Fall is coming into some color now, and the turkeys are back. This bachelor flock of four are coming by frequently now. It is fun to see them appear, pecking around for tidbits and acorns. They are a bit shy, only one will come close enough to get a bite of whole grain bread thrown out onto the lawn.
A second flock of mixed male and females has nine turkeys in the group. They are still just a bit skittish about coming up for bits of whole grain bread, too, but a few will brave it. The rest hang back and watch.
But they are eating a lot of acorns.
We have a drive to plan for our annual Christmas party for the MINI club, and that means driving it a couple of times to get the route plan and timing down.
Some time ago before covid, someone recommended this restaurant, but I cannot remember who it was. I was thinking it was a reader, so if it was you, do take credit!! My Sweet Babboo called them, and they were willing to do reservations for the club. The restaurant is in the perfect spot to end the drive for our Christmas weekend we call the Reindeer Run. We drove the route to make sure it was good, then had dinner here to see the quality of the food and service. The Rural Seed is in Columbus, NC, a few blocks east of the freeway.
It is a rustic place, with picnic tables to sit outside on warm days, and large doors that open up to the bar area.
I was really impressed with my meal of a bone on pork chop rib served on Parmesan risotto with broccolini. Yum!! I had to take part of it home for lunch the next day as the chop was huge.
We went back a week later to do Sunday brunch, and drive the route one more time to verify timing and mileage. I got Classic Eggs Benedict with cheese grits this time. I am picky about how my eggs are cooked, and they got it exactly right. Yep, the food passes muster!
More fall color on the way home.
Back home, I got a nice gift from Sulky last week, a set of their 50 wt quilting thread. I have been sewing with this for a few days and I have to say I am impressed with the quality, every bit as good as the other brand I’ve used for years and a bit less expensive. Right now, Sulky is having a big Holiday Sale with 30% off Holiday Threads, 35% off Stabilizer Assortments, 20% off Blanks, 50% off select Books, and 20% off Holiday supplies including a Holiday Colors pack of 50wt Quilting Threads on sale for just $9.42 for six spools! Check out this sale, but hurry, it ends tomorrow. Thank you for shopping with my affiliate links when you can. This would be a wonderful gift for a sewing buddy, a stocking stuffer for yourself, or a gift exchange!!
Over the last days of October, I hid the remaining rocks that were painted in pumpkins and candy corn. I have autumn leaves on more rocks to hide now.
In the kitchen, my Thanksgiving Cactus is beginning to bloom. I know it is a Thanksgiving Cactus because of the spiky leaves and it blooms in November. Christmas Cactus plants have smooth leaves and bloom later in December. There is also an Easter Cactus that blooms in the spring. See the differences HERE if you have one of these plants, so you can tell which one you have. Many people think they have a Christmas Cactus, when in fact they have the Thanksgiving one. Mine has just one white bloom so far, but there are lots of buds.
It has a bunch of red and light apricot blooms, with more buds on those colors, too. I think I’ll have a couple of purple-pink blooms later, along with more red and orange. The plant is really loaded with buds and should bloom continuously for a couple of weeks.
The small flock of male turkeys came back again, eating more of the bounty of acorns on our property.
The fall color is coming on now, and I think we will hit our peak this week.
Do you have fall color yet in the northern hemisphere? For my southern hemisphere readers, are your flowers blooming?
Sulky Holiday Sale and Holiday Colors pack of 50wt Quilting Threads with free shipping on orders of $60.
From My Carolina Home 
You sure do have more wildlife visiting your yard than we do…..I guess because we are soooo rural the wild things have more room to roam without invading our spaces. Must try the restaurant …..food looks yummy.
Thank You for the link for the different cactus identification. I thought I had Christmas cactus but now know they are blooming at the right time as they are Thanksgiving cactus. I sure would like to find a real Christmas cactus. I will be on the look out at the stores and nurseries now.
No blooms on my TG cactus yet 😦 and my Christmas – I am hopeful. Gorgeous scenery photos. I have never seen a wild turkey except in photo’s so they are fun to see. Our leaves here in our nw corner of the state are gorgeous too. Those Eggs Benedict look delish!
Such a lovely time of year. We have a good bit of color too here in the midwest, finally. Taking advantage of these 70 degree days to finish putting everything away for winter. A nice day for a drive, to be sure!!
I had never realized the different names for the cactus’s and recently when I posted that mine were blossoming I was told they were the Thanksgiving cactus and now I have a second one with blooms as well and looked and the third has the same leaf’s I think I will need to search for the other variety as well and maybe I will some that bloom in late December as well.
I love seeing the wild turkeys that visit your property! That looks like a lovely drive, and glad you found such a yummy restaurant, too. I didn’t realize there were several different varieties of “Christmas” cactus – I just thought they bloomed at mixed up times! Our fall color has pretty much peaked and many trees have lost their leaves now here in Colorado, but it was beautiful a couple weeks ago.
Our fall colors have come and gone, and there is a rain/snow mix in the forecast for the end of this coming week. Most of the leaves are off the trees now, and it’s looking brown and a bit dreary. We used to have a flock of turkeys here that came into our yard; I always enjoyed seeing the young ones. I think the hunting season was not good for them, unfortunately, as we haven’t seen them in awhile now. That eggs benny looks absolutely delicious (one of my favorite meals).
Thanks for the scoop on the cactus and also for the Sulky sale – just ordered a few things!
I think you have the best Fall color. Lucky you! In So. California we pretty much just turn brown, due to lac of water. But if you really look, you can find a few Fall colors and we still have blooms, but not much. We desperately need rain.
Your Thanksgiving cactus has so many promising blooms for you to enjoy. The food looks so delicious! I know your week will be filled with glorious colors in the mountains. Enjoy!
So much info! Thanks. The thread is a super deal! The colors good for any season, I’m getting 2 boxes as they might be a bit small. Our leaves are nearly gone, many had that lovely bright orange color. A few will hold out till Thanksgiving and fall after the first snow!
Enjoy the ride!
Love your photos. Especially those of your special visitors. The Mini Club Christmas drive sounds fabulous. Thank you for the explanation on the Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter Cacti. Very helpful. I’m in Southern California and the lack of rain has limited many flowers and colors unfortunately. Enjoy what you share. I look forward to your posts every week.
Turkeys are a lot of fun to watch, and those tail feathers when they put on a show! Friday the ginko trees were full of lush green leaves, Saturday morning they all rained down without changing a bit. Many oak and maple trees are still wearing their autumn cloaks & look especially beautiful in today’s low full sun with crystal clear sapphire blue skies. Those pork chops are mouthwatering. I hope mine turn out as luscious.
I am located at the 43rd parallel and my altitude is 5800 feet. Close to the mountains, so our fall color has been finished for about 3 weeks. Most of the leaves are off the trees now and we are supposed to get snow tonight. This is not the first snow, it snowed 8 inches in early October, but then warmed up and it all melted. The weather has been unusual for the last couple of years. We have only a few trees close to the house. Your view with all the forest is amazing. You probably have more trees within your view than we do in the entire state, being plains and prairie with some mountains.
Hi Carole,
Thank you for the heads-up sake at Sulky. I just purchased that Christmas deal if 6-spools for $9, actually bought two of them and some light-weight stabilizer to try. I’ve only used their thread once because someone sent me a spool. Figured if you like it, I probably would too!
Thanks also for the cactus I’d article. I thought I had a Christmas one and now I think it is a Thanksgiving one. It only bloomed once in all the years and that was a few years ago. I get little buds and then they fall off. Not sure what I’m doing wrong. Guess I need to read more. I just gave them both new Miracle Grow soil, maybe that will help. Enjoy your Sunday!!
Are all those different colored blooms on one plant Carole? I have a cactus. It blooms whenever the mood strikes! LOL It bloomed last month and could bloom again before the end of the year and will bloom several times next year! Weird!! LOL
Beautiful Thanksgiving cactus, Carole! I bet the turkeys are entertaining, and all those acorns would make them good eating too! We have 5 or 7 deer hanging out in our front yard. They got in the garden one night, so now they are coming through the car port and gazing longingly in the garden. They are all the Swiss chard the night they got in!
I love seeing the turkeys, so pretty! The Reindeer Run sounds like so much fun and the restaurant sounds great. Love the candy corn painted rock!
Jenna
Lovely to have visitors, even the feathered sort.
Lovely scenery for the drive and the restaurant looks great.
Good evening Carole, As you can see My computer time is getting into the evenings, have to do something about this. My visit to the doctor didn’t go as planed. Didn’t get my shot as my vitamin D wasn’t what it should be so doctor put me on 2 vitamins of 5000 mg twice a week so have to wait till the 13th of Dec. will be so happy to get myself back to normal, just didn’t realize I was in such low shape. Haven’t seen my turkeys but the last time I seen them there was only 3 of them. There are a lot of foreigners in Our neighborhood now and I think that’s where they are disappearing to. Living here for over 44 years I have seen many changes so beginning to think it’s time to relocate elsewhere, just don’t know where I want to go. I love the mountains but my son doesn’t like the cold so lots to consider. Got to get my clothes into the dryer so bye for now. Phyllis
I have 4 Thanksgiving cacti that I put outside in their pots for the summer in a lightly sunny, mostly shaded area where they get rain. When I brought them in before the danger of frost about a month ago, they immediately started blooming as if to thank me for bringing them in for the winter. I have two purplish pink ones (one is from having divided the other one a few years ago), one reddish one and one amazingly orange. The orange one was given to me in a teeny, tiny pot, just a little stalk, as a get well gift after I had surgery seven years ago. I’ve repotted it multiple times as it has grown. The ‘foliage’ is purple and green even though the flowers are orange. All these cacti bloom about every eight weeks all through the year though not as prolifically as they do when I first bring them in. These cacti are really my most dependable house plants along with my amaryllis bulbs. I mostly prefer outside flowers.