November | 2024 | Dunngone's Photos and Blog

The Christmas season is upon us. Kay has begun decorating—at first a bit slow, but picking up speed as the month matured. Since we’re typically gone in the January through March timeframe, decorating early allows us to enjoy the season for a tad longer.

Besides golf and pickleball, Kay was busy with medical appointments and social events, while I took a break from pickleball for the last couple of weeks, but continued to play golf, 9 holes at a time. We both really enjoy our Sunday afternoon “Couples” Golf with the Seitzs, Baggetts, and Grahams.

While Kay was at a dental appointment on Tuesday, November 19, I waited patiently for birds to land to take their photo. Only a couple “posed” long enough for photos: a Tufted Titmouse and a Red-bellied Woodpecker.

The big project for November was design and construction of a rolling workbench. Fortunately, friend Dan had the same idea and came sup with a design for his workbench that was really good. I slightly modified it, and he and I cut out the pieces on Thursday, November 21.

I photographed birds on Friday, November 22, and again on Sunday, November 24, but nothing was processed to “write home about”. Also on Friday, November 22, The Christmas season began in earnest with a performance of A Christmas Carol, A Musical Performance by the HSV Players. It was awesome!

Cast of *A Christmas Carol, A Musical Performance*

Parts of Saturday and Sunday, November 23-34, were spent assembling the rolling workbench.

My carpentry and wood working skills are quite rusty,, but the project was fun and will work for the intended purposes.

Finally, on Monday, November 25, a few new birds showed up and were photographed.

Also on Monday, I returned to the Costco Hearing Aid Center to have hearing aids adjusted. This is the third or fourth time in the last few months I’ve been there to have adjustments. After much discussion and testing, the hearing specialist agreed that the hearing aids weren’t working; that’s what I told him several months ago before I finally stopped wearing them. A loaner pair was provided and they work great. Now, if mine will come back working…

The rolling workbench project that was begun on November 21was finished on Tuesday, November 26. It’s important to note that good friend, Dan Olson, devised the original design, and I only modified it slightly.

Also, on Tuesday, Kay cooked for Thanksgiving, making my mama’s cornbread dressing and a sweet potato casserole, and I photographed a Downy Woodpecker.

We enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast at Kay’s son and daughter-in-law’s house. All the food was really good.

As the days of late November came to a close, a significant cold front invaded the mid-south, dropping temperatures to a more normal level—lows in the 30s and highs in the 50s. This Carolina Chickadee, photographed on Saturday, November 30, has become a best friend of the seed feeder.

The first week of November was one of intense rainfall, which was much needed. However, pickleball courts were closed and golf courses were cart path only; guess one can’t have everything!

I did manage to take photos five different days. A switch to bird photography was made on Saturday, November 2, as butterfly flights were far and few between. Only a couple of birds, the regulars at the feeders, were photographed, and it’s obvious I’m out of practice.

Daylight savings time ended on Sunday, November 3, and it now gets dark so quickly, and the older we get the longer it takes to adjust to the “new” time. More birds were photographed during the day, including a couple of “new” species: Brown-headed Nuthatch and Pine Warbler.

Kay’s social calendar is becoming quite full with various clubs and groups meeting weekly. This is in addition to her pickleball play several times a week.

I photographed birds again on Tuesday, November 5, but only the usual birds showed up near the feeders.

Middle school basketball has begun in earnest, and grandson Ridge plays a couple times a week. We watched him play on Thursday, November 7, but he only logged a few minutes because his team is so dar good that they were blowing the other team away. We watched him play again on Saturday, and it was the same with hime only playing a few minutes. He left at half time of the second game to play soccer, and his team won handily.

Unseasonably warm weather on Sunday, November 10, brought a few butterflies out, and two new species to our garden were observed. These were numbers 39 and 40 of the species visiting this year.

During pickleball play on Monday, November 11, I re-pulled the left hamstring, so no more pickleball for a while, and golf only 9 holes at at time.

Wednesday, November 13, was a busy day for us as we both had cardiology appointments, and Ridge had a basketball game. I did manage to take a few photos, finally switching over to the big lens, a Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS. Needless to say it requires a steady hand which I no longer possess.