Weekly Header Challenge -- Signs of Fall

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Craver VII 

Fishing Guy 

Katney 

Imac 

Lew

I'm joining in the group above for this weekly challenge.

Click on the other participants' blogs to see

what they've come up with!

Theme ~ Signs of Fall

Chosen by Lew.

I love this week's theme.  Then again, that was easy, since I love all things autumn, and I tend to break out my camera and go exploring in a big burst before the really cold weather hits us here in Chicagoland.

Here is the full image of my header:

Red leaves, McDowell Grove, Naperville, Illinois.

Fernando and I went for a walk at a local forest preserve.  I hadn't been there in ages, and although there wasn't a lot of color because most of the scenery is scrub trees and "natural" vegetation, there were pops here and there.

Here are more signs that it's fall.

Brown, crinkly leaves...

More opportunities to warm up the house with baking...

Pops of color along the river...

A harvest moon...

Autumn colors on the prairie...

Ladybugs congregating on our south/west windows...

And my favorite image, which I see every day for just a week or so through my kitchen window.

Jacob's tree.

This is a very special tree.  My dad gave us this little stick of a tree for Arbor Day the year Jacob was born.  We put a little plastic fence around it--actually, there were two trees but one kept getting mown over by the lawnmower!--and it grew two or three feet tall.  Then we moved, and we took the tree with us.  But, we moved to an apartment while we waited for a house to be built (or not--long story), so my parents transplanted the tree into their back yard.

We ultimately moved into our current house, and that autumn had my dad re-transplant the tree into our very own back yard.  It's a small tree for 23 years of age, but it has always been called Jacob's tree, and for a mere handful of days in autumn, it is a beautiful reminder of the glory of autumn, and of God's faithfulness to us in our family's journey together.


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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April Flowers

April.  That is how far behind I am in posting.  Ah, well.  Life happened--lots of big things which I will be sharing as the days and the posts flow on.  For now, enjoy some of my April flowers.  They don't look like this anymore.

April 22

Columbine.

Coral bells -- heuchera "marmalade."

Scilla -- these little flowers are stunningly beautiful.

I love this one -- daffodils mean spring!!

A few days passed...

April 27

It's amazing what changes in just a few days!

I spent some serious time enjoying the scilla through my macro lens.  They are simply beautiful, and there's nothing like seeing them in all their glory and detail!

Happy late spring!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Signs of Spring

The calendar may say that technically, legally, it's here.  And although the weather refuses to cooperate, the signs are beginning to, literally, pop up.  Right out of the ground.

At my friend's home the other day, I spotted crocuses!

Back at my own home, and with my repaired macro lens (very, very happy girl here!!!), I wandered my yard to see what I could see.  I accidentally wore my slippers, too.

 Daffodils.

The sage is still dormant, but it made for pretty pictures.

The coral bells are still curly and brown, but there are a few hints of colorful leaves.

Coral bells heuchera "Marmalade"

I wondered if I would find anything in my veggie garden.  Sure enough, steady as she goes, garlic was sprouting up everywhere, right where we planted it last autumn.

I had to really look for the rhubarb plants; I hope this continues to grow!

Finally, after removing the protective straw, I found--strawberry leaves!

Just seeing the pretty green leaves makes my mouth water.  :)


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Cold, Ice, and Frost

We finally had a cold snap, complete with icicles.  I threw my coat on to go out and capture some ice.

Icicles on the grill

Frozen downspout

Frozen log

Coral bells frost

The rain turned to ice so quickly that the leaf below actually has a coat of ice over it!  Cool, huh?

Black beauty ice

Icy marmalade

Frozen marmalade leaf

Icy oak leaf

Okay--just throwing this random shot in for no other purpose than I have wanted to take it for a while.  Yuck on the window, though--really needs to be cleaned!!  :/

We even had ice indoors!  At the back of our fridge, I found a plastic restaurant cup filled with water.  It stood up on the below plate, so I shot some pictures of it.  It froze in a really neat pattern.

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Outside Our Cozy Georgia Retreat

On my family blog, I shared about the beautiful apartment that friends of my sister Dee graciously allowed us to use for a few days before the wedding of Dee's daughter.  It was such a pretty and peaceful retreat, and I enjoyed every minute of the time we spent there.

After a refreshing sleep that Friday night, we set about making breakfast, purchasing some needed groceries, and "hanging out" for a little bit before we had to get ready to go to the church for Joanna's and Jonathan's wedding.

Given that we were in Georgia, where that Saturday's temps hovered in the 50s, we were definitely set on exploring the outside of Dave's and Kris' beautiful property.  Of course, a photographer never leaves home without her camera...

The family dog, Taffy, was out and about, and Thomas took the opportunity to give her some exercise.  She was very friendly and full of energy, being only a year or so old.  She reminded me of our family dog, Buck, from my teen and early adult years, with about the same coloring and size.

I had my macro lens on for this exploratory walk, and I loved being able to find flowers in January!

The family keeps chickens!

Yeah, they have a pool for those hot Georgia summers.  Sweet, huh?

Aaand, they grow grapes!  I really like this family.

Their property was ringed with woods, tons of pine and other trees and grasses.

On the back porch, cut firewood awaited its turn in the fireplace inside.

Flowers (yes, more flowers!) bloomed in a barrel.

The children had been out playing recently, and I spotted this triangle of kickballs.

Baby pines grew at the edge of the woods.

Around the front yard, Danny and I found a very social cat.

I took a few quick shots of some holly and berries.

I found another rose bush, but the roses had long since bloomed.  I still took a picture or two, and kept the below, my favorite even without any petals!

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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