Fall is here - brrrr

We had such a warm fall until recently, that a couple of frosty nights have been quite a shock.  I think last night was another chilly one.  Yep, I see the car windshield is covered with frost.  I'm glad I brought the last of the iris inside to finish blooming in a vase.  (If you read my Facebook posts you know that I have a re-blooming iris which waits until November to produce the second round of blooms - stupid plant!)   Anyway, I am enjoying the blooms in my kitchen now.  I'm sure the remainder outside are frozen.

This has been the most beautiful fall I've seen here in Maryland.  Our native trees mostly turn gold, rather than red, so some years the color show is rather bland.  Not this year!  We've been treated to several weeks of wonderful reds, golds and browns in a brilliant contrast to the evergreens.  Everywhere I look, the colors are a vivid treat!  I've tried to take some photos, but one really needs a video to show the contrasting colors that can be seen walking or driving along the roads.

Fall is moving right along now.  Just a few weeks until Thanksgiving.  Where does the time go?  This year I am eating Thanksgiving dinner with a friend from pottery class and her family.  She invited me to join them after I mentioned that I would be alone this year.  I don't know this person very well, although I enjoy chatting with her in class.  It will be interesting and perhaps a little awkward to be with someone else's family, but certainly better than being alone.  I had been hoping for an invitation from my brother who lives within driving distance of me, but hadn't heard a thing from him, so when my friend invited me, I accepted happily.  Yesterday, I called my brother to see if there was a weekend when I could drive over to see him and my sister-in-law.  And he said (I"m sure you guessed this), that he had just written a letter to me, inviting me to come for Thanksgiving!!  What's that old saying - it never rains, but it pours?  Anyway, I told him I already had plans for Thanksgiving, but would come to see them another weekend. 

I really love fall, although I'm not that keen on cleaning up the dead plants and putting away the summer outside decorations.  I have a lot of outdoor decorative stuff (ceramic animals that I have made; mini garden tools and watering cans that hang on the trellises; balls and insects (and one flamingo) that sit on poles and wave in the wind, and many wooden birdhouses) all of which must be cleaned off and stored away inside for the winter.  I brought most of the stuff in this week, although the flamingo is still out there, as are some of the birdhouses, but I'll get to them soon.  Unfortunately, I have run out of boxes in which to store these objects, as well as run out of space in the basement storage room for the boxes.  I don't think I am actually one of those 'hoarders' who never throw anything away and have stacks of stuff everywhere in their house.  However, I do seem to acquire more decorative items than I get rid of.  I'm trying to get control of this, but I just love going to yard sales or bazaars and picking up cute little things.  In fact, this weekend and next there are several such sales that I may be visiting.  Perhaps there is no hope for me and someday I will be found buried under piles and piles of stuff in the basement!!!