

So last weekend I headed up Highway 50 to Apple Hill.  I went on the spur of the moment, just before sunset and basically just drove around until I spotted red or yellow.  I got really lucky because it was mostly brown and green!  

It was kind of chilly and a lot of folks had burn piles going.  Which made for some beautiful sun rays peaking through the evergreens.

But luckily, I found a few spots where color was lingering.  Including one farm that had this cool, old truck! 

This place was really beautiful.  There were several bright spots of color along with some very cool stuff to take pictures of.  

Obviously I just loved this huge waterwheel!  

I found some more color at a farm down the road.  

I'm not really sure what these reddish bushes were, but it was obviously a crop of some kind as it was planted in rows and covered a huge field. 

This is a close up of the leaves with the sun just about setting in the background. 

Across from the field was a lovely picnic area shared by some couples and a few kids running around.  

And beside the field, there were trees with apples!  

This is a shot of the neighboring farm which had one absolutely brilliant red tree.

The sun went behind the pines, so I got back in my car and headed down the road.  

I actually turned the wrong way and was just about thinking that I wouldn't see any more color when I rounded a corner and, voila!  The sun was perfectly highlighting a red tree through the dark forest!

Luckily there was a perfect spot on the shoulder to pull safely off the road to get this picture. 

And then I hit the jackpot!!

There was a lovely road with white fences and fir trees, when suddenly I came upon a beautiful field with lavender bushes, red trees, and a cool red barn! It was surrounded on three sides with bursts of bright color - all highlighted by the sunset!

And it had a big gravel area in front where I could pull of the road and walk around, so it was just perfect. 

I couldn't have been there at a better time if I had actually planned it!  The sun was casting an orange glow and perfectly highlighting the foliage. 

The lavender smelled scrumptious with nary a bee so close to sunset!

It was the perfect ending to my drive!

I worked my way back to Highway 50, past the hordes leaving the most popular farms.  And just as I made it through the heavy Placerville traffic, the sun set into total darkness.

I need to go back to pick some chestnuts for my Thanksgiving dressing and get some photos of some adorable sheep and burros I saw!  Hmmm...guess I'm heading back this weekend!  lol

xoxo

Nikon D3300