Tag Archives: Fall

Fall beauty

Fueled by Fall

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Fall beauty
The view this morning.

“Autumn is my season, dear; it is, after all, the season of the soul.” Virginia Woolf

Recently, I read a list of quotes from another blogger’s site that spoke to me so much that I saved the list. (See her post here-https://katiegilley.com/2024/10/09/quotes-from-september-2024/) I decided to start my own series of posts, each on just one of the quotes I found to be meaningful. When a writing strikes emotion in me, it makes me feel a connection to the author and want to read more of their work to see if we really are of like minds. Maybe they have captured more of my feelings and put them into words. The first, by Virginia Woolf, is above.

For many years, I did not like fall. It reminded me of going back to school. School meant homework, discipline, and being indoors all day. It wasn’t that I disliked school. I just liked being at home better. Being at home had a certain freedom that I didn’t have at school. Years later as I was enjoying the beauty that is fall, I decided it’s time to get over that negative association with fall, grow up, and move on. Autumn has been my favorite season ever since. I love fall.

The vivid and varied colors in the trees and plants are glorious. I used to see red, yellow, orange, green, and brown. Now I see so much more. Red leaves so dark they are carmine. Coral leaves with yellow specks scattered over the surface. Salmon colored leaves that fade into peach and coral, all on the same leaf. What little jewels that sparkle in the sun! Where I live the majestic old sugar maples put on some of the best shows. The gold in the birch leaves changes hue when the trees release them, and they flutter to the ground. One thing that has helped me to appreciate these colors in greater depth is that I have recently given painting a try. I don’t just pick up a tube of yellow paint and begin painting yellow leaves. I have a simple set of paint tubes with limited colors. Even so, do I use medium yellow, lemon yellow, deep yellow, yellow ochre, or cashew? And of course, you mix colors, giving you limitless other shades to choose from. I will still never capture all the shades that Mother Nature has created. Painting has opened my eyes to see more than I did before. The greater depth was always there, I just didn’t see it. What other areas of our lives does this hold true for?

Another reason for my love of fall? The air is crisp and refreshing without the cloying heat of summer. It is the perfect weather for hiking. Fall is jacket time, and they are easily shed when you get too hot on the trail. Then you are quite comfortable and can concentrate on the beauty all around you. We often hike near bodies of water: lakes, ponds, and reservoirs. The photo above is from our hike this morning. I requested we hike on this particular trail this morning for the color contrast between the leaves and water that I knew would be there. It did not disappoint. (Wild Cherry Trail, West Branch State Park, Ohio) The trail is only one mile long, but I always think it seems farther. There are ups and downs, many tree roots popping up in the trail, and so much to see. I would rate it as moderately difficult. Our dogs had a blast as did we. Shelby stayed home but the other four went along. Cassius the greyhound and PeeWee the tiny sheltie is just in front of my husband. Zekie and Claire walk with me. Zekie was wearing his new llama sweater as his fur has thinned with the Cushing’s Disease. I think he rocks it!

Autumn hike
Dogs on the trail.

Homemade soups are something else that I enjoy in the fall. They say comfort to me. I never have a recipe when I make soup, so people are forever asking me, “What kind of soup is this?”, to which I invariably respond, “Umm, I don’t know…” and go on to list the ingredients. The soups you can make are endless and no two are ever the same. I think the key to making the best soup is to make the broth from scratch. I have a soup sack in the freezer for this purpose at all times. I make soups and stews often enough that sometimes I do have to use boxed broth. It is still a satisfying meal to have on a cool evening. With leftovers for lunch and maybe longer!

As for the opening quote, I do feel that autumn is the season of my soul. Most people see New Year’s Day and the beginning of a new calendar year as a time for starting over. I have never felt this way. I used to mock the idea in my own way. When someone would ask me if I had resolutions for the new year, I would respond with something such as “I plan to eat more chocolate.” I have since decided that if the turning of the calendar gives someone inspiration to make changes and better themselves, more power to them. It is not for me, however. I see it as just another day. New inspiration comes for me as fall arrives. The cooler temperatures rejuvenate me like a breath of fresh air. I have newfound energy and freshly inspired ideas. If I make changes to my life or take up a new hobby, it is going to be in the fall. I feel like I come alive again. My mind resumes functioning after the shutdown from the heat of summer. Once I’m done planting, weeding, watering, etc., there isn’t much left of me. (Can you tell we don’t have air conditioning?)

Woodland
Woodland view from the trail.

Oh, and when it comes to hiking in the fall, let’s not forget those crunchy leaves. What is your favorite part of fall?

Glimmers of Fall

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Dahlia

Fall will soon officially be here. I look forward to it and am enjoying the cooler weather and slower pace already. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the plethora of flowers and the bounty from the vegetable garden. But it is exhausting!

Assorted vegetables, that large tomato in the front is a pineapple tomato
Tomatoes, mostly Lemon Boy and Jet Star
Green beans, pole and Romano

There was not a lot of rain this summer which meant frequent watering. It takes me about an hour and a half if I water everything. Since we have begun composting and tilling it all back into the vegetable garden in the spring, our production has greatly increased. I pick about every third day and the three photos above show what I got in one picking three weeks ago when the garden was in full production. We went to one of the box stores and got a freezer this year. I am busily trying to fill it up. I’m certain I won’t have to buy green beans over the winter. I’ve also frozen zucchini and yellow squash, and bags of diced tomatoes for soups and sauces.

I always look forward to the first frost when I switch my time from gardening pursuits to hiking, baking, and extra reading. Autumn is my favorite hiking season. The leaves have turned to jewel tones as they hang from the branches and converge to make a colorful tapestry in the sky. The view as we drive home from the nearby park is spectacular as we look towards home. The park road is at the top of one hill, and we live at the top of the next hill. You can see trees in all their fall finery surrounding the reservoir of blue water in the span of land in between the hills. On a sunny day, it is enough to take my breath away!

With the cooler evening temperatures, I have begun enjoying a cup of tea as I read and relax in the evenings. I have a rather large collection of teas. Black teas, green teas, herbal teas. Each variety in assorted flavors. I order our vitamins from an on-line company that has good quality and prices. You have to reach a certain total to get free shipping, and I am usually just shy of the total. So, I throw a box of tea on, to reach the free shipping requirement. The tea and the shipping are nearly the same price so I may as well get the tea. Thus, I have amassed quite a collection! Black tea with peppermint, herbal peppermint, green tea with pear, apple cinnamon chamomile, to name a few. And we always have the old standby English Breakfast. I make sure to buy the ones that have each tea bag individually sealed, so my supply doesn’t get stale.

There are many things I like about fall, and these are just a few. I would be curious to know what you like about fall. Comment and let me know!

Hiking the Wild Cherry Trail

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Cassius, Claire, and Zekie enjoying the view.

We have done lots of hiking in the past month since the weather has cooled down. Much of it has been on sections of Ohio’s Buckeye Trail near our home as I reported in past posts Exploring the Buckeye Trail. We do hike at other places in the area too.

We recently explored a park trail at West Branch State Park that I had only been on once before called the Wild Cherry Trail. It is only a mile loop from the parking lot and back. Don’t let that deceive you. It is one of the more difficult trails I have been on at the park. Lots of up and down, steep hills, and tree roots in the path for most of the hike. The views are worth it though. I am happy any time I get to hike near water and this trail does not disappoint. I took Cassius, Claire, and Zekie, one afternoon when I was home by myself. We didn’t encounter anyone else which made it very peaceful. Also, I could take my time as I am a slow hiker.

View from Wild Cherry Trail.

There is lots of woods to enjoy also. Many more old trees with large girth than we see in most other areas of the park. It does look like heavy winds brought some trees down. They look almost like fence rows the way they lay parallel. This was taken last week when the trees still had some color. The water in the background foreshadowed grander things to come.

View just off the Wild Cherry Trail

The level of the reservoir is very low. The area you see is usually underwater, clear up to the tree line. It has been low for some time because there is grass and weeds sprouting, there are lots of deer tracks, and the surface is dry enough to walk out on. This made for interesting views that aren’t normally available.

More views just off the trail.

Here is another view taken from an area that is generally underwater. The sound of the waves is so peaceful. I just stood there and listened. After a while the dogs became impatient and we moved on. There was only access to the shore from one area because the drop off from the tree line was too sharp and tall in most spots.

Shells on the shore.

The new shore had many empty shells on it. Most were small, but some were larger. I had no idea there were any bivalves this big in the reservoir. That’s what I love about a trail that is new to me. I always learn something that I didn’t know before.

Map of a few trails in the area.

Here is the trail head map. It lists several trails in the area including the Wild Cherry. We have done short parts of some of the others, but not the whole trail. Sometimes it is too wet to proceed very far. I don’t always have the correct footwear on for the conditions we encounter. And I tend to be whiny when my feet get wet. We will get to all of these trails though!

I have pictures from some other new hikes we did on the Buckeye Trail, but I will save those for another day. I hope you have been able to take advantage of the autumn beauty, my friends!

Exploring the Buckeye Trail

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West Branch State Park, view from the dam walkway

Fall has officially arrived! Happy Autumnal Equinox. With the cooler temperatures we have resumed hiking. We go in the mornings when it is still cool. During winter, when the temperatures get downright cold, we walk in the afternoons.

Pups on the trail

Cassius, Zekie, and Claire are very happy to be back on the trails. I’m afraid Shelby’s hiking days are behind her. With arthritis in multiple joints and a collapsed disk, the vet recommended thinking about retiring her from walking. She still does an occasional therapy dog visit, and this makes her very happy to be out working with mom.

Grape vines on trees

We have been exploring parts of the Buckeye Trail that have been upgraded at West Branch State Park. Wonderful volunteers have been clearing, improving, and adding new signage and blazes. We are grateful! Many areas were previously impassable. This section near one of the boat ramps is newly marked. I think the large vines give an eerie feel to the trail.

West Branch Reservoir

Today we did the walk over the dam spillway area which is also part of the Buckeye Trail. The water levels are the lowest we have ever seen them. That white area along the tree line is usually under water. The people who operate the dam system are releasing water to the other reservoirs downstream. With the limited rain, there is not enough water to go around. I don’t think the people here, or downstream, are happy with the water levels. I still find it to be a pretty sight and love to hike the area.

Geese and turkey vultures

We saw lots of birds today. Flocks of Canada Geese and some ducks scattered in. I find the geese to be funny. There are always a few that turn upside down in the water and flash their white undersides while they look for food. I told my husband,”Look, they’re mooning me”!

The dark birds are turkey vultures. They abound in the area. There are lots of undisturbed woods and water for them. You don’t appreciate just how large they are until you see them with their wings held out to their sides sunning themselves. Today they appeared to be looking for dead fish where water levels were lowered.

Blue heron

We watched a few blue herons fishing. They stand perfectly still until they spot an unsuspecting fish, and then “wham!”, they grab him. Or so they hope. This one was fishing and in perfect position for a photo, but I scared him and he flew away. Still a cool photo.

I hope all of you are enjoying these first days of autumn as well.

Fall Hiking Has Begun and a Few Words About Dahlias

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Hiking with dogs.
On the trail.

We started hiking for the season on September 24th and have only missed a couple days. Since we started, we have hiked 35.1 miles in 14.5 hours. Not breaking any speed records but considering the terrain we are covering some days; I am happy with it.

Fall hike
Fall colors!

The trees are really starting to turn! There are beautiful colors everywhere we go. I was not happy with our lack of rain when I had to water plants everyday but now that we are out in the woods, I am glad that it is dry. We are exploring trails that we previously hadn’t spent a lot of time on because they were too wet. We are also seeing many beautiful asters along the trails and one day we saw a flock of five turkeys wandering through the woods.

Woodland stream
Stopping at the stream.

Above, we stopped by the stream at one of my favorite local parks, Shaw Woods. I like this park because we seem to be the only ones who know about it. The two times we went, there were no other cars in the parking lot! It’s not that I don’t want anyone else to use it, but when you’re walking a reactive dog, it’s nice to have the place to yourself. There was one couple starting out on the trail with their dog when we were leaving yesterday. This park allows horse riding. We see evidence that horses have been there (read, road apples!), but I haven’t seen a horse there since last year.

Three dogs
Zekie, Claire, and Shelby

And lest you think Shelby always has to stay home, I include this photo with my three walking companions ready to get started on the hike. My husband walks Cassius and Baxter. Shelby stays home once in a while if her limp is flaring up. The limp appears to be from arthritis. As grandma once told me, ” Getting old is hell.” Most days Shelby does go with us and is fine. One day I took her along and let her stay in the car while the rest of us went on the hike. No reason for her to miss out on the car ride. She was perfectly content to stay in the car while we were gone. The weather is cool enough that we can leave her without concern.

Dahlias
Dahlias

And I couldn’t close this post without sharing a picture of a couple of my dahlias. They are growing amazingly large. Especially the red and white ones. The smaller, yellow dahlias are six inches in diameter and the plant is covered with blooms. Probably a dozen of them. The red and white flowers are larger than my hand and there are several blooms on the plant. All of my dahlias are staked upright because the weight of the blooms pulls the plants over, and I don’t want the stalks to snap. I will definitely be digging up these tubers and planting them again next year!

Fall is Here!

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Sheltie mix
Zekie, a happy boy!

Fall has arrived and with it, time for an update on things around here.

With the cooler weather, we have resumed hiking! This makes for happy dogs. We have hiked four days so far this week for a total of 9.35 miles and 3.5 hours. It is good to be back on the trails. I was afraid that Baxter and Shelby would have trouble keeping up as our senior dogs at 13 and 12. They have done pretty well. I did keep Shelby home today as she was limping a little. Yesterday’s walk was on hard surface, and she does better on dirt or grass trails. She can go with us next time. I gave her a dental chew as we were leaving, and she seemed happy enough to see us when we came home.

Hiking with dogs.
Hiking on the trail.

There aren’t many people on the trails as we’ve been hiking before lunch time. The few people Zekie has seen have been from a distance and he hasn’t barked at them! Is his reactivity better? I don’t know if it’s because they aren’t that close or if he is doing better after being on Prozac for over a year. After our last trip to the veterinarian, we decided to increase Zekie’s Prozac by 50% because he still tries to chew his way out of his crate when we have to leave him at home to go away. The vet warned me that some dogs’ behavior gets worse with a higher dosage, not better. After six weeks of the higher dosage, I decided that Zekie was not doing as well as he had been before. He still tried to chew his way out of the crate, no change there. What I didn’t like was that he had a perpetually wide-eyed and upset look on his face. He appeared to be continually surprised or like he was waiting for something unpleasant to happen. Not the effect I was going for. So, Zekie is back to his original dose of Prozac and seems to be more comfortable. We also left Zekie (and the other dogs) in the car while we stopped to get apples at a local orchard today. He was only without us for five minutes and he didn’t seem to have a separation anxiety attack. We didn’t want to push our luck. Once we chose our apples, my husband went back to the car while I waited to pay.

Greyhound under a blanket
Cassius getting warm.

Although the cool weather makes Cassius chipper and eager to hike, he does get cold when laying around the house. We cover him up and he seems pretty happy. Does he have us trained or what?

Sheltie
Lilly!

And in other news, we have a new dog in the extended family! My mother-in-law got a sheltie through a seniors for seniors program. She felt her other dog Paisley needed a companion. After a week of settling in, the two dogs have begun playing and having a good time. The new dog’s name is Lilly. We have been over to visit twice with all five our dogs and Lilly has adjusted to them too. She is an adaptable little thing.

Dahlias
Dahlia blooms!

It took long enough but we have dahlias! I was late in planting them, so the blooms are just coming on. We should be having our first frost in a couple weeks. I will throw a sheet over the plants for the night when frost is forecast, and they will be fine. We generally have a couple more weeks of good weather after that first frost.

I planted a small crop of cold weather vegetables on the far end of our garden. They are where our zucchini, yellow squash, and cucumbers were. Those plants are long gone. In their place, I planted mixed lettuce, beets, turnips, green onions, baby bok choy, and Chinese cabbage. All of these places should survive multiple frosts. There are just a few seeds of each. What I think we can eat before winter sets in.

Take care and enjoy the crisp fall weather!

The Fall Garden

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Datura and Mandevilla

These cooler temperatures are a gift. Most of the flowers are still in bloom. And I can sit outside to enjoy them anytime. It is not so hot that I have to carefully plan time to be out in the cool of the morning or wait for evening’s shade.

Climbing Rose

I passed time this afternoon by reading a book and hanging out with dogs on the patio.

Cleome

I did take time for watering, but even that doesn’t have to be done as often now. Fall has become my favorite time of year.

Sedum with a burgundy dahlia

The Last Hurrah

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Our garden is having a last hurrah before the snow arrives this weekend. The flowers amaze me with their tenacity.

They keep producing a nice display for us even during the cool fall temperatures.

I found a few poor, confused rhododendron blooms that I snipped and brought inside so we can enjoy them all evening.

The garden is still a beautiful and relaxing place to pass some time. If you wear a coat!

My Xanadu

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These are the faces of happy, tired dogs. And we all know, a tired dog is a good dog. Friday afternoon was the perfect day for a Fall hike so we loaded up four of the dogs and went to a park near us. Above are Phoebe the greyhound and Baxter whom we refer to as a baxterhound. If the world had more baxterhounds, it would be a better place.

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Shelties, Shelby, and foster dog Sweetie also joined us on this fine day. The fall leaves looked spectacular against the dogs’ coats. They really brought out the rich browns and mahoganies. Each enhanced the other and looked all the better for it.

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Here, Phoebe and Shelby pose for effect. Our own three dogs are trustworthy off leash so they were free to sniff for squirrels and to tell off chipmunks. Whenever we encountered other hikers, especially with dogs, we called our dogs to us and leashed them up so as not to bother anyone else. As you can see from her picture above, poor Sweetie had to stay on leash. As a foster dog, we just don’t know her as well as we know our own dogs. I find it hard to imagine that she would stray very far from my husband but it’s just not worth the chance. Sweetie is a daddy’s girl through and through. She thinks I’m nice too, but only as an afterthought.

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The views as we hiked were beautiful. I feel very fortunate to live in this area of Ohio when I am looking at views like this. The dogs paused to look too, although I’m not so sure that they’re not looking for wildlife rather than at the Fall leaves.

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Normally yellow and gold are not my favorite colors but Mother Nature does it right and I am a big fan of the bounty of color. There are several small lakes in the area making this enjoyable hiking terrain.

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As we enjoyed the sites, I was thinking a Fall hike in the woods is about as good as it gets. With dogs of course!