Fall Colors in Zone Ten

 

Cooler temperatures are almost here - forecast for this week:  a cold front is due to pass through and lower the daytime highs to the 80s instead of the low 90s. But the best part is that the humidity will also be much lower.  I decided to be daring and go ahead and plant some fall flowers outside in pots.  I chose a lavender/blue/white palette for fall. Maybe influenced by the orchids as they bloom or by what Home Depot had in stock!

Hmmm... I see a little helper snuck into my photo, looking for lizards no doubt!

And the colors snuck into my jewelry attempts also... 

 

Must mean that Fall is finally here!

 

Orchid Bloom Time

Fall is orchid blooming time in our area.  This white orchid is the first, and has a second stem in buds.    We will be getting green orchids, yellow tiger orchids, deep fuschia orchids and some I have forgotten in the days and weeks to come. A beautiful Fall ahead!

Dogs - Growing & Shedding

This is Lucy, checking for squirrels.












And Brandy, waiting for a treat.










And they have lots of long hair now!   Vacuuming is a daily task.

Fall on My Mind

Recently I spent a week in Greenville, SC next door to this lovely garden. Aren't those great colors in the coleus plantings? But the best part was finding the lush square-foot vegetable garden behind them. It made me yearn for the wonderful vegetable garden we had on our half-acre in Huntington, NY. And for Fall in Huntington, too! September was the month of the big change in weather - drier, cooler air from the north almost always came in by mid month. Oh, I do miss that September a lot, so different from our living in south Florida where we look forward to November.


So, I started to dream fall colors again - my favorites.




I found a great little bead shop in Mauldin, SC (Panda's Crossing) and bought some fall colored strands of Czech glass beads. Then I combined them with pearls, horn beads and carnelian and one of my PMC silver pendants.



And I came up with this little toggle design from some lampwork glass that I got at the ISGB show in July. I use it with a fine silver oval, and like it as much as the fine silver pendant in front. I can wait for November I guess.