Happy Christmas 2015...

To all our friends, family, and blog readers: We hope that you had a wonderful Christmas and have a blessed 2016. As you can see from the picture, we've been blessed with a new addition! :) But more on Riaan's arrival in the next few posts. Thanks for reading our news. Much love and God bless, Murray, Candace, Riaan and Rusty. :)

Icy morning...

An early December frosty morning in Daviess County, Indiana. The fog and frost combined to create a rather spooky atmosphere. It's lovely weather to walk in and appreciate the beauty in the icy details. :)

 View outside our home.

 View looking east along the gravel road.

 Frozen letter box.

 Tiny shards of ice.

 Icy leaf.

 Frosty blades of grass.

 A dandelion hiding beneath a layer of ice.

 Spooky atmosphere.

View across the pond.

Spotted Lady Beetles...

I came across this cluster of spotted lady beetles while walking Rusty the other day. I've never seen so many together at once!

Candace's Baby Shower...

Candace's baby shower was held at the Bethel Church Hall on Saturday, 7th November. She really appreciated those who came and showed their support and encouragement to her. Here are a few photos from this event - photos thanks to Candace's mom, Lavone.

Pretty skies...

Some more pretty skies to start off the month of December!

Indiana Covered Bridges...

Candace and I visited a couple of beautiful covered bridges late last month. (Thursday, 29th October.)  After visiting the Short Covered Bridge in Oregon and the Humpback Covered Bridge in Virginia, I've decided that covered bridges are really cool. :) The first bridge we visited was the Richland-Plummer Creek Covered Bridge just south of Bloomfield. From there we drove out into rural Indiana and found the Williams Bridge - the second-longest covered bridge in the state of Indiana at a length of 373 feet or 114 metres. It was a fun trip exploring some history in beautiful surroundings!

 Richland-Plummer Creek Covered Bridge in Bloomfield, Indiana.

 It was built in 1883.

 Wooden supports inside the bridge.

 Williams Dam, a former hydro-electric plant in Williams, Indiana.

 View looking out over the river.

 The East Fork of the White River flows over the step at Williams Dam.

 The old hydro-electric plant.

 Williams Bridge as seen as you exit the town of Williams.

 Williams Bridge was built in 1884.

 Inside the covered bridge.

View looking out the northern end of the bridge.

 View from the Huron and Williams Road.

 The strong stone pillar in the middle.

 Beautiful rolling hills in autumn.

Amazing atmospheric phenomenons...

Back in August, during the early evening, I witnessed this atmospheric phenomenon. (17th August.) It looks like an upside-down rainbow and is called a circumzenithal arc. This is formed by ice crystals in the atmosphere refracting the sun's light. It is closely related to the 22 degree halo - which I also witnessed at the end of October. (25th October.)

 The sun was low in the sky when I witnessed the circumzenithal arc.

The "upside-down rainbow" high in the sky.

The 22 degree halo I saw was at night. It's when there is a clear ring around the moon - or the sun during the day - and is also formed when ice crystals in cirrus clouds refract light. My photographs don't really do it justice, though.

Another view of the 22 degree halo visible around the moon.

McCormick's Creek State Park...

Candace and I visited McCormick's Creek, a beautiful State Park near Spencer, Indiana, on Sunday 25th October. We were once again treated by the lovely changing colours and enjoyed walking a few short hikes in the forest. We even crawled through Wolf Cave. It was definitely a fun adventure!

 Driving north along a pretty country road.

 So much colour in the trees!

 Harvested field.

 Crossing the old bridge near Newberry.

 Heading towards Spencer. Lovely thick forest on the sides of the road.

 The entrance to McCormick's Creek State Park.

 The Canyon Inn, a former sanitorium that is now a hotel.

 Pretty colours outside the hotel.

 Walking down to McCormick's Creek.

 The creek bed.

 With Candace near the small waterfall.

 33-week photo by the waterfall.

 The stone arch bridge built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.

Walking the picturesque trail to Wolf Cave.

 Wolf Cave. The name comes from the story about a girl who passed the cave on her way home. A pack of wolves emerged and chased after her. She escaped by throwing down her gloves and bonnet and thus distracted the wolves.

 We crawled through to the other side.

 Emerging out of Wolf Cave. It was a fun three-minute crawl through the darkness!

 The Twin Bridges - remains of a cave that has long since collapsed.

 Cute little chipmunk.

 A lovely sunset as we returned home.

What a great afternoon's outing!