almost... WORDLESS WEDNESDAY!

When the Winter Chrysanthemums Go
by Matsuo Basho

When the winter chrysanthemums go,
there's nothing to write about
but radishes.

I've no radishes, either, so let's do Wordless Wednesday... well, almost wordless.

Santa Claus is coming to town!



  

Hope you have found your Santa spirit and are enjoying the Christmas season.

Remember in all the madness...

the real reason for Christmas.

Merry Christmas

&

Happy New Year

Visit other Wordless Wednesday contributors here.

Scavenger Hunt - November 2013

Seems no matter  my good intentions, I always get to the end of the month and still don't have all the photos for Made with Love's monthly Scavenger Hunt! Oh well, I have pulled together a few... some new, some oldies, but hopefully meeting of the spirit of MwL's fun monthly challenge!

 GOLD - The dome of our state capitol is covered with gold mined in North Georgia.



 

 

FIVE - 5

Five "beach birds" from Amelia Island, Florida

 

Patterns - A lingering fall rose and its lovely colors.

 

Bread - Southern Style

Freshly baked biscuits and cornbread ready for the food processor to be made into the traditional "dressing" served with turkey instead of stuffing. Celebrated our family Thanksgiving the Sunday before... lunch for 10...4 of whom were teenagers! I had almost forgotten how to cook for such a group! No apologies for the very banged up cookie sheet that is decades old, but still bakes up the best biscuits! Oh, the dressing was delish!

 

 

Happiness - My beautiful "sista" friend celebrating her birthday a couple of weeks after surgery for liver cancer. A year later, she is still bravely fighting the dread disease, but with strength, love, fortitude, determination, and faith!

 

Rain - Rain, rain go away. Come again another day... the mantra for Summer 2013!

 

Traffic - Leaving Atlanta last Friday after spending Thanksgiving Day with lovely daughter-in-love's family. Her parents were so kind to include us in their celebration so that we could be with our shared children!

 

P.S. I LOVE Atlanta, but my favorite view is in the rear view mirror. :-)

 

 

Boxes - Sweet DH decided to surprise  me with a Keurig Coffee Maker! My favorite new boxes.

 

Staircase - Look closely at the right side of the dam just above the grassy area. Can you imagine climbing those stairs daily for work? Get dizzy just thinking of it! This dam was used for the famous scene with Harrison Ford in the movie, The Fugitive.

Cheoah Dam

 

 

Park - Lots to see on the Cherohala Skyway so there are lots of places to pull off, park, and get your scenic views! Not brave enough to try this route on a motorcycle, will gladly stick with the Mustang!

 

Pair - Two different offerings... just could not decide!

Confederate Rose - Pink and white blooms on the same stem... pretty!

 

 

Mama and baby... looking for a treat!

 

 

Sunset - South Georgia style... across a mown hay field

 

Many thanks to Made with Love for letting stragglers like me jump in late! Visit and see what others made of the November list. Always fun... just maybe I'll be on time...one day!

 

November Scavenger Hunt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fall Flowers in the House

 

 

Since I could not begin to top Gus's post over at Jane's - October Flowers in the House party, I'll just share a bit of what's left in the garden at my house.

 

The ever tenacious elephant ears are still verdant and multiplying... and will until the first or second frost of the winter put an end to these impudent upstarts that love taking over any available (and often unavailable) spot.

 



 

However, after a closer look at the lime green leaf, it looks a bit like an abstract painting of trees... so maybe there is beauty and merit there after all.

 

 

 

The zinnias just keep on keeping on. The kitchen window is dressed for Fall in red-orange, yellow-orange with a touch of dogwood berry foliage.

 

 

The copper pitcher from atop the cabinets comes down for a good swipe of the protective dust covering and spider webs to hold a few more zinnias and dogwood.

 

 

Outside may not feel exactly like Autumn, but I have added several touches inside to bring on the season. Even though the temperature was in the 70s today with clouds and a threat of rain, it seemed a good day for some hardy fall food.

 

 



Homemade chili with lots of shredded cheese

 

 

Apple Dumplings made easy with crescent rolls and a splash of lemon-lime soda... yummy!

 

 

Yummm... Time for dessert and a trip over to Flower Jane's too see all the pretties joining the party. See you there!

 

 

 

A Few ... Flowers in the House

Keeping my fingers crossed for a few worthy blooms to take to Jane's Party.

 Success!

Zinnias, Butterfly Bush, Roses, Asparagus Fern, and Hydrangea

No fiddling, eye-balling, or arranging... just poked each one into the jar

Zinnias are such happy little flowers!

 I pulled out the 4 little hydrangea clusters for the must-have lovelies on my desk!

Our awesome blogfriend, Madelief, reminded me recently of a wonderful book, The Country Diary of An Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden.  I wondered what Edith observed in her September in 1906.

A lovely book... a fascinating woman, an interesting life... such beauty left for us to enjoy.

 While nurishing the needs of the zinnias, the downpours were unkind to the plants. A bit of twine and a battered rake with a broken handle did the job of holding them steady.

Couldn't leave out the beautiful Gala apples from our resent trip to the mountains.

Winesap apples soon to be apple butter!

 

Autumn is coming!

Please visit/join Jane's Flowers in the House. You are sure to see lovely flowers, read interesting comments, and visit friends across the globe without leaving your chair. Smiles to all!

P.S. Mise mentioned (and I am still giggling) in her post today that we "fling together a few effortless blossoms to display attractively in front of anything that will show us in a good light, lifestyle-wise"... please, please don't look to closely in the hopefully blurred background of the photos... you might see signs that my lifestyle is filled with clutter, dust, and a spiderweb or two!