Our craft group -- the 6 of us call ourselves the Sugar Maple Crafters -- spent all sessions this year creating homemade decorations for a 6 foot Christmas tree at the Wausau Festival of Trees.  (90-some trees and decorations are all donated, raffled off, and proceeds go to Wausau Aspirus Hospice House.  The project raises around $150,000 annually.)  This was our group's first attempt.  We are anxiously waiting to see how well our tree does.  Below are views of a few other entries at the 2009 Festival of Trees.

 

Above:  this tree's theme was The Wizard of Oz.  Beneath it is a "dollhouse", but notice that this dollhouse has landed on top of the Wicked Witch and smashed her flat! . . . .

Finally,   somebody made a really, really big wooden train. . . . 

Sunday (Sunny Day) in November

Well, the photos are in reverse order compared to the order of events. From bottom up:

Rib Falls United Methodist Church, all shiny white in its new (vinyl) siding.
We are getting to the end of a two year project to strengthen foundations, add a multi-purpose room, install new doors. The window trim and the bell tower need painting yet . . . . Talked of a leap of faith at the beginning of the project, but what it took was lots of baby steps.

The pheasants (roosters here, but there are hens too) live on a game farm in Taylor County, WI. Multiple pens along a half mile of County Highway M, so that means hundreds (thousands?) of birds. I don't know much about the farm; guessing the birds are raised there and released elsewhere for hunting. Notice the small blue helmets on each rooster: maybe they are intended to protect their eyes? Do pheasants not "play nicely together" when space is somewhat crowded? The farm is near Perkinstown in the Chequamegon Natl Forest, west of Medford and east of Gilman.

The sunsets are from two successive Sundays in November. This is a bonus for living on a hilltop.