Our autumn was pretty disappointing this year. Too much rain I guess. The colors were not brilliant. Most the of the trees went right into ochres, burnt siennas, and umber colors. Very dull and muted. A lot of the leaves fell off before achieving full color. A few days ago the sun came out and I took a drive down by Monksville Reservoir to see if any color had survived the wind and rain of last weekend. I found some at Long Pond Ironworks that I’d like to share, especially since it’s foggy and drizzly here this morning.

One of the things to truly shine this year were the burning bushes. They waited until the trees had lost most of their leaves so they could steal the whole show.

I give you Magenta Pink. (with a little reddish orange mixed in)

Orange.

Red.

I don’t know about you, but today I need some warmth so I am posting this photo taken yesterday of the turning colors at Monksville Reservoir. Doesn’t it warm you up? Right now the temps are in the 30’s, it’s dark and gloomy, and the big “S” word is predicted for later on in the day. SNOW. Already? Tell me it’s not so! Please don’t ruin these lovely fall colors Mother Nature! What can you be thinking?

We have plans to visit the Rhinebeck Wool and Sheep Festival this weekend and the weather is supposed to be nasty both days. boo-hoo. But we are East Coasters now and will just bundle up and take our umbrella and wear suitable shoes. We don’t let the weather stop us anymore. I am so looking forward to it!

Remember this scarf? I still haven’t had the courage to seam it together but I so want to wear it this weekend. I practiced and practiced the kitchener stitch until I had it down pretty good, but now I’ve lost the skill of it all because I waited too long. Since the weather is going to be so nasty over the next two days and Rick has a business dinner tonight, maybe I’ll practice yet again (and again) and get up the courage to just finally DO IT. It doesn’t have to be perfect, right? The scarf is doing me no good in two unwearable pieces! Wish me luck ... I’ll keep you posted on the progress.

I love this time of year when the bees get sleepy and are slow enough for me to get some photos.

hmm ... I don’t know which lavender stalk to choose ... maybe I can keep my back legs on this one and my front legs on the other one ...

look out! incoming flight preparing to land ...

... there’s nothing quite like falling asleep high atop a fragrant lavender stalk ...

sharing

P.S. Since a few of you had to scroll to see the whole vertical frame of the photo (I had a private comment too), I’ve gone back to the old format for vertical photos for now but centered them instead. I’ll have to have my computer guy take a look and see what he can do about making them a touch smaller. Thanks for your input!

P.P. S. Rick added an additional feature to the blog. Now you can see how many comments you’ve left compared to others. You can also look at what I wrote in previous years on this exact same date. Kind of cool—check it out in the sidebar!

More...

Please let me know if this photo is too big for you to view!

Scattered throughout the grounds of Skylands are various statues. I only visited a few on my last visit. In one spot there is a ring of cherubs. I am not sure of what their significance is but each are holding either food or drink. Each one of their expressions is different. Haunting somehow. Time and weather have only heightened the effect.

This one was my favorite. Take a look at the bush with the red berries on it behind him.

Now take a closer look at the cup he is holding.

A coincidence that the red berries just happened to fall into his cup? (I had to scramble up on the wall in order to get this photo looking down into the cup.)

This piece demanded attention.

I loved the feathery tail modestly wrapped around his body.

Time has worn away their faces but they still dance on.

Before I go, did you notice the slight tweak to my blog? The larger format? The bigger photos?
Stay tuned for the final installment in this series: Butterfly and Busy Bees