Happy October All!

I celebrate the birth

of my most favorite month of the year

with

an ATC sized white ghost pumpkin card all star dusted

and happily nested in her

desert digs...

a hint of what is to come...very, very soon.

Only three days remain of our seasonal love affair

in the Midwest... 

making today somewhat truly bittersweet...;)

"Bittersweet October.

The mellow, messy, leaf-kicking, perfect pause

 between the opposing miseries of summer

and winter."

~Carol Bishop Hipps,

"October," In a Southern Garden, 1995

123 years...

Happy Anniversary Yosemite Park!

(Image compliments of Google)

What a cryin'

shame we have a government shutdown in the works!!!

Come on Congress!

Get it together!!!

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.

Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.

The winds will blow their own freshness into you,

and the storms their energy,

while cares will drop off like autumn leaves."

~John Muir, Our National Parks 

Oh! How Long My List...!



"Autumn is the perfect time

to take account of what we've done,

what we didn't do,

and

what we'd like to do next year."

~Author Unknown

A Sign of the Season...

...a solitary "ghost pumpkin" at twilight...

all snuggly and happy...

nestled within some early autumnal foliage...

looking skyward...

patiently

awaiting the sparkly splendor of

the coming nightfall

and the rise of the long awaited harvest moon. 

I love this time of year!

“The true harvest of my life is intangible...

 - a little star dust caught,

a portion of the rainbow I have clutched."

~Henry David Thoreau

Sweet, Sweet, Autumn...

...what a "honey" of a perfect season in Illinois...;)

“Hope is the only bee that makes honey without flowers.”

~Robert Green Ingersoll 

Warm Apple Cider Donuts...

...accompanied by

sweet, richly bronze...chilled to perfection...fresh cider...

orchards

decorated with multicolored apples

and

flame colored knobby pumpkins...
honking geese
flying in ancestral formations...

crisp fall air scented with the smokey richness

of crackling fire pits...

a simple sun warmed day...sapphire blue skies...

blazing maples
still bountiful with leaves...

cornstalks...
dried and golden...softly rustling in the fields...
Ahhh!

The tastes, the sounds,

the aromas...

 the colors and sights and the soul filling delights

 of a northern Illinois fall

are once again imprinted deep in my heart.

Forever.

Gosh, I simply LOVE this time of year!

"How beautifully leaves grow old.
How full of light and color are their last days."
~John Burroughs

"Happy October..."

...my most favorite month of the year! :)

"There is something in October sets the gypsy blood astir,

We must rise and follow her;

When from every hill of flame,

She calls and calls each vagabond by name.”
~William Bliss Carman

"Happy Sunday..."

from me to you. :)

It's an overcast, rainy, 57 degree Sunday here in

Sycamore, Illinois.

Some may consider it dreary...but...

to this Arizona girl it is a

perfect prelude to the coming of fall.

It is

a day for warm cozy fireplaces, baking oatmeal cookies,

and having good one-on one time

with my artistic Muse.

Add some take out Chinese sesame chicken for dinner

and the day is complete.

Our past week here has been filled with

visiting apple orchards, walking through pumpkin patches,

playing in corn mazes

and even strolling through a Christmas tree farm.

Fresh apple cider and apple cinnamon donuts have

topped off almost every trip.

I absolutely LOVE this time of year to pieces...

fall is my most favorite season of all.

I feel blessed

to be able to experience even this small slice of it

midwest style...

before heading back to desert and her beauty

by the end of the month.

Our time in Illinois whooshed by so quickly this year.

It has really taken me by surprise...

as I left Arizona dragging my heels...dreading the blast of

humidity I knew was inevitable here.

I sit and marvel at the fact

that I now feel I may be dragging my heels going back to Arizona!

Funny, isn't it?

My blog posts have been few and far between this trip...

sorry 'bout that.

I suppose that is normal when

changing and readjusting one's daily habits occurs.

I thank those of you

who still come back for visits either daily...

or every now and then.

I have lots of art to share...and I promise I will do so...

soon...:)

“Shut the door...
not that it lets in the cold...but that it lets out
the coziness.”
~Mark Twain

"The Gathering..."

...posted today in honor of the large gathering of artists

at Illustrated ATCs this weekend

for the 3 day 2011 Labor Day Weekend Artathon!

Pop over for a peek in our gallery!

Just click here!

Wheeeeeeee!

"True wisdom
lies in gathering the precious things out of each day
as it goes by.”
~Author unknown

"Canyonland Autumn..."

Here's hoping that the temps this next week will

become a bit more fall-like and cool

here in the desert!

Happy Cactus Monday All! :)

And

in a personal note to JGL:

The Arizona canyons are calling your name!!! :)

“Should you shield the canyons

from the windstorms you would never see

the true beauty of their

carvings.”
~Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

"An Encore of a Favorite Quote..."

"Winter is an etching...spring a watercolor...

summer an oil painting...

and autumn...a mosaic of them all."
~Stanley Horowitz

"Roadside Lace..."

...in a new golden palette...dressed for the season.

Mmmm...

I love the warmth of the colors of autumn!

Happy first day of fall!

Autumn burned brightly,

a running flame through the mountains,

a torch flung to the trees.

~Faith Baldwin

"Here Is Something Old..."

...and also "Something New"...

for a "Happy Blooming Tuesday"

is wished to all of you! :)

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf's a flower."

~Albert Camus

"Autumnal Glow..."

Happy Cactus Monday All!

"Just before the death of flowers,

And before they are buried in snow,

There comes a festival season

When nature is all aglow."

~Author Unknown

"Let's Meet At.."

...at the annual Sycamore Pumpkin Festival!

Oh my gosh...for a lifetime, it seemed,

it was an October tradition my family to gather in Sycamore

for the weekend of Pumpkin Festival.

(The link above has all kinds of interesting info, if you have time.)

The arts and crafts fair would be on Saturday and Sunday...

And the big parade

...attracting over 100,000 visitors...

would culminate the festival on Sunday.

Anyone

who had moved away from home

would be back in town for the celebration.

There were carved pumpkins on the courthouse lawn,

pumpkin pie eating contests, carnival rides, vendors along the streets...

fireworks, family reunions, sloppy joes, caramel apples,

10K runs, politicians campaigning, leaves crunching,

antique shows, excited school kids,

painted faces,

a "down home" flavor everywhere you went.

The crispness of Fall was is the air...and life was totally good!

I miss autumn celebrations in the midwest

and

warming up by crackling fires at night...

It was so comforting and fun for all of us to be together.

This post is dedicated to all friends, colleagues,

and former students,

who are in town this weekend for the celebration!

I will be thinking about you!

"The nice part about living in a small town

is that when you don't know what you're doing,

someone else does."

~Unknown

"One Last Homage..."

...to the jubilant color of the glorious Colorado aspen.

Did you know that...

~Aspen trees can be found in every Western state except Hawaii!

~Trees from any one aspen grove are genetically identical.

and because of this

aspens are claimed to be the world's largest

and

perhaps oldest living organism!

~Individual trees are short-lived, but the root stocks of some groves

may date back to the last ice age!

"Delicious autumn!

My very soul is wedded to it,

and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth

seeking the successive autumns."

~George Eliot

"The glittering golden aspen...

What a jewel in the autumnal wardrobe of Mother Nature!"

~Me :)

"An Autumnal Array..."

...of natural beauty...bedazzled in jeweled tones.

"Where oils lumber...watercolours prance. "

~Doug Mays

"An Official Play Date..."

...with my "inner child",

a few real bougainvillea leaves,

and

some luscious drippy watercolor paints! WooHoo!

“There is a garden in every childhood,

an enchanted place where colors are brighter,

the air softer,

and the morning more fragrant than ever again.”
~Elizabeth Lawrence

"I Am Just Stuck.."

...On Cacti! "

Day or Night...

Summer, Fall, Winter, or Spring...

It just doesn't seem to matter.

"You know you're an Arizona native when you "hug" a cactus

only once in your lifetime."

~Nancy Dedera

Happy Cactus Monday All! :)

"It's a Pygmy..."

...Pygmy Barberry, that is...

All dressed up in autumnal splendor!

And...For any of you curious readers out there...

to date...

there have been 53 blooms... and we're still counting...on the

Night Blooming Cereus! :)