🧡 September 🧡

 

Pumpkins are starting to appear in the markets, and the little chrysanthemums are blooming.  Summer passed by so quickly.  It didn’t really get started until the middle of July and never really got all that hot.  This was a summer like we used to always have up here in the San Bernardino Mountains,  and it’s my favorite kind of summer.  

Apples are nearly ripe, a few trees are tentatively coloring their leaves and I’m starting to make my fall cards. Stella always likes to “snoopervise” while I put up the autumn decorations.  

Stella and Malcolm love cuddling up in front of the fire, although Malcolm isn’t too happy in this photo because Stella just bit him!  He might have deserved it; he has been known to try to push her off the hearth.  Now that SoCal gas is charging so much I’ll be having a fire every night, and probably every morning, to help defray heating costs. 

I hope everyone has a lovely, cozy autumn filled with fun things to do.  Visiting pumpkin patches, eating caramel apples and taking walks to see all the beautiful fall foliage are some of my favorite things to do on a beautiful autumn day. It won’t be peak season for our fall foliage up here for several more weeks but I am really looking forward to it! 

Happy December

 The mice are making merry in Mouseford Falls, making snowmice, sledding, hiking, buying presents and drinking hot chocolate. 

The cats love to cozy up in front of the fire on these cold December days.  

I’m hoping for snow, but just enough to make the forest look pretty, not enough to cause problems.  Although rain would be gratefully accepted, too.  It seems like the California mountains that I live in are in a perpetual, never ending drought.  

I hope everyone has a wonderful, happy December that’s filled with all the things you love!

October

 Malcolm says he’s ready to bypass Halloween and go straight to Thanksgiving.  He wants turkey!  Of course, he wants turkey every day.  And lots of other things that are only appropriate for him in very small amounts.  

Autumn is finally starting to get underway here in the San Bernardino mountains.  It’s arrival is very late this year, I think because it’s been so unseasonably warm.  This past summer was filled with brutal heat.  I hate it, but I suppose that’s the norm now in this time of Climate Change.

I hope everyone is having a joyous autumn, it’s my favorite time of the year.  

Christmas Cheer

 

The stockings have been hung and Malcolm is waiting impatiently for Santa Paws to come down the chimney.  

I added two new nutcrackers to this little display in the dining room this year.  

Christmas mice with their friend, Miss Christmas Love Kitty. 

The mice are making merry in Mouseford Falls and I’m feeling pretty merry too, thanks to the Biden/Harris win!  I’m so looking forward to a return to a more centrist government for this country. 

A stack of favorite Christmas books that I’m planning on going through as soon as I get the time.  I hope everyone reading this has a happy Christmas and and a healthy new year!

Beautiful Autumn

This Steller's Jay seems to know that the yellow autumn leaves are a lovely contrast to her (or his) feathers.

Malcolm and Max are loving lounging on the couch...of course, this is a year round hobby for them!

This autumn has been one of the most beautiful I can remember.

It's really surprising, given how water-starved the trees are now.

Everyone who lives up here is hoping for a really long, wet winter to refill our lakes and nourish the forest.  That's Lake Arrowhead in the photo above. 

I hope everyone has a good November!


Linking with Saturday's Critters

This 'n That

This Northern Flicker was posing on my bird feeder so, of course, I took a photo!

Lake Arrowhead was looking especially beautiful yesterday.

My cottage is all ready for Halloween. 

The color of the trees up here this autumn are really spectacular.

This photo is from five years ago when Alyce was a kitten.  She just loved playing in the Halloween tree! 


I hope everyone has a great Halloween and, if you have critters, be sure to keep your pets inside to keep them safe. 


Linking with Saturday's Critters

Well...

I said in my last post that I'm back and could post more often...well, something must have heard me that didn't want me to post, because two days later I somehow injured my back and was laid up until now.  It's feeling better, but I still can't sit for long periods.  That's Alyce Eloise in the photo getting ready to leap up on her cat tree.  I wish I could be as flexible, graceful and athletic as my cats!

We're getting some pretty autumn colors up here and we even got over an inch of rain yesterday!

I've been doing some fall decorating and it's been cool enough for a fire in the evenings.

Malcolm thinks he's helping... 

Clouds receding over Lake Arrowhead.  Hopefully, this will be a really wet winter for Southern California, we need it! 


Linking with Saturday's Critters

I'm Still Here!

I finally got an antique desk for my home office to house my computer, so hopefully I'll be blogging a little more regularly. We've been having lots of beautiful thunderclouds from July through August, but they have only given us 2 tenths of an inch of rain.  Talk about stingy!

I've been working in my studio and back garden, making cards, painting and growing flowers. 

Taking walks through the forest... 

and taking lots and lots of photos.  I mostly take them with my iPhone X nowadays, but I'm finding that although it takes good photos for a phone, it really can't match my Nikon and Canon cameras. 

The hydrangeas were beautiful this summer, but they've all turned green now. 

I bought a new rose bush, "Frida Kahlo" and she is wonderful!  Lots of blooms, great scent, and the blooms vary in color. 

The wild blackberries are ripening all over these mountains.

The shops up here have their fall things on display.

The temperatures are dropping, especially at night, and the kitties are staying cozy.  (That's Sophia wearing more stripes than usual). 

Stella looks like she's getting ready for Halloween! 

And there have been lots of beautiful sunsets at Lake Gregory. 

Linking with: https://viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.com/

This n' That

A male Black Headed Grosbeak at my feeder; I've seen a female, too, so hopefully they'll have babies. 

I caught Lucy trying to sneak a sip of my tea.  She likes it because I put milk in it, so I have to be alert!  This attempt didn't work for her, happily for me. 

I just stopped and stared for a minute at this dogwood tree in Lake Arrowhead village before I thought to take a photo.  I've never seen a dogwood tree so loaded with blossoms, let alone a pink one with so many flowers! 

Lake Gregory was looking pretty on a day last week. 

I let these roses dry in the vase.  I thought they looked sort of vintage, so I photographed them by my mother's 88 year old recipe box.  It's full of recipes in her handwriting and my sister's handwriting.  Both are in heaven now, so it's one of my most treasured things. 


To see more beautiful creatures click here.
To see some pretty pink things click here.