Beside the front door, through the windshield and fun gift

- These mums graced the table of my Clan's tent at the Stone Mountain Highland games two weeks ago and they are still pretty beside my front door.  The fake pumpkin was purchased on sale one year at Rite Aid pharmacy after Halloween. 

- The majority of the turning leaves around here have already fallen due to all the rain we had during the last few days.  But these beauties were spotted on my commute home yesterday, taken through the windshield.  The late afternoon sun was hitting them just right.

- And I'm all ready for Halloween on Saturday night.  Last year two teenage girls knocked on my door for treats and that was it.  One of them didn't even have a candy bag - she just held her purse open.  :)   The fun plastic spiderweb bowl was given to me by a friend.  I love it.

This is a very orange post, isn't it?  I'm sad to see October come to a close - it just flew by.  But good things will happen in November, too - I just know it.  Have a great weekend, my friends!

Fall beauty, volunteer and beautiful clouds

- Every time I see the camellia bush blooming this time of year at my weekend park, it makes me think of my grandmother's house, with its red camellia blooming by the front door.  It was a beautiful morning - and warm.  A good morning for a walk.

- There is some kind of construction landfill area along the way during that walk and I was delighted to see this clump of orange flowers that had "volunteered" at the top of a mound of dirt / mulch. 

- The morning turned cloudy toward the end of the walk.  Friend Laura knew the name of this cloud formation, but it didn't stick in my head.  I call it beautiful.

View from the deck, lone golfer and left behind

- The view from the parking deck of Georgia Public Broadcasting in midtown Atlanta around 7pm last Tuesday evening.  That antenna thing looks a bit like an electronic palm tree to me.  A lot is going on in this photo for me - one of those buildings in the middle is the Equitable (insurance) building - the first building I ever worked in after I moved to Atlanta.  The building on the left houses AT&T headquarters in Atlanta, where I attended many meetings when I still worked at my telecommunications job.  And the building on the right (with red letters glowing) is Coca Cola headquarters - Atlanta is home to Coca Cola.  Maybe it's appropriate that there is a glow around that building.  :)  Click to enlarge if you can.

- View from inside Stone Mountain Park last weekend.  I was just about to enter The Commons restaurant when I spotted a lone golfer on the putting green beside the lake.  The sky was beautiful - it had been just a glorious day.

- And at home, it was finally time to take away the spring plantings.  The dragon wing begonia beside my front door gamely bloomed all summer, but had grown very leggy and was taking over the front door by last weekend.  Before I headed to the park on Sunday morning, I pulled everything up.  This blossom was left behind as a reminder that spring will come around again.

It's my 1500th post!  How about that?  Thank you for coming by - you make me want to keep doing it!

How I spent my weekend, free entertainment and the young

-Here's how I spent my weekend - at the 43rd Stone Mountain Highland Games, at which we celebrate our Scottish heritage.  Pipers and drummers are standing at attention here during the opening ceremonies.  It was a bright, cool, sunny weekend - I wish we could have bottled that weather.

- The table at my Clan's tent with our Christmasy looking tartan (which goes rather well with the Walkers Shortbread package.)  :)  Someone made the cookies in the baggie, using Scottie dog cookie cutters.

- Our Clan tent looks out at a performance stage, in which various singers and musicians perform Celtic tunes all day.  It's a treat to have background music.  Our favorite is the man pictured:  Colin Grant-Adams - here singing "Loch Lomand."  Click on the red link if you'd like to give it a listen.  I sang that song to niece Amanda in 1997, when when we visited Scotland.  She and I walked around the bonny, bonny banks of Loch Lomand, while her mother and sister went on a tour of it in a boat.  I remember that as a young teenager she was probably a little mortified at her aunt singing out loud, but she graciously acted as if she wasn't.  I think of that every time I hear that song.

- This photo doesn't entirely capture the exuberance of this young piper, spontaneously performing on one of the walkways.  (His family was nearby.)  I loved that he was tapping his toe the whole time he played.  I'm always so glad to see young people involved.

A walk in the park, wee library and waiting for me

- The weather in Atlanta has finally turned nice!  We are not seeing much fall leaf color yet.  I'm sweeping the fallen brown leaves at home and saw a few here, at Tanyard Creek Park - my favorite after work walking spot.

- There were a few golfers out at Bobby Jones Golf Course, which borders the park.  You'd have to click to enlarge to spot them.  It was a beautiful, late afternoon walk.

- At the end of my walk, I was delighted to see this Little Free Library.  The park borders a nice neighborhood, where I imagine most the patronage of this "Take a book / Return a book" spot comes from.  Love this idea.  Click on the red link to find out how to build a "Literacy Friendly Neighborhood."  

- And speaking of books, look what was waiting for me when I got home from that walk!  Friend Kim Talon's latest novel, "Tethered Birds."    The red link takes you to her website, where you can also view her amazing photography.   I found it at Amazon.com, but the internet tells me it is available in a number of other places.   I started reading it yesterday and am already absorbed.

Looks as if it will be a nice and chillier weekend here in Atlanta.  Hope you have a great one!

Sentimental journey, pinch hitter and nice surprise

 - It was another rainy Saturday, so I was at home a lot (which is always OK with me.)  I snapped a photo of a section of my bookcase that means much to me.  I like my shelf of books with Flannery O'Connor story collections, as well as books about the state of Georgia.  And that pot with the bird perched on it has an etched line from a hymn that was sung at my mother's funeral, "His Eye is on the Sparrow."  If you click on the red link, you can hear Lauryn Hill and Tanya Blount sing it - so beautiful with its lyric, "I sing because I'm happy, I sing because I'm free..."

- At church on Sunday, some friends placed these beautiful flowers in honor of their late wife and  mother.  This photo taken with my phone does not do them justice.  The pianist is another church member, who was pinch hitting for the music director, absent because he was by his wife's side as she gave birth to their new son. 

- And I found this bottle of wine at my desk on Monday morning - a gift from coworker Joanne, because I worked late on her projects last week.  A nice surprise.  I took it home, but thought about leaving it at work for emergencies.  :) 

Hope you are having a good day!

Waning crescent, piles of pumpkins and brushstrokes

- The moon was beautiful in the early morning sky yesterday morning as I was leaving for work.  The internet tells me it was a waning crescent moon.  If you click to enlarge, there is another bright light just southwest of it.  Its stability made me wonder if it could have been a planet showing itself.

- Piles of pumpkins in front of the Whole Foods at Briarcliff last evening, a bit after 7pm.  I ended up working late to get a project out and decided to treat myself to takeout.  I love the elements of fall like this.

- The sky changed so much in the 10-15 minutes I was inside.  It looked like brushstrokes.  A peaceful moment before making my way back home.

Have a lovely weekend, y'all!

Rolling pins, Monday treat and fallen leaves

- That was my grandmother's well-used rolling pin - there by itself on the next to last rung of this wrought iron rack that was meant to hold wine.  (Or so I was told by the ladies who run the shop in mountains, where I bought it last July.)  I also owned a french rolling pin (the one on the bottom in the back.)  All the others were rolling pins I have picked up since then, thinking more is better when you are displaying a collection.  The one on the top is a "cookie" rolling pin and the one with the bumps is a "noodle" rolling pin.  I might have gotten carried away - it's a bona fide collection now.  :)

- Coworker Joanne came in yesterday with treats she made over the weekend and approached my cubicle, asking:  "Lynn - are you on a diet today?"  "Depends on what you've got!"  And off the diet I went, to eat this Oreo cookie ball.  Joanne spotted the recipe on facebook. 

- And sometimes you have to look for beauty where you can find it.  Here - fallen leaves floating in a puddle at home.

Happy faces, purple and look at those ears!

It's been a rather dreary several days here in Atlanta, with one appearance from the sun on Wednesday.  And it's been a busy week, with very little photo opportunities.  So again I turn to some photos I haven't posted that have sunshine in them (from late July).  Hope you don't mind!

- At my aunt's home in Franklin, North Carolina - way up on the top of a mountain.  (The drive to get up there is harrowing.)  I like these happy flowers beside the driveway.

- I think she likes purple flowers, as do I.

- And from her sister-in-law's garden - another mosaic offering.  I titled this photo "Look at those ears!"  Handles from old coffee cups, I'm sure.

There's a chill in the air this morning and it's raining.  I'm thinking I need to put away the open toed shoes I'm so fond of wearing.  It's time.  Hope you have a great weekend, my friends!