HAPPY SUNDAY, HAPPY NOVEMBER EVERYONE - FALL LEAVES AND PINECONES

"As long as autumn lasts, I shall not have hands, canvas and colours enough to paint the beautiful things I see."

~Vincent van Gogh~

"Autumn shows us how beautiful it is to let things go."

~Author Unknown~

"It's the first day of Autumn! A time of hot chocolate mornings, and toasty marshmallow evenings and, best of all, leaping into leaves!"

~Winnie the Pooh~

"Fall leaves are not lifeless but rather appear to dance in the wind."

~Author Unknown~

"Meet me under the falling leaves."

~Author Unknown~

"Love the trees until their leaves fall off, then encourage them to try again next year."

~Author Unknown~

"For anyone who lives in the oak-and-maple area of New England, there is a perennial temptation to plunge into a purple sea of adjectives about October."

~Hal Borland~

And last one.

"If only Alexa could rake the leaves."

~Author unknown~

Those of you who have followed me for a while, will recognize the back deck with our regular kissing bunnies and the blue stone birds on the water dish. The crows are really going to have something to complain about today as it is filled to the brim with leaves. 

The deck had not long been swept clean and that night I woke up to a lot of scratching on our bedroom window. Coming out of a deep sleep it scared the dickens out of me. Too much talk of Halloween? Probably! 

As I peeked outside between the blinds, the wind had picked up, and the branches just like the sound spindly little fingers would make, were crawling along the glass. It took me a while to go back to sleep. The scratching continued for another hour (mental note to get the branches trimmed again as soon as we can).

The next morning when I looked outside, I was greeted by a deck strewn with crepe myrtle leaves, pine needles and pinecones. We have both of these trees growing on the side of the house. The fir tree in particular is reaching up to the sky.

It seems a shame to throw away all those pinecones. Do any of you have any ideas as to what I could do with them? I am sure some of you out there might have an answer. 

I had a friend who years ago decided to 'cook' them for a while in her oven, or was it the microwave? She had wanted to get rid of any larvae that might be inside them as she was going to make Christmas Wreathes. I found this out afterwards. Her oven/microwave was never the same. All the food that came out of it had a pine taste that could not be gotten rid of and no amount of cleaning helped. Needless to say, she never did that again. 

I was also given a 'pinecone' Christmas tree by another good friend one year. It was very pretty but as soon as the heating warmed it up, I had literally hundreds of strange looking tiny bugs crawling out of it. Needless to say, it didn't last long after that. One of those big trash bags was thrown over it and it made its way into the trashcan. I was so sorry to do that to a friend's gift, but I seem to remember her telling me a while later after she asked me about it, that the one she made for her family did the same thing and had ended up in their trashcan too.

So, what would you do with all these pinecones? Maybe I should pop them in an outside container so that the birds and squirrels can nibble away and find the seeds inside. I've heard they like those.

Thanks for reading and 

I hope your day is a great one.

TODAY I BOUGHT A SMALL BOUQUET OF FRESH SUNFLOWERS...

to replace the ones (or one) I shared with you yesterday. I could probably have done with a couple of extra sunflowers, but these were the only ones that still looked fresh and would last longer than a day or two. But first of all, I wanted to share the gnomes, one of which I also shared yesterday. They are about three inches high.

I took a photo after each step. It was fun putting them all together. Here's the sunflower gnome again and also a pewter rabbit I have had for a few years. It's actually a candle snuffer. I picked it up on a whim several years ago. 

Its body is hollow which you place over the lit candle. The handle is in the shape of a bunch of carrots. Again, nothing to do with Fall but I keep it out all year round just because it's one of my little animal treasures. We don't use it very often.  

The bird is dressed like a Pilgrim and more for Thanksgiving (next month), but it's nice to keep him out for a while... 

the same for the lady Pilgrim. Both have been around for a few years now. I picked up the salt and pepper shakers the same time as the gnomes not so long ago.

The container in the shape of a pumpkin I used as a vase for the sunflowers and baby's breathe. That's the lid you can see with the golden stem. Years ago it came with a bouquet of flowers. Not wanting to throw it out, it is carefully tucked away until needed.

The table is newish. We bought it just before our visitors arrived earlier on in the year and happily was on sale. We had a round table and the lazy suzan fit better on it. It twirls around when you need to reach for certain items after the table is set for a meal. The old round table had been with us for just over 30 years, the same for the chairs, and all were decidedly worse for ware, so it was time to get something new. It's a bit too big for just the two of us but it will come in useful when we have a get together. We were glad for it when our family were here. I am missing the napkins and cutlery but you get a good idea of the flowers at least.

Anyhow, that's the centerpiece I put together and I'm hoping the sunflowers will stay in the stores until Thanksgiving is over next month. Something new, I've discovered how much I like baby breath again. It's been a long time since I bought any.

Last one, a collage and that’s all for today’s post.

Thanks for stopping by. 

A happy Friday and weekend to you all!

THERE IS NO WIFI…

 

 “There’s no WiFi in the forest, but I promise you'll find a better connection.”

~Author Unknown~

WHAT CAN I SAY...

What can I say that I have not said before?

So I'll say it again.

The leaf has a song in it,

Stone is the face of patience,

Inside the river there is an unfinishable story

and you are somewhere in it

and it will never end until it ends.

Take your busy heart to the art museum and the 

chamber of commerce,

but take it also to the forest.

The song you heard singing in the leaf 

when you were a child

is singing still.

I am of years lived, so far, seventy-four,

and the leaf is singing still.

What Can I Say?

by

Mary Oliver

Mary Jane Oliver (September 10, 1935 – January 17, 2019) was an American poet who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1984 and the National Book Award in 1992. She found inspiration for her work in nature and had a lifelong habit of solitary walks in the wild. Her poetry is characterized by wonderment at the natural environment, vivid imagery, and unadorned language. In 2007, she was declared the best-selling poet in the United States.

HAPPY FALL

I didn’t realize until I checked the date, that the 22nd was the official first day of Fall here. I am a little bit late but I found this touch of whimsy on Pinterest and knew I was going to share it today.

SATURDAY MORNING AT THE BIRD FEEDER - THE SQUIRRELS HAD A PARTY

It was wild!

Nope, we're not doing word of the day today.

The American Robins flew in to check out what all the commotion was about.

The Mockingbird turned up for a few seconds.

The Robins turned up with friends and had their own party. 

Everyone was all of a tweeter.

The inanimate object was by this time standing upright and wasn't talking, Kissing Bunnies were okay too. Big Bunny is still staying away, but this little guy turned up. Everyone was keeping a close eye on him. He told everyone he was innocent and that he didn't know anything.

I have noticed how you all tip toe and jump over those leaves. We keep sweeping them up and they keep falling. That's why they call it "Fall!" 

Tell them they have very good fluffy tails. They would be great for sweeping. All they have to do is waddle backwards! 

And that's how it goes at this week's Saturday Morning at the Bird Feeder.

Have a great weekend everyone 

and thanks for stopping by for another whimsical tale.

AUTUMN, THE YEAR'S LAST...

 

William Cullen Bryant (November 3, 1794 to June 12th, 1878) was an American romantic poet, journalist and long-time editor of the New York Evening Post. Born in Massachusetts, he started his career as a lawyer but showed an interest in poetry early in his life.

In 1825, Bryant relocated to New York City where he became an editor of two major newspapers. He also emerged as one of the most significant poets in early literary America and has been grouped among the fireside poets for his accessible and popular poetry.

THE EARTH IS…

 “The Earth is what we have in common.”

~Wendell Berry~

I have been enjoying the AI lately. I have a small collections of Angels and as I have always been interested in traditional clothing around the world, my prompt was please create an Aztec Angel in the Autumn, with a golden halo, a bright moon and twinkling stars, with red and gold leaves falling. I will share a few of my Autumn Angels this month. Here are my first two, with a quote.

THE GIFT WHICH I AM SENDING YOU…

 

“The gift which I am sending you is called a dog and is, in fact, the most precious and valuable possession of mankind.”

~Theodorus Gaza~

“Theodorus Gaza (c 1398 - c 1475) was born in an illustrious family in Thessaloniki, Macedonia. He was a Greek humanist and translator of Aristotle, one of the Greek scholars who were the leaders of the revival of learning in the 15th century (the Palaeologan Renaissance). At the time of his birth Thessaloniki was under Turkish rule (it was restored to Byzantine rule in 1403). On the final capture of his native city by the Turks in 1430, he escaped to Italy. In December 1440 he was in Pavia, where he became acquainted with Lacopa da San Cassiano, who introduced him to his master, Vittorino da Feltre. During a three year residence in Mantua where Vittorino held the celebrated humanistic school “La Giocosa”, he rapidly acquired a competent knowledge of Latin under his teaching, supporting himself meanwhile by giving lessons in Greek, and by copying manuscripts of the ancient classics.” 

I am always fascinated to learn of people I never knew existed. One short quote I found and liked enough to share on here, always gives me a stepping stone, one after the other, to not only fascinating people, but also to a fascinating time in history.  History was always a favorite subject of mine at school. You can learn more about him if you like, by clicking on his name below the quote.  

 

THIS AND THAT, WITH A FEW WISE WORDS

 I have always been a fan of Charlie Brown, especially Snoopy who has made it on my Christmas Tree in ornament form a few times.  I have actually decorated the trees.  I started early this year as I wanted them done for Thanksgiving, a smaller one in the family room and the larger one in the front room.  It was nice and leisurely and thoroughly enjoyed.  We have artificial trees these days.  The boys brought them up from the basement a week ago.

It reminded me I wanted to share a moon photo I took the other night.  Ginny has taken some amazing ones and she inspired me to take this one.  Like Snoopy’s moon, this was also crescent shaped.  Thank you Ginny!  (Added note: Please visit Ginny, I just came back from her blog and she needs lots of hugs and prayers right now.)

I like this version the best and it's a crop of the above.  I will be practicing more.

This following I turned into a painting with my ArtCard app.  The original on my iPhone wasn't that great.  

All my graphics are from Pinterest.  It satisfies my need for the visual feel-goods.

 Yes, I laughed at this one. 

Beautiful!

A sweet little girl with a radiant smile.

A bit frowny but the little darling is adorable and I know she's smiling underneath!

Living in hope as always, Pollyanna that I am.

This is another Pollyanna, she's living in hope too.

And I hope you don’t feel this way but just in case. 

And now it’s time to say…

Of course, it’s all in my head as the dragonflies have gone a-sleepy until next summer.  In the meantime, I will find something else to do.

Thanks always and hope your day is a great one, and especially thinking of you today Ginny.