Autumn Garden, Jam and Leopards

It's officially Autumn.. the garden is happy from the rain after 3 dry months.  The koi do not know that the winter is coming, lucky for them.  I hope it's not as bad as last year.

I can see gold and brown notes in the foliage, the maple is starting to turn.

My old Hydrangea bush is becoming more appreciated in my garden, not only is it beautiful when it blooms, but the flowers fade and stay on until the winter winds blow them to shreds.

A closeup looks like a watercolor.  Wouldn't these colors make a nice crocheted blanket?  Purple, lime green, blush pink.. 

The pagoda and art nouveau lady garden sculptures are girding for the winds and snow to come.

The Autumn sun slants across the back door.

My son Travis was offered a 5 gallon bucket of raspberry puree, seedless and we snapped it up.  Kristi's mom offered to make raspberry freezer jam out of it for us.. (wahoo!) and brought it out and put it in our freezer.  Oh my goodness.. what a happy turn of events!  I had to test it out, it would have been rude not to.. :-) and toasted an English muffin, spread it with creamy peanut butter and lovingly placed a spoonful of jam on it.  Munch munch.. nirvana!  I so much prefer it without seeds!  We have effusively thanked her mom for doing this for us.

My sister Denise, her husband Steve and my nephew Shane went on a 3 week African photo safari and Shane shared some of his photos yesterday on Facebook.  I asked permission to share a few of my favorites.  He will be placing these on his photo website soon and I will share a link so you can see more of these.  I'm so impressed with Shane as he's an engineer but also has a well-defined artistic eye with his photography and has learned to use the high end equipment that stymies me!  This is a leopard of which he captured an image.  These are from the Samburu National Reserve in Kenya, Africa.

Isn't this bird shot amazing?  He looks a little unhappy, doesn't he?  LOL!

A giraffe ambling along.

I love the juxtaposition of the Leopard on the ancient dry tree.

 Our son and DIL have had quite a time in Maui, Hawaii - I will share some of their photos soon.  The arrive home late this evening.  We'll all be glad to see them.  

I'm off to swim soon.. I must say that immersing myself in water and stroking and kicking my way along lets me forget for a while that our country is on the brink of a nuclear war due to 2 men with too much power and a propensity towards chest beating may lead to the loss of millions of lives and possibly our planet.  ::huge sigh::

I hope you're keeping your head above water!  ((hugs)), Teresa :-)