Cue the Orange, Pumpkins Stage Left

I'm not much of a fan of the color orange.. until Autumn.. then all of the sudden I crave seeing the color orange, and rust.. browns and olive greens.. yellow.  Our old Fall wreath had gotten a little.. well.. sparse.  So, yesterday was one of those great free days, so I asked Dayle if he'd take me out to lunch and to Pier 1 Imports to buy a couple of birthday gifts for a party next week.  I didn't tell him right away that I was also looking for a new wreath.. :-)  I told him I needed him to help me pick out the very best one.  Look what we found?  What do you think?  It even has little battery operated lights in it!

Here it is all hung on the back door and the lights are shining.

And of course.. my collection of pumpkins took center stage.  Blown glass ones, handmade velvet ones.. and the three crocheted ones I've made.  

I got the velvet pumpkins off of Etsy and adore them.  

I have a couple Indian corn cobs that last forEVER and use them each year.

How about we step out on the deck for some fresh Autumn air?  Our Dahlia that has orange and white flowers gave us an all white bloom.. isn't it pretty?

My succulent basket has been a total joy all summer.. now to see how to winter it over.. I am guessing it will come inside.  See the sand dollars?  Kristi found all of them on the beach when they were on their anniversary trip.  She has cleaned them all and has them outside to dry in the sun.  She's been thinking of ways to use them.  Sand dollar wreath?  Why not!  :-)

Quite the beachcombers haul.. eh?

Our pond and waterfall garden is still looking lush.. I've been thrilled with the King Tut Papyrus that I got last Spring.. 

Look how tall it is!!  It obviously loves sitting in the stream.

The huge Pin Oak by our house is just starting to turn color on selected branches.. soon the whole thing will be flaming red-orange.  There is something bittersweet about how the light changes in the Autumn when the sun begins slanting from a different angle.

Sometimes our driveway looks like a used car lot.. :-)  Travis and Kristi are unloading some things out of the truck as Dayle, Travis and his work buddy and his boss are going fishing in our boat this afternoon.  

One of our yellow little cherry tomatoes is ready to eat.  It's name is "Sun Sugar".

Kristi brought home some carved turtles that her parents had gotten in Hawaii, this is the mother and baby.  The dad one is in the living room on the coffee table.  The boys and I oiled this one with mineral oil, isn't it neat?

Kristi snapped a shot of Simba as he enjoyed sitting with her on the deck in my old rattan chair.  :-)  

Just FYI - all the photos in this post were taken with my iPhone 6S, except Kristi's which was done on her phone.  I'm curious to see how well the photos are from the new iPhone 7!  :-)  I'm off to the hot springs to swim soon with Gracie.  Maybe some acorn hunting too.  :-)  What are you up to today?  ((hugs)), Teresa :-)