Autumn Harvest

My apologies to those who get a little squeamish with spiders, but I had to post this. First of all, I have no idea what kind it is; I never saw one like this before. So, anyone out there who does know, please enlighten me!

We made a day of apple, raspberry, and pumpkin picking. It was fantastically warm and sunny at the orchard, not really feeling like autumn, but with the smell of apple cider and donuts in the air, we were won over. Everyone was in a great mood to delve into this time honored tradition. We ate heaps of raspberries right off of the bush (a few made it to the carton for weighing in later), helped our selves to golden delicious, stamen, and red delicious apples, and after all the picking and sampling was finished the kids visited and fed the baby goats, sheep, calves, etc. A small picnic followed (no one was starving). Then home to chill out and enjoy the sun.

This spider was feasting within the raspberry bushes. We made sure to give plenty of space so as not to disturb. Both kids and my sweetheart were really into her and had a great discussion about her dinner.

--------------------------------------------------------
10/6/09 Note: Just found out this is a Golden Orb Spider. Thanks, Bonnie!