life in autumn

the heart of autumn must
have broken here,
and
poured it's treasure
out upon the
leaves.

charlotte fiske bates



while the changes in season are trying to come...

our autumn days have been very wet.

which makes everything remain very green and
keeps the container plants oh so happy.

my variegated potato vine just keeps on giving.

the leaves continue to fall...the dry creek...not so dry...still has water in it.

no need to water or fill birdbaths....everything that can...

holds the rain water.

.

ground covers have fared well and filled in nicely.

an orange zinnia stays drenched.

so what do you do when the leaves are falling....

try your hardest to get the one that hasn't fallen yet and

make it your prize.

.

.

.

also...what do you do when it is wet....very wet....you roll up your

jeans and put on your wellies and go investigating.

with all the moisture comes
new and interesting results in nature.

there is plenty of lichen and moss growing on tree branches.

.

this whole trunk is covered with it.

our dogs faithfully follow as the exploring begins.
buster brown and beatrice...watching....waiting....wet.

.

even the leaves are changing differently...

they aren't sure whether to stay green or let the burnish of fall change them.

bonesets are blooming but most are drooping with the weight of rainfall.

these are some of the creatures we saw while out and about.

grass skippers seem to be enjoying the wildflowers.

these beauties(believed to be spicebush swallowtail)

were plentiful but never stopped flitting.

it seemed like there was a butterfly on every thistle stalk.

.

abbey showed me a little magic...how she could make a flower...

from kentucky blue grass seed heads.

i love it...it is purple.

.

this little all~black guy(possibly a darkling beetle)

seemed just fine being damp and in the mix of grasses and goldenrod.

as well as the soldier beetle(pennsylvania leatherwing.)

this little red morning glory is a stand~out against all the green.

the saturation makes every one of the colours look more vibrant.

purple morning glory closed tightly.

japanese honeysuckle

marigolds in this luscious painterly gold and red.

scarlet sage is just rich.

the little lavender petals could not stand up to the constant drizzling.

sometimes the leaves can't make it to the ground...as they are

glued with rain to the branches from which they are trying to escape.

faces of flowers are looking down shielding themselves from the rain droplets.

persian shield has loved the precipitation this year.

the velvet beans grew very large under the wetness.

it has made it hard on some things...more things rotted on the ground...for sure.

this guy...maybe a male riley's tree cricket...

was still looking for nectar even though his

little green body had droplets all over it.

all and all it has been a wonderful fall...every change...with every new

season...brings about reasons to rejuvenate...to renew....to rejoice.

realm of saturation

i want to fairly warn you i am on image overload and i have almost one thousand images...

....of course this is only a fraction...i am sharing with you today....i have so many posts

rattling around in my brain....i hope this one makes sense.

it is a major understatement to say we are soaked to the bone around here.

it is fair to say everything and every dog is let's say......uhmmmm........wet.....wet...wet!

beatrice is a very large wet dog.

bronte' jane is a very dark chocolate wet dog.

lylah is a smallish puppy that is also very wet.

there are some benefits to all the rain......no drought....last year we had one and lost 7 trees.

also there are outdoor lessons on rain obedience......no just kidding....but plenty of outdoor fun. ...definitely not as much mowing.
abbey is loving it....when it is not lightning.

all the dogs love it especially the big guy...buster brown.

abbey doesn't mind a little water mixed with a little dirt.....it's called mudddddd.

and it is prolific around here making it onto every one's shoes....clothes.... paws.....my floors.

lots of puddle jumping going on around here.

our dry creek bed is babbling with all the overflow.

there are hints of fall everywhere.

the osage oranges are back but so many are floating around in our front yard.

this is our driveway/moat....we are so middle ages.

my black pansy aren't showing their faces....they are too weighted down with moisture.

i am loving them anyway though. i can imagine them with sunshine on their petals.

nandina berries are tingeing red.

this morning glory needs help to stay on it's vine by leaning onto another.

*****side note*****

if you click on the photo and look closely...you can see my house in reflection
on the water droplet. i thought that was pretty cool.

the seasons are changing...colours are changing.

leaves are falling.

branches are becoming bare.

there is so much precipitation that the seeds put out for the birds are sprouting.

the birds and their houses are soaked.

with all the rain...we even had a very unusual visitor for tn....a gator..... actually this gator travels with us from house to house.
he's our mascot of sorts and is used as a stepping stone.

there are raindrops on literally all things that are outdoors.

we finally have more than a few cosmos.

there is a carpet of leaves on our very wet patio.

we are enjoying the changing of seasons and are

rejoicing in the moisture given us in september.

happy fall everyone.