November in December

 Well that's a new one on me, I forgot to put up my November blog post! So here I am in early December, still talking about November. 

In early November, there were still a few fall colors to see. Some years, we don't even show our peak colors until then, but this year, we peaked earlier in October. But there are always some late splashes of color to enjoy. October was so glorious this year, by the time November arrived, even I had my fill. I know, it's truly shocking. I always swear that there is no limit to how much fall color that I can enjoy. 

We had the standard first frost in mid October, and several more frosts since then. But none of them were hard freezes, so some of the flowers continued to bloom. Sure, all the tender annuals got zapped early on. But there were many stalwarts that just kept going. Some of these I expect to see in the cool weather. But some were totally confused by the strange weather this year, and decided to bloom totally out of season. Lilacs, primrose, hosta, zinnias, sunflowers, in November? 

The local historical farm did a luminary walk recently, I presume to celebrate the upcoming holidays. But it was so incredibly dark that I found it a bit spooky! I enjoyed it, but couldn't even see the ground beneath my feet. Next time they should bill it as a Halloween event! My photos are deceptive, it was much darker than it appears. 

Now that the days are short, I spend more time indoors, cooking, decorating, crafting etc. 

At the end of the month, we still hadn't had a deep freeze, and I found a few stragglers in bloom. But they're gone now, we finally had temps in the 20's overnight, and even the hardiest flowers gave up. I still need to get out there and empty the last flower pots, but it's just too darned cold! I might have to lug the pots into the garage as is, full of dead plants and dirt. I've tried emptying frozen soil before, and it never works. 

I only have a few sunsets this time, the skies are often gray now. It's a time to hunker down, be cozy and warm, and dream about next year. Thanks for coming by to see November in December! Next month I'll have Christmas decorations to show off. Sometimes I do them in late November, but I wasn't ready for it then. I realized that it was because Thanksgiving was so late! I can't get in the mood for Christmas if we haven't celebrated Thanksgiving yet. Till then! 

October Color Gawking

I think you all know that I'm one of the many people who are just *crazy* about the month of October. Start to finish, I spend the entire month out gawking at the changing colors, while nothing else gets accomplished. Early on, there isn't much to see except occasional pops of color. But I still like to check, and then watch as everything transforms. You'd think I'd get tired of driving around from park to park, but you would be mistaken. 

We've had a number of frosts, but they weren't too heavy, so I do have a few flowers hanging tough at home in the Nest. I'm surprised to see my new Sheffield mums trying to bloom before a hard freeze arrives.  I just planted them in the spring, so I didn't expect to see any flowers this year. 

As much as I have gallivanted around town admiring fall colors on trees, my own trees aren't really putting on much of a show. The drought has muted the colors of my Sweetgum, and it's mostly just red this year. The redbud and fringe tree should be turning yellow soon. The white pine is doing its annual needle drop, which is technically some kind of fall transformation. The street tree Bradford pear (patootie!) is starting to turn, and is generally the last one to go. I long ago decided to embrace the darn thing, since it's a city tree. I'll be darned if it isn't pretty. But you didn't hear that from me. Ha! 

I did show off my autumn decorations already last month, but now that we've had frost, I've had to tweak some of my planters by substituting pumpkins for frost bitten flowers. 

I have so many autumn photos to share that I hardly know where to start without boring you to tears. I think I'll start with my annual trip to Michigan. For once, the weather was perfect for my entire visit, and the colors were definitely at their peak. There were trees that seemed almost neon colored, and I shook my head in wonder. Needless to say, I always end my days at the beach, and managed to see four nights of sunsets without too much cloud interference. That was also a miracle. 

But here at home, the trees were just as bright, and I loved every minute of October. I think I'll separate my parks into separate paragraphs. This is Highbanks, a bit farther out for me, and so I only visit once a month. Luckily, the day I went was absolutely stellar with both weather and fall color. 

Sharon Woods is another park that's not on my usual route, although I did get back there a couple times. It's funny, there's a lake at this park, but for some reason, the trees surrounding it aren't as colorful as the rest, so I don't bother photographing it. 

Inniswood is considered a botanical garden, so many of its best views are manicured. I love that about it, even as I love the wild look of the other parks. Inniswood actually has forests and woods too, but I get caught up in the gardens, and don't often notice. 

Blendon Woods is one of the best for fall colors. I started visiting there early in the month, so I could gauge how long it would be until peak, but they hadn't yet opened up their fall driving tour. It was quite disappointing, because it's the best part of an already lovely place. But they eventually did open it up, and was thrilled to find the driving tour just as beautiful as I remember. 

Blacklick Woods is the nearest and dearest of my local parks. I especially like the Tunnel of Trees effect on the park road. They have a new attraction, a canopy walk, and it's hugely popular. But I have yet to go! I tried the other day, and found that it closes before the rest of the park. Darn! I'll get back there soon. 

Chesnut Ridge is another nearby park, and probably my favorite of all for its peace and quiet. I'm particularly fond of being there at sunset, and watching the reflections on the pond. 

Back home, I decorated my kitchen island tray for the season. I also added a wax leaf garland to my fireplace, something I have always meant to do! I bought beeswax, melted it, and gave my favorite leaves a dip to preserve them through the season. I loved this simple project, and wish I had done it sooner. I'll try to do this every year, now that I know how easy it is. But I did so many that I ended up scattering them around my coffee table too. Also wanted to show off my anniversary bouquet from my hubs. He was away from home this year, so he substituted this gorgeous autumn themed bunch of flowers, and I couldn't have loved it any more than I did. It suited me to a tee. 

My closing sunsets are widely scattered this month. The sunsets are no longer seen from my front porch, and often, I'm still wandering around the parks at sunset. So I offer instead sunsets seen on my journeys, from Florida, to Michigan, to home in Central Ohio. Thanks for letting me share my extreme love of October with you, and hope to see you again next month.