in late autumn

I have made a small seasonal nature table for Claire to enjoy.  Her first of many to come.

Our neighborhood jack-o-lanterns say their goodbyes~

The grand white oaks have won the battle (of course they have), not the rakes and leaf blowers~

We are ever so grateful for the huge piles of kindling kindly split for us by Mike's father last week, and we will continue to be grateful each time we start a fire just a bit more easily in the months to come~

We have finally put up the last of the pears and apples (after enjoying many fresh and feeding more than I'd like to admit to the chickens each time we culled the boxes because we were, ahem, noticing fruit flies...maybe one day we'll come up with a plan for a little root cellar somewhere around here....) that we were lucky to pick/be gifted with this season, turning them into butters, sauces and chutneys.  Mike also canned some pickled hot peppers and they turned out so beautifully~

I'm enjoying the colorful dried flowers that I picked up at the holiday tailgate market this weekend and plan on making several "tussy mussies" to put around the house to brighten things up a bit~

That's us, late autumn.