Splendid Autumn II

my backyard

chrysanthemums

detail of forest floor from a hike in the mountains of North Carolina

ornamental kale

Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) caterpillar on rue plant in my front yard

"Patisserie" treat table next to the wedding cake shown on my blog post HERE.  This beautiful wedding was held outdoors at the groom's family home in late September.

a little more about Black Swallowtails:
general information with photos
What did they eat before non natives existed?

photos by me © 2012-2105 all rights reserved

photographs

random photographs from this summer... 

Because my hubby and I were attending our niece's wedding in July in San Diego, we decided to visit Death Valley on the way--yep--in the middle of Summer! Here we are having fun with shadows on the western edge of the park looking out to the Panamint Mountains. 

The wedding was so wonderful!  The ceremony and the reception were held outside.  Banners and lights were strung in several courtyard areas.  

The day after the wedding, the bride and groom escorted 13 of us into Baja California, Mexico for wine tastings.  First up--tacos and paletas.  Then we had all the energy necessary to visit 4 wineries!  At one of them, there was a grape tasting garden.  I wish I remembered what variety these are.

back home again to a waiting kitty!

and a mini garden harvest

My 9 year old twin goddaughters came over to play for an evening.  We had lots of fun!  Oliver (kitty) enjoyed man little girl-handling, we made fun food, and played flashlight tag.  This ice cream lady was inspired by Samantha Lee's amazing food art.  ("Lola" was made of 2 kinds of ice cream, strawberry lips and cheeks, chocolate sauce eyebrows, hair of oreo-type cookie surrounded by chocolate sauce.  A tree was made of cantaloupe branches and pieces of fruit for leaves and blossoms.) 

2 trips to Asheville, NC to visit my daughter and SIL.  We always work on a house project.  Sometimes we explore the town or the mountains.  We always have awesome food --and wine.  (My daughter's a wine rep!)  Recently, we were working on converting a carport into a greenhouse.  Alas, we didn't finish.

Yesterday, I was playing around with my iPhone taking photos of my flowers.  The asters have just begun to bloom.  It must be Fall.  See the beetle?

Alphabe-Thursday, hosted by Ms Jenny, is so much fun!  This week our letter is  "P."  Come visit others' submissions HERE and join in the fun!  


 
photos by me  © 2014   all rights reserved     

Summertime enterprise

What did I do this Summer? Let me tell you!

above photo: Asheville, NC

above photo: Melt Restaurant, Cincinnati, Ohio

left photo: Bonbonerie, Cincinnati, OH See previous post here.

photo on right: L'Escargot Restaurant, Sint Maarten, NA

dinner on our friends' new deck. I posted a flower from their garden here.

photo below: visited several Farmers' Markets

and attended dear friends' son's wedding (3 more to come this year)!What did I do this Summer? See first photo!

How about you? What did you do this Summer? This one is for the etsy bloggers' street team carnival hosted by Storybeader!

photos by me © 2009