The Signs of Fall.....

...are all over the yard. We have some groovy cobwebs going on but I haven't been able to get a good shot of them. I have taken other pictures though:

Mushrooms pop up overnight in the grass. Mmmm. Sauteed in garlic butter. NOT! I'll get my sautee-ing mushrooms at the store, thank you.

Pine cones fall from the trees that overhang the back fence.

Some kind of weird fungus thing is growing on the back side of an old tree trunk.

The ivy is turning red. 

The apples are getting ripe.

 

The strawberry plant is putting out sets and bearing fruit.

Wait. Whaaaat?

New Stuff!

Trick or Treat bags are in the shop! Along with a a few other goodies and more to come! Yay!

It Must Be Fall! The Ivy Is Turning Red!

I love Fall! I don't know why, really, but I do. I have great memories of my mother hunkered down over her sewing machine for the last couple of weeks in October making Halloween costumes for my brother and me. She usually threw a halloween party for us. For some reason I remember these parties more than birthday parties. She went all out with decorations and Halloween-y themed food and my dad would take us around the neighborhood trick or treating while she stayed home in case any trick-or-treaters came to the door. We were the only kids in the neighborhood, so it was unlikely, but one never knew. That was back in the day when all our neighbors knew each other and there wasn't any weirdness to worry about. At least where we lived. We had some lovely older people in our neighborhood and they used to bake cupcakes and cookies to give to us on Halloween night. They knew we were coming and they prepared all day for us. As I think about it, I think my mother exercised great wisdom in doing a Halloween party for us each year. It wasn't just for us. It was for the little old neighbor ladies too.

We're getting fall-ish here lately and I'm loving it!!!! I love all the seasons but for some reason I like autumn best.  Summer is winding down, the mornings are crisp, warming up into pleasant days, and then getting nippy again at night, and we have fires in the fireplace. The new school year has begun, and the smell of pumpkin and spice is in the air. Starbucks brings back pumpkin spice latte! That's ALWAYS something to look forward to! Football season is fun, and plans and ideas for the holidays begin to develop. The change of seasons is always a time of new beginnings. Love that!          

Catchin' up

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, thanks for asking! I have been busy however, and my blog tends to go by the wayside when things get REALLY busy. Such is life.

I've been to Tacoma (during the hottest weather they've had on record I think) with my husband. He preached a series of revival meetings there and I got to go along...YAY! The church he was preaching in is pastored by a very close friend of his, who's wife is, conveniently, a very dear friend of mine. Great revival, great time with friends, great week all the way around in a beee-oooo-tiful part of the country! My word, is it gorgeous up there! Even if we did sweat buckets!

We've been busy around here too. I've been restablishing my early morning routine of getting up and going to prayer meeting, eating right, working out. Amazing how quickly those things can fall by the wayside!

I'm quitting caffeine. Again. Sigh. I do love a good cup of coffee, but it really doesn't love me. So...along with the eating right and working out goes a reduction in caffeine consumption. I do feel amazing when I'm not hooked on it, and if the truth be told, I don't like the idea of being addicted to something.

So...with that little update...I'm off. The work out is calling. Oh, I am so disciplined these days!

Hah. :-)

Photo credit:
http://www.hotjobs.coremedicalgroup.com/default.asp?PageID=950

Herbs for Herb

Who's Herb, anyway?

Look what I picked up today:

I don't know much about strawberries, other than we love them and eat a LOT of them. I buy them frozen year around and have been meaning to grow some myself for a couple of years. Not sure how this will work, but we'll see!

We love fresh basil and my attempt to root it (scroll down a couple of posts) didn't pay off. I didn't think it would, but I figured it was worth a shot. I think this one will work much better. I'll repot it into something pretty soon.

I've never grown sage before, but I do use it in the kitchen; we'll see what we shall see. Another candidate for a pretty pot.


This guy needed a haircut...which is convenient for my salad! Yum.


Lastly, I want to show you my mint...again scroll down a bit to see it when it started out. It's taking off and taking over. I'm glad I put it in a pot and didn't let it run rampant in the garden! I lopped off a bunch from the top yesterday with the idea that it might bush out more instead of get leggy. This guy is growing great guns...too bad it's not an indicator of the "green-ness" of my thumb! Mint is probably the easiest thing to grow in the world!