Seizing Autumn

Have your camera ready, since Autumn if fleeting.  November will start at the end of this week.  It manages to surprise me each year.  Where did the summer go?  Fall is rushing us to winter.

 I am enjoying each and every gift.  My neighbor's maple.

 The leaves that litter the lawn.

 The very last of the cosmos...pink

 and white.

 Like a dream, a ride through the ravines.  So beautiful and romantic.

 The Lakefront, a perfect sky, so blue and a Lake almost too lovely to believe.

 The Sun was warm and the wind was cool.  People walked the shore in bare feet and sweatshirts.

 We walked and walked.  We kissed and a young couple was inspired to do the same.;-)

We are young at heart.

 Closerthanthis!

 Drinking in all that Autumn has to offer.

 Enjoying it all.

All of it a gift.

In a sewing mood, working on gifts... so no show and tell.  I do have some recent thrifting finds to share soon. Thanks so much for stopping in.  Enjoy this beautiful day.

A Busy Week with Excellent Company

A pumpkin my Mom crocheted for Kristen is now going home with Penny

 I spent the week with my granddaughter.  We filled every day with fun and activities.  Shared some time with the cousins, shopped, visited the library, the park...did some crafts, some "romantic " dancing.  Read some books, or should I say, A book, "Frozen", multiple times..

 We made this cool fairy play clay.  2 and a half cups cornstarch, I cup of scented hair conditioner.

 We mixed it with our hands, then added a few drops of food color and some glitter!

 It made the dreamiest play clay, smelled great and was so much fun to create with.

 This, in case you didn't recognize it, this is a wedding cake. (Decorated with eggs, tulips and penguins!)

Penny even came with to my guild's service night and helped.  That's my beautiful friend Judy and her wonderful son Jake.  Jake and Penny were best buds by the end of the evening and Grandpa was pooped from chasing after them in the Church corridors. (Grandpa helped too, but mostly wrangled the kids.)

I don't know who these ladies are...;-)

 We still managed  to complete many pillowcases and some other projects that needed our attention.

On Friday we picked up daughter Kristen at the airport and took them home.  It was a quiet house when we got back home. I missed our little one, but slept really well.  It's wonderful that Penny is so comfortable here with Grandma and Grandpa, and we love having her here with us.  It is WORK, but so much fun and tons of hugs and love. What a girl!

On Saturday we were invited to Michigan, just north of New Buffalo.  Brother Greg and Elizabeth were staying at a friend's home on a little vacation.  I couldn't pass up the opportunity to hang out at the Lake.
It was cold, even a few snow flurries, and the wind was wild.

The beach was empty except for us.  You could walk for miles on that beach... It was amazing to have it all to ourselves. We were just visiting for the afternoon, but Elizabeth has been sending me photos of sunsets and sand dunes.  Tyler started a fire for us on the beach, but the wind was too strong to feel any heat. Still, it was just amazing! A really magical place.  I hope Greg and Elizabeth are able to return next year, and invite us back.;-)  I plan on walking that beach as far as I can go, another dream of mine!

 

 A little vineyard, cozy cottages and large
beautiful homes share the Lakefront.

 

 Spending time with the little nieces was great too.

Elizabeth found this battered Monarch on the beach.  I imagine it was crossing the Lake on it's way
south for the migration.  This really was the summer of the Monarch butterfly, especially for my Granddaughter and I.  I checked to see if this butterfly was tagged, but it was not.  The last two Monarchs I saw was on October 12th, both headed south.  Just imagining the journey these beautiful butterflies take all the way to Mexico,  fills me with awe.  This little one didn't make it, but I hope that thousands perhaps millions do.

Why is it that so many of us persist in thinking that autumn is a sad season?
Nature has merely fallen asleep,
and her dreams must be beautiful if we are to judge by her countenance.

-Samuel Taylor Coleridge-

Thanks so much for stopping by.  My posts are few and far between, especially when the little ones are visiting, but I appreciate your patience and kind comments.  Enjoy this beautiful day.

Cue the geese...

  A morning walk in October never disappoints.

 The geese, the sky...

 The first signs of color in the trees.

 Autumn has come late this year.

 We might have flowers into November...

 The Lambs Ear show no signs of frost.

 Marigolds speak to me as mums never can.  The smell, you either love it or hate it.  I do love it so.

The skies, oh the clouds!

 I put out a few decorations...I made the throw from a perfect cotton fabric, and the owl pillow has seen a few Octobers. That's as Halloween as I get.

 So has the garland.

 These wooden pumpkins have graced this settle for many a year.

A welcoming entry says "It's cozy inside!"

The  Chicago Cubs won the wild card game and will now face the Cardinals.  I am enjoying seeing our town celebrate. Baseball...

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy this beautiful day.

Weekend Update

 An early morning walk on a crisp autumn day.  (This was Friday)

 The sky just sparkles...

 and I have the streets to myself.

 Well I did have the moon.

 ...and the plants,

 and trees.

I picked up the Beekman 1902 Almanac.  It's on new stands now.  Josh and Brent are launching this new magazine.  Depending on how this issue goes they may publish it quarterly.  I love the look of it inside and out.  It features Tricia Foley a decorator and author I admire, recipes, a Beekman calendar ala Martha...  As I take the time to read each article I will report.  I have said before that these guys are the best.  I want to support all their endeavors!

 I can't get enough of these moody autumn skies.

 Yes, more parking lot photos.  It's where you can really see the sky without obstructions.

 The sky changes in minutes, and I stand in wonder.

We were so lucky to have another weekend visit with the small one. We went to find a sincere pumpkin patch.  She loved the pumpkin farm we always visited when Penny's Mom and Uncles were young.  It was cold, windy and overcast.   We froze, or I should say Grandma froze.  Penny was unfazed by the cold wind and visited every cartoon character.  Penny picked out the perfect pumpkin. A visit with the cousins, including a dance party capped Penny's visit.  So much joy having these girls together,

The Bears won, the Cubs are in a wild card game in Pittsburgh on Wednesday.  I am not a big sports fan, but it seems to make the men folk happy with winning teams.  I finally updated my iPhone this weekend.  I got a hand me down phone from son Mike. Thanks pal!  This phone unlike my old phone is not run by squirrels.  The squirrels that ran my old iPhone were a fickle bunch.  They might open my camera...or send a photo if they felt like it.  It got to the point that I couldn't answer a call.  Hubby said the squirrels had to go. Great to have a working phone again... how I have come to depend on this lifeline to my family.

Mike starts a new job today.  Seems the thing to do this fall.  Good luck to my baby boy. (he just loves when I call him that ;-)

Oh October, you thrill me on the clear crisp days and vex me on the cloudy gloomy ones.   Today looks like the latter.  Sigh.

Thanks for stopping by and for your kind comments,
Enjoy this beautiful day.