A November walk through the subtle and subdued

After the colors of October in the last blog post, we transition into the quieter tones of November. I took these photos a few days ago, on November 17. I walked around a small local park and through some tree-lined neighborhood streets looking for something beautiful in the fading November nature. 

I like the challenge of taking nature pictures at this time because what we mostly see is what I call "plant skeletons". There is beauty in just the shape or structure of a plant when it's missing its petals and all that is left is a seed pod. Without the distraction of color, you can really see the framework.

If any of you can help me identify some of these plants, that would be great! We can start with this one. I was tempted to say these were wild grapes, but they're not. They're not on a vine and the leaves aren't a fit. These were actually part of a massive shrub. 

The light was mellow that day, because I went out right after it had rained. Actually, I was being lightly rained on at the time. The sky is a milky white to gray in these, which I like for November photos. I can really see the outlines of the leaves. This is the top of a Ginkgo tree. 

This photo turned out spookier than expected. I think Tim Burton would dig this tree. It's a super massive Oak. 

Here is an up-close view of its bark. 

I rooted around under the tree, finding all different types of leaves. As much as I love the fresh and bright October leaves, I also find the thick and leathery November leaves pretty cool. These two leaves were so huge. I'd say they were slightly larger than my hand, outstretched. 

I think this is a nut after a squirrel got to it. The more I look at this, the more I notice.

These next few photos were taken in the "Children's Garden" that I've mentioned before. Any idea which plant these leaves belong to? They were part of a long vine.

The giant pumpkins they grew in the garden are still in great shape.

Any idea what this is the remnant of? I rubbed one of the leaves and it smelled nice and lemony. I know it isn't lemon balm. Maybe some form of lemon sage or mint? 

This looks like Red Yarrow to me. I know it looks too big for that here, but I closed in. I just looked up some images of Red Yarrow leaves, and they look like this. So that's what I'm sticking with. 

I may have shared this birdhouse creature before. Isn't it fun?

This is a close-up view of the top of a tree stump. I like photographing things that look plain at first, but then seem very detailed later. 

This one was taken off a bridge I have mentioned earlier. I love standing on this little bridge and looking down at the creek moving. This is very close to that tree-lined area behind the backyard with all the spooky scarecrows. 

How twisty and turny is this bark? I'm not sure what kind of tree this is.

Looking at this next pic tells me that the bark probably belonged to a maple. 

I don't recognize these next seeds, do you?

These bright seed pods belong to the European Spindle. Every year I want to say that this is Bittersweet and then need to google it. 

I know this one is Burdock, though! These may not look it, but they're soft to the touch. I was holding some of them still to take my photos. 

Pine:

Only a few weeks ago, these trees were full of yellow leaves.

It's hard to express how tall this tree is. You'd just have to see it. I can't imagine how old it is. The more I look at this tree, the more I wonder what type it is. It fans out in a way I don't think I've seen anywhere else. 

Well, there's some November nature for you! Beautiful in its own way and mysterious in the way where I'm not sure what I'm looking at. Maybe some of you will be able to help me with that. 🍂

A Bright and Beautiful Day at Stein's

It's time for this year's Stein's post! What a beautiful day to take photos. The sky was a bright blue and cloudless. That blue always looks good with the orange pumpkins and decorations.  After this many years taking photos there, I know the weather conditions that look best with the displays!

Many of the ceramic pumpkins I've shared in the past were there, but there were some slight variations. 

The fence they always have up looks fitting with the Halloween decorations. 

I think this jack-o-lantern was new. He's on a stand, and my guess is that's for fire hazard reasons. Maybe you could have live flames in this more safely with it off the ground.

You might remember these ceramic jack-o-lantern pots too.

It's been so hot here that I felt lucky to photograph the pumpkins before they rotted away. They were getting near rotty as it was. I took these pics at the end of September, by the way. So it's hard to say how much longer some of these gourds lasted. It would be no problem as far as the temps being too hot right now! 

Pie pumpkins: 

Check out those stems! 

This pic was my computer wallpaper for awhile.  

Little ghost pumpkin. I think the slightly larger, fully round ones are Caspers.

There were many pretty mums as expected, but I feel like there were more colors out this year.

And some were in these pots you might remember. Every year I say I want to DIY these, but I'm not sure where I'd find the basic pots.

These flowers were new to me. They are Osteospermum. I've seen photos of Osteospermum online, but they were all light purple. This is the first time I'd seen these flowers in person and the first time I'd seen them in yellow in any way. They're called "Blue Eyed Beauty".  The very center is blue. I know at first it looks like they should be called Purple Eyed Beauty. 

They had beautiful straw flowers out! This one was my wallpaper before the yellow and orange pumpkins.

It's always fun to see the autumn floral arrangements with the decorative cabbage and peppers. These peppers look like crazy carrots or fingers to me. 

Aren't seasonal window displays fun? 

They added some new decorations this year, like this scarecrow.

So, venturing in the store here... Look who was there greeting us at the entrance! I think they named him Willy the Werewolf. 

His eyes came alive, I think in some motion sensor way. They look like maybe LED?

This is a ghost. It may be hard to tell because it has a lot of angles. It changed colors and I think it would be really pretty in the dark. 

The flasher...

Boo!

How cute are these? I like candy corn decorations so much more than the actual candy.

This towel was maybe my favorite item in the store. It reminds me of a design off a vintage candy bag. You know those little paper bags for Halloween treats?

And how great is this! Stein's had a Merry Christmas one of these out last year. Just picture it in neon red and green. These signs are pretty large and I imagine they'd look great on the side of a house or building. 

So there we have it! Another fun trip to Stein's for Halloween. My next blog post will be about all the Halloween decorations I've seen around town. I've been impressed with how DIY they've been. It's entertaining for me to see all that creativity. And it's fun to be surprised with unpredictable displays. 🦇