Happy Thanksgiving

  I've been a bit scarce in blogland recently.

Not sure why.  Seems the spirit hasn't moved me to pick up the camera.  Another blog slump, I suppose.

At any rate, I think of you even when I'm not posting.

If you will be celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow, I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Autumn Garden

 

 The frost isn't on the pumpkin. . . yet!

Apparently we will wake up to a far reaching arctic blast. 

In watching the news reports, I know that it won't be nearly as harsh for us as it is for many to the north and west of us.

What I do know is that the countdown is on until the frost is on the pumpkin and the flowers too.

So, today, on this mild autumn day, I invite you to stroll with me through the autumn garden.

 Although there are many leaves carpeting the lawn,

 the trees are still sporting their autumn wardrobe.

I think the colors coordinate so well with the crystal clear blue sky.

Yellow with a hint of blue.  Yes please!!

 

Orange tipped leaves?  

Oui Oui!!

 

The new landscaping around the pond provides interesting texture in the form of ferns and grasses.  I love that pink muhly grass.  It looks a bit like a pink cloud.  The little Japanese Maples are also a nice contrast to the greens that are so prominent in the garden.

New camellia bushes are loaded with big plump buds.

This one is looking rather promising as it begins to open.

Encore Azaleas are providing a nice pop of color.

Until this year our azaleas had been limited to the spring blooming varieties.  I've been pleased with the performance of this encore variety.  Now we get to enjoy them for three seasons instead of just one.

It probably comes as no surprise that I would pair up yellow pansies with a blue flowerpot. :-).

 

Well, I could continue on and on with garden wandering, but I don't want to bore you.  Instead, I offer you the last rose of the season.  In this month of giving thanks, I wish to thank you ever so much for your visits and your friendship and your kindness.

It means so much to me.

No matter what you may be facing in life right now,

I wish you peace and contentment.

 

It's All A Blur

 

 Last time I posted it seemed the fall season was just getting underway.  Though I had good intentions of popping in here with some updates, it just never happened.

 Yesterday, after a rainy morning, the sun came out and seemed to highlight the beauty of the yellow leaves outside the kitchen window.

I decided I'd better get out there with the camera before the trees were bare. 

 

 Halloween is a big event in our neighborhood.

In fact it's so big that the last few years we hightailed it out of here and went out to dinner.

This year, we decided to invite a few people over and participate in the fun.  I had good intentions of snapping a few pictures of the food and table.  However, this was the only picture I took before the doorbell rang and it was time to move onto more important matters.

 Little Elmo wasn't too sure about that headpiece and his 3-1/2 teeth aren't quite enough for candy eating...

But, he was a good sport and went along with his daddy and uncle to do a little trick or treating.  His mommy works at a children's hospital and was helping to brighten the holiday for her young patients.

 

 In our neighborhood of more than 800 homes, the kids all trick or treat along the trail that runs behind our house.  This means that we have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and... well you get the idea, of kids that come through.  It makes for a fast and furious time of handing out candy.  I noticed that many of the parents were also in costume.  The man above wore a fantastic vampire costume.  I assume he was a dad, but who knows... maybe he really was Count Dracula.  At any rate, he really got into singing along to our vintage Monster Mash CD and soon had a large audience.  I tried to get a picture of the front of him, but I had a hard time getting through all of the kids.  Ha!

Right about when we ran out of candy, the rain started falling so we headed into the warm house and enjoyed our meal of chili, cornbread and hot spiced cider.

 

While looking through the Halloween pictures, at first I thought that this one was blurry.  On second glance I decided it was more like  a certain little boy is a blur of activity... somewhat like these last few weeks have been around here :).