Fall is officially here

Fall  is officially here.  Colts Football, a trip to the orchard and beautiful trees.  What more could you ask for?

Oh yes, and there's our upcoming Halloween party too which means shopping at Goodwill Stores for costume parts and getting the Halloween decorations out of the attic.  We decided to recycle old costumes this year.  Last year Mike worked months on his Iron Man costume; this year we built a porch instead.  The party is Saturday night, so more to come next week...


I moved all the houseplants (too many) back into the house, and I cut the beautiful hydrangea blossoms in anticipation of a frost warning for tonight.  I love the crisp weather but am slightly dreading the long winter ahead!

Hydrangea blossoms drying

I've re-opened my studio after it sat idle for much of the summer while we were busy on the porch.  Somehow I have a sewing bug these days, but of course I need to combine several hobbies with sewing.  Namely painting fabric, sewing on beads and then sewing into pillows.  Here's my first attempt, which is a DIY version of a pillow I saw in a Pottery Barn catalog.

My own version of a Peace Pillow

Mike canned habanero peppers last week in anticipation of salsa making this winter.  And he's been busy with his part time professor job.  Seems that four groups of lab students increases the work load much more than the usual three groups.  He's always busy grading papers, putting together information for the students and checking in on their progress.  I have a new respect for all the work that goes into a teacher's job!

Habaneros anyone?

Here's a quick glimpse of a beautiful drive near Shades State Park last weekend.  It was a cloudy, quiet day, and we had the road to ourselves.  A stanza from the Robert Frost poem, "Stopping by the woods on a snowy evening",  came to mind...

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,

But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

We enjoyed the sweet revenge of the Indianapolis Colts beating the Cincinnati Bengals 27-0 at Lucas Oil Stadium.  Yes, we yelled until we were hoarse (finally got my voice back today).   One of the reasons this game was so enjoyable is that last December we saw the Colts play the Bengals in Cincinnati in a freezing blizzard.  Let's just say that the Colts lost, and the Bengals fans were a slight bit obnoxious about it.  So this time the Bengals fans sitting behind us at the game quieted down considerably, and they left early to boot.  Go figure!

And I only have one question:  When did I become a football fan anyway?  After a lifetime of saying "football is a brutal sport", I'm yelling "sack him" like the rest of the fans.  What is the world coming to?  Could I blame this on retirement? That's my excuse for sure.

Pre-game festivities

Before the game

Game in motion.  Photo by Mike

Hope you are having a good week.  I'll end here with a cute puppy picture.  Ginger (Kevin and Kathy's new dog)  found her new home in my shoes...

Ginger.  About the size of my shoe...

Fall is in the air

Fall is in the air! And this Fall in particular seems to be a really busy time.  Kind of reminds me of work, of course without the work. It's that feeling of being propelled from one event to another, or in other words, just plain busy.

Here's what Fall looks like in our neck of the woods.

Cross country races.

My nephew, Adam, competed in a state middle school cross country meet.  Despite rain and mud, he finished 11th in a field of about 250 kids.  We are very proud of him!

Man cave.  Note the Starship Enterprise Phone. What can I say?

Continuing work on our house.

Mike's study is still a work in progress, but there is now a table surface we can see after a years of paper.













Football.

We attended a GREAT Colts game on Sunday where they beat the undefeated Seattle Seahawks.  I think I finally understand football mania!  I didn't have much of a voice after this game!

My roadside rescue chair, re-purposed as a planter

Flowers.

Would you expect anything different from my blog?

Roses behind the porch.

Splash of color!

Pansies in my new flower bed

Hibiscus loving the cooler temps

Family.

We enjoyed a great family meal on Saturday evening.  My sister, Angie, and her family and my niece, Diane and her family joined in.  Laughter and the sound of Alice screaming as she chased cats echoed through the house.  Happy sounds!







And I am so glad to have time for the important stuff like taking a friend to the doctor and attending a visitation for another friend's mom.

I hope you are enjoying a great Fall.  Maybe without the busy.

Diane