This pretty lady in our neighbor's yard has been showing off for several days now, but last night's rain finally prompted me to grab my camera and take her picture. She really didn't deserve to be photographed on such a gray and rainy day, but such is life and I just couldn't bear not to capture her beauty before the rain beat all of her beautiful leaves to the ground.

I love autumn – the crisp temperatures, changing leaves, sitting out by a bonfire and pots of good fall food. Chili, homemade vegetable soup, white beans & cornbread, comfort food that simply warms the soul.

Fall is when I get to pull my sweaters back out, throw on my polar fleece and wear my Uggs – things that make everything right in my world. Autumn is when retailers and restaurants finally quit trying to refrigerate the entire free world and I can cease searching for a place with outdoor dining and stop dressing like an Eskimo when it's hotter than Hades.

To say that I love fall is an understatement, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's my favorite season – that'd be a little like choosing a favorite child. Now wouldn't it?

Christmas Red clashes with Autumnal Orange

I've bemoaned the fact before, but I'm just going there again - what is wrong with people that just CANNOT wait until after Thanksgiving to put up their Christmas decorations?

There is a huge house that I pass in my daily comings and goings and the very second that the final fun-sized Milky Way is handed out their door those folks are slapping up garland and decking the halls with over-sized bows and lights.

I wonder if those people have ever heard of a place called Plymouth Rock, some tough and hardy colonists called pilgrims, and the original Americans - Indians?

All Saints Eve

Halloween was great this year - it's my favorite holiday and a great reason for kids of all ages to dress up and act silly, spend time with friends and play outside in the dark.

These two geriatric ladies escaped from the assisted living center and were begging for candy at the door!

Nelson was a good Doo Be and got to go trick or treating too!