The last weekend of September can be melancholy. Summer is officially over and autumn is well and truly here. This year, September is ending with lots of sunshine.
My dahlias were slow to bloom this year, and it seems that they are just reaching their peak blooms now. Hopefully, they will continue for a few more weeks. The one above is called Sweet Violet and can bloom in a variety of colours, from white barely tinted with violet to all violet.
I went for a long and solitary walk along the water this afternoon. Tim was busy with something unexpected at work. It's much more fun when he's along, but I enjoyed the wonderful views across the water. Lots of people were out enjoying the sunshine.
Then there was this line up of gulls perched on the peak of a roof. The building is lower than the pathway and the gulls were not much above my head. How different they all are - birds in a row. Made me grin.
I rushed the season a bit and started reading the October edition of Country Living early. I usually like to save them until the proper month, the one on the cover. Do you do that? Or would you read it as soon as it arrives?
Another bouquet of flowers from the garden yesterday - dahlias and hydrangeas. I'll clip as long as I can.
Today we turned the gas fireplaces on as the house is beginning to get chilly. It's time for cozy meals like the one I made for today's dinner - Mushroom and Garlic Chicken Thighs, Couscous, and Broccoli. Cozy will be the goal for many months ahead.
How is your end of September? Parts of B.C. and Alberta received lots of snow these past few days. Is it snow, rain, or sun for you?
Linking with Mosaic Monday, hosted by Angie of Letting Go of the Bay Leaf.
A lovely walk. Beautiful images. I'll take a magazine any time I can get it. Can't get good ones here anymore (censorship caused all the magazine shops to close down). Today's high will be 41 and that's a cool down for us. Can't believe it's the last day of September. Happy Autumn!
ReplyDeleteGales aplenty at the moment but still very mild. Love the subdued hues from your walk and your garden flowers still so beautiful. We are always a month ahead with our magazines and I tend to read it as it comes out. Always love the autumn covers so redolent of harvest festival. Have a good week. B x
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Lorrie. I loved the gulls with one or two facing the opposite way! It's cool here in the evenings now and we have resorted to having the heating on fo an hour or so. Weatherwise it is very mixed with sunshine and blue skies one minute and down[pours of torrential rain the next. When going out we need to remember the Guide motto and be prepared for anything!! Many thanks for your comment on my recent post I am encourraged to get back to posting.
ReplyDeleteYes, I saw that snow and shuddered. It’s sun, glorious sun here for days upon days. Perfection. For now.
ReplyDeleteThose gulls in a row reminded my of my Friends Header. Made me grin.
Enjoy the cozy and to answer your question, I do not wait when a new magazine arrives, though I gave up magazines long ago when blogs were ever so much better than anything I could read or see in a magazine.
Hello, I love your pretty dahlia and hydrangea. The meal sounds yummy. Beautiful scenes from your walk. I like getting cozy on a chilly day with a good book. Enjoy your day, wishing you a happy new week!
ReplyDeleteYou have a beautiful talent for colours, it shines through your post. I have enjoyed this little wander with you today!
ReplyDeleteWrenx
Gorgeous pics!I love those pretty bouquet of flowers!
ReplyDeleteIt was lovely weather here on the mainland. I planted bulbs and winter pansies. The time passes so quickly. Your photos are always amazing!
ReplyDeleteGlad you're having a bit of sun to cheer you these autumn days. I think that our perspectives on autumn are different because of where we live. Your autumn weather is typically dreary, while our weather is still hot and humid (even more so this year). I so look forward to "true" autumn weather and a bit of relief from the heat. (By the end of the week, they say it will turn cool. Yay!)
ReplyDeleteYour tea and Country Living, your fireplace, that delicious meal . . . those look like wonderful ways to enjoy autumn!
Your dahlias are beautiful. We are still in the high 80's here in NC. We are suppose to cool into the mid 70's next week. When that happens I will go out and get some pumpkins and mums.
ReplyDeleteIt’s rain here... and actually sunshine on the wet grass right this minute, so why aren’t I outside playing? Such a pretty bouquet from your garden... and I do enjoy this season here for cozy comfort food meals.... they aren’t as tempting once we are in Florida, so Autumn is that time for us.
ReplyDeleteWhat a pretty dahlia. I enjoyed the photos from your solitary walk. Your meal looks delicious and comforting. Well for us we got snow in upper elevations, rain and some sunshine. Our temps are unseasonably cold. Hope things even out for the rest of October.
ReplyDeleteThe hydrangeas and dahlias look so lovely together - it's a combination that I would not have thought of using.
ReplyDeleteThe delicious chicken and mushroom dinner makes me feel hungry.
I don't envy those who got snow in September, I am still hanging on to the coat tails of summer for as long as I can.
Your cool weather meal looks very yummy! And I love the photos of the gulls and neat rocks on the shore. Your bouquet of flowers is gorgeous and would be pretty to let dry. I need to find a new Fall magazine..this one would be my favorite. It's still hot this week in Florida but not as bad so I'm getting out more! I'm so glad! Happy week!
ReplyDeleteLorrie - we have had a dusting of snow the last two nights, and unusually cold temps. So, the poor black-eyed susans that had just started blooming are shriveled. So I say clip as long as you can - you have such beauty still in your garden! That line-up of gulls is adorable - I know we shouldn't cast human behaviors onto animals, but I can almost imagine them waiting for the bus!!! Thanks for linking to Mosaic Monday!
ReplyDeleteYour dinner looks soooo good!
ReplyDeleteIt rained overnight and was cloudy all day. Tomorrow is supposed to feel like high 30s with the humidity. But the temperature will drop by Wednesday. I'm getting whiplash from these temperature swings.
Lovely scenes! We finally had some rain today, after a long dry spell.
ReplyDeleteOh Lorrie, your photos always draw me right into them!! Your bouquet of flowers would certainly cheer a home with their loveliness, and your meal is so inviting. Your slice of invisible apple cake, from your previous post, looks like a wonderful breakfast, or dessert. I’ve made invisible pies, but this is new to me. Maybe it’s similar? Happy cozy week ahead to you. I’m waiting for cooker temperatures!
ReplyDeleteWonderful images, Lorrie. To me they say "summer", with all that light and feeling of relaxation and ease.
ReplyDeleteHere it's raining hard today, with wind and flying leaves. The rain is wonderful after the dry summer months.
Dahlias are just so perfect, aren't they? Each one a small miracle and I love the delicate colors in that Sweet Violet bloom. I always smile at photos of birds in a row on a power line or a tree branch and definitely on roof ridges. Those gulls are having a confab!
ReplyDeleteI have sometimes managed to wait a couple of days before opening a new magazine but not the UK ones. Those I have to buy at bookstores anyway and are usually late arriving here. But I save the UK Country Living issues, as well as Period Living, from year to year, bringing them out month by month--I don't buy them every month but the fall and Christmas ones I keep! I have waited a week to light a special new fall candle though, Rake, Pile and Leap gets lit as soon as it gets dark outside tonight! I'll ignore the fact that it's still hot here, near 100 for the next three days. I peaked ahead to the 10 day forecast and see that we will at last have highs of 70s towards the 9th and 10th day, joy!
Your white dahlia with a pink touch is really charming! We usually walk separately, my husband and I. He wants to go much quicker and I want it slower and look things around, too :) Walking alone is a kind of meditating time for me, so it's ok. No snow here yet, sun and rain in turns. I'm so happy that my ankle is pretty good and I can fly to Florence on Saturday! So a few days of summer before the real autumn starts.
ReplyDeleteYour dinner looks delicious!!
ReplyDeleteIt definitely feels like fall and my dahlias are new this season and have not yet bloomed? I continue to hope they will flower.
You walked my route...my husband and I love the scenery along the seafront. A friend and I regularly walk Beach Drive in Oak Bay and i like the variety of sea glimpses we have here in Victoria.
...the last day of September was beautiful and the first day of October it's 87F!
ReplyDeleteYou have,a good eye for photography. The fence nail photo is excellent. Country Living magazine!
ReplyDeleteHi Lorie!
ReplyDeleteHappy Autumn!
Your flowers are beautiful, Lorrie! I hope you are still having nice weather there so you can continue to enjoy them in bouquets. I loved all your end of September photos. Our September was unusually hot, but now as October begins the temperature is more normal for the season and autumn color is appearing.
Shame we are not closer I'd have come for a walk with you for sure, mind you then you'd have missed the fabulous rusty nail head shot as we'd have been nattering!
ReplyDeleteLovely pictures of your week.
We're still in our rainy season here in Bangkok but our big problem is the haze & pollution from the Indonesian forest fires - yuck. So have been trying to walk outside as little as possible - see why I'd have loved to walk with you in your glorious fresh air!
Happy October!
Wren x
Dear Lorrie - A long solitary walk with a camera is one of my favorite pastime, and if it’s along the water, more than enough. I like what your eyes and heart captured, the views which are getting autumnal and the gulls in a row. Both Hydrangeas and Dahlias look nice together in a vase despite their big ball faces. In my country, it is said neither heat or cold lasts beyond the equinox, but summer heat was still lingering at the end of September.
ReplyDeleteYoko
beautiful Dahlias and images from your walk along the beach. Sometimes I like to walk alone as I can stop and photograph as I please. Hear we are welcoming spring and the sunny days, though it has been a very dry winter which is not good for summer and the summer bushfires. Have a wonderful week and thank you for stopping by my blog this week.
ReplyDeleteSuch a beautiful dahlia, Lorrie. I love dahlias, but for some reason, I've never grown them. Must remedy that! Happy October!
ReplyDeleteRain rain and storms to end it. I need to photograph the barn horses for fun again soon
ReplyDeleteI love the gulls on the roof. I'm like you, I save my magazines for the month they're about. 😊 Sunny here today and lovely. Kit
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos and that dahlia is gorgeous, one I think I 'll buy next year. And I love glossy magazines and read them right away I can't save them for later.
ReplyDeleteAs always, Lori, you present us with another lovely and delightful post. Beautiful photos. Loved the birds on the roof top. And the dahlia in that hint of violet is exquisite. Your cool weather meal looks so delicious. Let's see, mostly I read a magazine in the month it's meant for, but sometimes I do sneak peak ahead. That Country magazine will be a perfect companion for a cuppa tea.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't get that snow, but forecasters are saying we'll get hit with heavy frost later this week. In the meantime, it's a beautiful autumn afternoon here. Even washed a couple of smutty windows that had been driving me crazy for several weeks -- it seemed fitting to tidy them up today.
Wishing you a beautiful week ahead...
Brenda xox
That Mushroom and Garlic Chicken Thigh dish looks delicious …
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan