Scenes from the porch and garden

I love to read the comments on this blog. Some make me smile, others bring about a warm and fuzzy feeling, and there are those which make me laugh out loud. Like yesterday's fear that someone had hijacked Coffee Tea Books and Me. I suppose it was rather odd that I would endorse not only a book but a movie which starred... a Bigfoot. :)

There are many signs that autumn has truly arrived, not the least of which are the chilly temperatures. I simmered my mother's vegetable beef soup on low today and brought out my favorite deep, dark red stoneware bowls to serve it for dinner.

This soup is the only recipe my mother regularly made in which I made her show me step by step how to make when I was a bride. I always miss her when I make it, which is often in cold weather.

There is a chance of frost tonight so I hurried out to the garden this evening, after emptying the containers for the compost pile in the other corner of the yard. How beautiful were the veggies awaiting harvest. I expect this will be close to the last harvest this year, perhaps a few more green peppers will turn red.

This is the scene beside my front door. Peeking out from between the two mums is my University gnome. I love the way he welcomes me each time I open the front door. He's not happy with the football team right now.

I don't have a lot of decorations on the porch this autumn. I had more than usual in the summer and I found it looked too cluttered. So... autumn brought with it just some additional silk flowers in a red, wire basket and a collection of silk autumnal flowers and grasses in a fun coffee can.

The trees have only begun to drop a few leaves but our front yard will soon be covered by them. Some of the leaves will make their way to the compost pile, others burned and then added to the compost, and those remaining will be mowed over a few times to nurture the soil beneath them. Have I mentioned we live at the edge of a forest? :)

Our back yard is full of black walnuts. There are the shells of completely eaten walnuts, others half eaten, and still more are just waiting to be found in the jaws of a brown squirrel as it deepens its' winter pantry. I can fully understand this need to stock up before the first snow.