Anticipation

Thanksgiving is coming.

Hanging On

The leaves are off most of the trees and it's starting to have that bleak winter look. I did find this bit of color today in West DuPage Woods Forest Preserve.

Jack-O-Lantern

Scent

I lit my Spiced Pumpkin Yankee Candle tonight.

Fall Flowers

The fall is a time for gardeners to decorate.

Leaf

It's another overcast rainy day but sometimes cloud cover helps a photographer. I stopped by West DuPage Woods Forest Preserve on my way home from church today and found some great fall leaves. This one that got stuck to my window is a favorite.

Apples

Once of my favorite fall snacks are apples, and Macintosh apples are the best. One fall in the late 70's I took a part-time job picking apples at the farm next door.

Petunias

There was frost on the ground (and my car) this morning. Tonight when I got home I noticed that the leaves of the Morning Glories looked wilted. These Petunias however are still looking pretty good. Not sure how many days they have but I'll enjoy them as long as I can.

Corn Picking

Kline Creek Farm, a 1890's living history working farm let us help husk and pick field corn today.

Half the fun was throwing the cobs into the wagon.

 Once all the corn was harvested from the row, the stalk cutter went through and made shocks.

Peek (Peak) of Color

Another brilliant fall tree.

Twin Trees

It drizzled all day, but seeing this pair of trees was a bright spot.

Vines

The light on these fall vines was perfect tonight.

Fall Bike Ride

The Illinois Prairie Path trail was spectacular today and I especially love this path in the fall. I just couldn't keep myself from stopping to take pictures on my 12+ mile bike ride.

 When the vines turn red the are brilliant.

Warrenville Grove

Tonight I stopped by the Warrenville Grove Forest Preserve as the sun was going down, looking for fall color. Here's what I found.

 

Fall

The colors were really sharp tonight when I stopped at Blackwell Forest Preserve. 

Even the sunset matched the palette.

Fall Garden

Even with a dry fall my garden is blooming gloriously.

I even found the closed Morning Glory blossom intriguing.

Crock Pot Meal

With the arrival of fall, I'm making my first crock pot meal: Taco Soup.

Fall Gardening

On Tuesday I bought eight new perennials for my garden. Each year I've been adding a few and this time I decided I'd better get ones that would thrive in sun because I lost all the shade when they cut down the tree in my yard last month. This is the only one blooming. It's a Sweet Kate Spiderwort. I like it because it should flower in the Spring and then again in the Fall.

Pumpkins

Tuesday, September 18, 2012*

Fall is just around the corner. I stopped at a farm stand/garden center to buy some perennials. I'm trying to add and move some of my plants this fall so I'll have a nicer look next year. I also found myself taking pictures of the produce. I always like these mini "decorating" pumpkins.

* Photo taken 9/18/12 but not published until 9/20/12. I left my computer at work Tuesday night and had no way to upload the photo from my memory stick. 

Buds & Bloooms

Found these buds in my friend Diane's backyard. With Fall only 4 days from now, we probably don't have too many chances left this year to see buds.

Here are the flowers in full bloom.