Fall Has Made to the South

Down in these parts, fall doesn't really arrive until we can cut the air conditioner off. We cut our off Thursday and have enjoyed the cool air coming in through the windows. It looks like the a/c will have to be cut on again this week as some warmer weather moves in. We're still very, very dry. No tropical moisture this year to moderate the drought.

Several weeks ago I climbed into the attic to look for my autumn wreath - not remembering that it had fallen apart last year. So I found one on eBay - it's simple but yet evokes fall.

The warm weather that we had a couple of weeks ago along with a couple of good showers caused the weeping willow to put out some new growth...

It wasn't much but it it was still surprising to see this so late in the year.





When we first moved into our house over 12 years ago, we got ten seedlings from the Arbor Society. At first we thought we would have some maples and oaks but those didn't make it. After about four or five years a tree starting growing in the middle of the backyard. It wasn't hard to figure out what it was once the thorns started showing up. It's now grown up into a nice size tree and for the first time ever there are berries on the Washington Hawthorn. What's interesting is the berries are at the top of the tree and not all over. In any case, the birds will enjoy them.






I've been checking out the foliage report at http://www.foliagenetwork.com/reports/southeast_us/

I'm taking Friday off and we'll be heading into the North Carolina mountain to do some leaf peeping. We're not expecting exceptional color this year due to the drought but it will nice to get out of town!

Take care & enjoy,
Flonence