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.

slice of an abundant life

mixed green leafed lettuces growing abundantly.
.
csa(community supported agriculture) basket for july
.

when i first read the ggw photo contest theme abundant harvest

the natural images that were conjured up were of a bountiful harvest...

.

...like this wagon load of watermelons.

or the bounty from our new farmer's market in leiper's fork.

all over flowing with the harvests of the latest season.

wonderfully bountiful apples...crisp and ripe at this harvest time.

baskets full of multi~colour okra....just waiting to be eaten.

but then my mind, heart and the images before me....told me of

a different type of abundance.....a bounty of gratitude....of love....of family.

so with that in mind i thought of how we had picked a special puppy

to be part of our family....beatrice.

how very happy we were and thankful to have her.

then she disappeared we were devasted....but we held out hope.....for the best.

you my bloggy friends said prayers...and made us feel we were

not alone.........remember the day she was found....and by the

kindness of strangers was returned....she was a little frazzled around the edges

but with love, care, and time just look what she has done...

she has fully recovered and we have a bounty of love returned to us.

this year with all the rain....grasses grew.....they were left for

longer periods of time. so what do you do when you have an abundant

bounty of grasses...you cut paths thru the very long stalks...then

run and play in them.....of course.

..........you let your inner child rejoice.

.

.

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what about when you do have an abundant crop from your

garden...you harvest it (photograph it) and then eat it.

this image of fresh from the garden okra speaks volumes of abundance.

then there are all those apples...especially right now....

sure there is apple pie, apple crisp....but what is better than

throwing caution to the wind and tossing your freshly picked

apples into a galvanized tub adding water and letting some

costumed guests have at it.

this is sweet bounty.

you know this is the season of abundant loads....truck loads of pumpkins.

okay there is pumpkin in every recipe right now and

on every doorstep, piled high in your decor but why

not have a pumpkin carving with lots of family and friends.

now you have an abundance of fun, creativity.....

....it gets pretty competitive around here come pumpkin time.

we had a bountiful harvest of herbs this year and

love seeing them fill in the garden.......especially the mint.

with all the abundance of herbs....we carefully chose some

fine specimens from the garden....brought them in and

cooked.....until our hearts were content.

having a bounty of herbs means delicious things to eat.

this last year along with a bountiful garden.....

we had something else in abundant

proportion .....

hair.....jesse's hair....
.

.

.

.

some mothers might have a problem with this

but for me ....i am okay with personal expression...as

long as you are still being a loving person.

well jesse is a really great kid with a huge heart.

he said he was ready to get rid of his bountiful head of

hair but wanted it to mean something....he decided to donate

his locks to......locks of love.

my mother's heart was very touched....and someone got the

gift of hair from jesse's bountiful blessing.

one thing we did not have in bounty this year was our own pumpkins

but none~the~less....we were very grateful for our one little pumpkin.

success/abundance should not be measured in how much you have

but in how you view it....we were overjoyed.
.

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another area of abundance in our lives is the ability to buy

farm fresh food......from local growers....we get to pick and

choose what we want...when we want.....i call that a life in abundance.

market flowers

local farmer's bringing and sharing their abundance.

we grew a variety of heirloom tomatoes this year and received

an abundant harvest....to enjoy looking at....

.

and of course partake of....as well.

this is our first try to grow raspberries....i was happy with our harvest.

...it gave me an abundance of photo opportunities.

also just one more of the many things that were abundantly bountiful were

our sunflowers....these are mammoth grey striped sunflowers

that reached into the sky at 9 feet high and their faces measured

12 inches across....this gave us a bounty of sunflower seeds....for

the birds....for us to replant and for us to give away.

we are living a life of abundance here on dash home farm....

we are very grateful and fully aware that this is a blessing....so

we are not taking it for granted....not for one little moment.

marmee

my entry for gardening gone wild photo contest.

our summer bounty

this is my entry for the
gardening gone wild photo contest.
they are asking for an abundant harvest photo.....we had a
wonderful abundance of these delicious melons and
berries....something we enjoyed all summer long.


ps...don't miss the last post before this about our f/farmer's market.
i included a lot of links you can shop from.