Autumn Color

A little gift of Autumn Color from me to you!

Nothing brings me more joy, peace or dare a say a skip to my step than being outdoors. I am fond of each season for what it offers, though I admit sometimes I am not as fond of the red shoulders Summer brings or the red nose a cold day in mid January has to offer. I would have to say that my favorite month of the year, my favorite time to be out and about in nature is October into Early November. Not Spring you ask?? As a gardener, well of course I love Spring and the addition of new plants to the garden or the new bud on plants that had been asleep all Winter long, but nothing holds a candle to Fall for me. 

There is something about the chilly mornings, the comfortably warm days, the way the sun sets a bit earlier than it did for the last few months, adding a golden hue to everything here in the gardens of Muse Cottage just before supper time. Living in California, there is still plenty of roses a bloom this time of year, my geraniums have found a second lease on life, the lavender plant is still budding and swaying under the weight of the large black bumble bees that frequent its blooms. My hummingbirds still buzz my head and feed on and off daily, the little black throat chirps at me quite often as if to tell me all about his adventures and to thank me for the offering of a sweet drink. The Jay still comes for his peanuts and the Sparrows and House Finches visit quite regularly as well. If you ignore the non stop traffic and recently the non stop road work right in front and to the side of our drive, it is a very peaceful time... relaxing even. Things seem to just level out and relax a little. There is a different feel to the air as soon as October hits. 

One of my favorite things about the season however is the changing of the leaves. The Autumn colors. I send countless hours strolling through the near by neighborhoods, just gazing at all the trees and shrubs and all the multitude of changes they are going though one day to the next. It is a new and brilliant visual feast each and every day. Made only better by the birds that I pause to watch and at time even "chat" with. The Squirrels that dart here and there and abruptly stop once the perfect spot has been chosen to bury the acorn within their small mouth. The air is filled with sounds of not only of the wildlife that is all about within the branches of the trees, but with the sounds of the leaves swirling in the breeze along the road way, the rushing of the wind through the branches sounding oddly enough like the ocean or a river rushing by, and all along as I put one foot in front of the other, the crunching of the leaves that have already turned brown and dried to a crisp against the warm asphalt. It is almost magical! 

I enjoy other seasonal offerings as well, such as anything pumpkin; I must say I am a bit obsessed with the flavor and buy or sample everything from tea to pasta! I also love photographing all the varieties and as it is now just days before Halloween, carving them and putting them on our front porch. But it is not just pumpkin that grabs my attention and taste buds, it is also apples; we make a yearly trip to an area I have blogged about before here quite often, Apple Hill ( within Placer County here in California) , we go for not only the beautiful scenery, but these wonderful, hot, made to order, apple cider doughnuts! My October would not be complete without going at least once. Oh and then there is the actual apples, Pink Lady, Fuji, Golden Delicious just to name a few! A small bag always comes home with us as does freshly made apple cider to sip on on the way home. How can we resist?? 

As you may know by now I like to snap off photos everywhere I go.  A lot of photos. Nature is my favorite subject. I thought I might share a few with you now of my most recent outings to enjoy the season. Some are taken close to home, and others on our recent trip to Apple Hill. I hope you will enjoy! OH!!! and at the end I will share one of our carved pumpkins that sit on the porch here at Muse Cottage.. a new young man in our youngest daughters life joined us yesterday to nosh on pumpkin muffins, right out of the oven, sip on hot Apple Cinnamon tea with a dash of honey of course, and carve pumpkins for the front porch. He did an amazing job and showed us all up, so just had to share! 

The beginning of the month....

Shades of green.....

Not all pumpkins are pretty! Or Orange!

Multi colored, for when you can not decide. 

As the month progressed.. so did the amount of change in the leaves!

.....Take a stroll with me .....

Perfect kaleidoscope of colors .....

Apple Hill blooms, and alive with color!

Yummy Apple.. crisp, sweet and perfect on a Fall day. 

 The Artistic Side of the Season.....

Well I guess that is all for now. I hope you enjoyed what I had to share. If you are looking for more spooky offerings, before you go, be sure to check out posts from October of the past... just look under ARCHIVES and then under October and there is plenty of bone chilling posts to read over. Till next time we visit..... I wish you a very safe and Happy Halloweens and most enjoyable days filled with Autumn color! 

Love, peace and a little pixie dust!!