When Color Comes To Town

Fall, oh sweet fall, you continue to perform your magic for me...sweeping me off my feet this year with your offer of colors, mixed with the magic of light...I know soon you will have to leave me but until the last leaf is dropped and dried...I will faithfully follow you..You lead me astray as no other has done in such a long time..

This week for Friday's Find, I  found myself, once again, at the lovely gardens of Long Hill. I took my friend Mary with me and we had a really wonderful day just wandering and shooting. What I love most about this photo, besides Mary, is the old fashion shade pull in the house...I can remember clearly my Grandmother having these on all the shades in her house...Gosh I haven't seen them for so many years...it brought back wonderful memories of my Grandmother. I also love the bokeh reflection. I just love me some really good bokeh.

Long Hill is a property of the Trustee's of the Reservation and I have been here before to shoot..Each season brings it's own beauty. Now, even though fall is clearly loosing it's grip on all the trees, a few hang on like this tree from the Willow family...just brilliant in color and it never seems to die away like the maples, oaks and birches...

I always visit the formal gardens at the house because you never know what you will find in bloom...This was one of my favorites the day we were there..I don't know the name of it...but I sure do like how it presents itself, fully open and honest, like we all should be, and so very proud of her color..it reminds me of a buttercup.

Long Hill was given to the Trustees of the Reservation by a private family, including all the land that surrounds it...that just goes on and on..such a private place.  You can stand at the rail and look out over the property and never see anything but forest and woods...beautiful walking paths, and in the fall, color that goes on as far as the eye can see.  They have benches and tables and chairs set out, bring a book or a lunch and just sit in the silence of nature..We are fortunate to have this lovely property. Membership is quite reasonable and I am happy to be a member.  I hope that some day all of this will still be here for my Grandchildren.  Sometimes I have my doubts with the way things are in our world but for as long as I can, I will continue to support anything that keeps the trees and the forest protected.

The same little white flower from above but with a twist...I like this in the muted tones and the composition reminds me of a Japanese flower...the bokeh is Happy...by the way, all my bokeh is happy...I plan it that way, and when I view it from this perspective, I find it very peaceful.  Just like Long Hill.  Dreamy don't you think? My favorite of the day.

Starting with color and ending with color...the dynamic colors of Fall are right in this one flower. Chrysanthemum's bloom throughout the fall in so many blossoms and colors..This vibrant orange one, not only reminds me of the beauty of fall, the bees it attracts remind me to Bee very thankful for all the good that comes from this season..abundant harvests, beautiful colors, warm feelings because  I get to enjoy all of this and most especially, it reminds me that each day we have cause to celebrate joy...from a tiny seed that grows into such beauty...to the bee who symbolizes thankfulness and for good friends everywhere..I are Blessed.

If you have a bit more time you might enjoy Autumn Leaves by Andrea Bocelli

Orange is Not the Only Fall Color

I took a walk in my own backyard yesterday and I found my Hydrangea still blooming...all summer long these bloom blue but in the fall for some strange reason they turn pinky...I have another bush that is white all summer, then green in the fall. Hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers and Ilove bringing them inside to cheer up a corner of the house...

Today is Texture Tuesday...what will you find in your own backyard...no need to travel very far this time of year..

"...I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house. So I have spent almost all the daylight hours in the open air." ~Nathaniel Hawthorne, 10th October 1842

It seems appropriate to me to quote Nathaniel Hawthorne this season...since he comes from my Hometown and we share a love of Autumn and daylight in the open air... 

On A Fall Walk

Friday's Finds come up so fast...really, a week just flies by. This week it was hard to pick what to post but then after thinking about it for about one minute..the choice was easy.

You all know that I have the Boys on Tuesdays and this week Liam and I ended up, late afternoon, at the Tea House....again..Gosh we both love that place so much.  The special part came though after we were finished with tea. I asked Liam if he would like to walk home today and kick around a few leaves..of course he said yes...I was a bit surprised because we had never really walked any distance before.  My husband, sweet man that he is, was waiting for us in the car with Jaxson while he napped.   So here was the plan....Liam and I would walk, Jim and Jaxson would give us a head start and then come and pick us up...

So off we went, him and I...holding hands..nothing electronic, just us and the sounds of fall and our own voices.  It was the best walk ever...and this is what we saw...

We passed the old cemetery.  Well that stirred up a bit of conversation about ghost and dead people...little boys love ghoulish things..before we got into how old I might be I quickly moved him on.

We live in horse country so we often pass the horses in the fields.  These white ones...Liam calls them Sugar, were just grazing around...Liam loves horses and on our drives and walks he always likes to say "hi" to the horses.

Next we came along a house that had the laundry hanging out...this was my opportunity to tell Liam how we used always hang our clothes out...I'm not to sure if he was impressed with this but I sure was...To me there is nothing nicer and more refreshing than laundry hanging on the line...In Maine I sometimes still do this.

More horses...our lucky day. The sound of the hoofs clip, clopping along the trail as two girls were just out on a leisurely ride..with such great colors to travel through...we stopped and watched them pass..and Liam says someday he's going to have "his own horse"...Good luck with that one Liam..

Last but not least and really the most fun...is running through the leaves...this photo was not taken on our walk because I did not have a camera...but it certainly belongs with our walk because we both moved through those leaves with laughter and joy and the wonders of spending this fall  walk with a happy, talkative  little boy....

Side note...when Jim came along to pick us up...Liam insisted that he wanted to walk the entire way...and he did...the weather was lovely, the colors outstanding and we encountered more than I could post here...We had a lovely chat with a man, sitting on a bucket, painting is new fence...I have to say..it was one of the best fall days I've had...these boys continue to lift me up...and I am forever grateful for my time with them...it just seems to me that fall was made for children....of all ages...:)

Happy weekend.

"We are here essentially to risk ourselves in the world; we are a form of invitation to others and to otherness, we are meant to hazard ourselves for the right thing, for the right woman or the right man, for a son or a daughter, for the right work or for a gift given against all the odds, and to allow ourselves to be happy may be the greatest, most courageous act of all."  David Whyte

Breaking Rules

Friday's Find....sometimes I think it's o.k. to put the tree in the center of the photo..I know all about the rule of thirds but in my mind's eye, if I see it and I like it...that's hope I shot it and print it..every once in awhile we all want to be the center of attention...even a lonely tree.

I know these berries aren't orange, yellow or even a rusty red..some would say this is not a fall foliage snap...but I say, not true...I shot them the same day as the trees, in the month of October so that makes them a fall berry...I'm putting them in this post because they remind me that the holiday season is coming and because I just plan like the way they made me feel when I found them...happy...isn't that what Friday Finds are suppose to do...

Oh that horizon, so far away.  Sometimes we have to go far and wide to get our joy back...but the horizon is always there waiting for us...the mountains may seem like a distant struggle but one foot in front of the other will get us there...we can never let adversity keep us down to long...break the rules, walk through some grass, get your feet wet if you have to...but always keep your eye on the sky...the sun will shine again...

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend full of color and light. May the joy of nature follow you wherever you go.

“Once you figure out who you are and what you love about yourself, I think it all kind of falls into place.” 
― Jennifer Aniston

Fall Foliage

Fall is one of those seasons that just begs to be photographed...It's hard to pass by so many colorful scenes and not stop...this is what happened to me today...just doing my thing..driving home and then I see this gorgeous scene in front of me...At first I let it go..I did not have my "big" gear with me.  I knew though, that no matter what I had to go back..Past experience has shown me, if it hits you, get it, because even if you come back in an hour that scene will have changed in ways you can't even imagine..

Do a little backing up...and backing down a drive-way...grab the point and shot...and here you have it..I didn't even notice the little water fountain until I was in the driveway...so cute.  Brought it home and now I have my Texture Tuesday photo on time..just have to remember to link it up...

Remember to stop and smell the "trees" along your way...

"If the earth were only a few feet in diameter, floating above a field somewhere, people would come from everywhere to marvel at it."    Joe Miller

"No one can experience our lives for us." Charlotte Joko Beck