Dear Autumn, I'm so glad you are here!

"It's Autumn?   It is!   It's the first day of Autumn!  A time of hot chocolatey mornings and toasty marshmallow evenings, and, best of all, leaping into leaves!"  
                                                                                           -Winnie the Pooh


I left during the summer heat. I returned to cool breezes and red leaves. It felt just like the change of seasons in the Hundred Acre Woods. And I could only repeat Pooh's words of wonder.

Autumn is:

Afghan's draped on every chair and couch.

Stacks of books for quiet evenings.

Early morning darkness.

Chai tea served in rustic pottery mugs.

Pumpkins, in every shape size and form.

Thick socks and boots.

Browns, reds, yellows, and oranges.

Crochet projects.

Hot apple cider.

Adventures into crackly floored woods.

School studies interrupted for a walk in the leaves.

The unmistakable smell of burning leaves.

It's a gentle time. A space to settle down from the busyness of summer and just live. It's a quieter time, a slower time, a time of little wonders and simple pleasures. It's a chance to get settled in and ready for a sleepy winter.

Tell me what Autumn is for you!

~Amanda

Fine print:  Pictures are not my own. If they were, the top apple in the apple basket would have a bite out of it. :) 

Misty, Marshes, Mosquitoes, and Mc'Closkey

Spotted from the distance: the relatives of Misty, the Phantom, and the Pied Piper. These are the wild ponies of Assateague Island.

There is something uncanny about seagulls. They have a way of staring you down and convincing you that they will, when all is said and done, eat your sandwich. But when you shoo them away they waddle off like an offended, yet dignified, older lady.

The waves were gorgeous. I only wish I had the skill to capture them. I'd like to bottle up the sound and take it back home with me.

Chincoteague and Assateague are both extremely marshy. In the shallow water you can see fish moving, and birds fishing. These wet lands are beautiful, but dangerous. Marshes = Mosquitoes as my arms can testify.

We felt like we had stepped into Robert Mc'Closkey's "Make way for Ducklings" when we saw this. All of traffic stopped though, to let them past. :)

The rest of the island adventures were too lovely to really relate. You kinda have to be here. There were crab houses, pelicans with their "double chins", pastel beach houses, salt-water taffy, beautiful waves crashing against us, and most of all Nanny, my Eastern Shore Grandma.

Fine Print: All pictures are mine. I do promise that my vacation will end soon, for anyone who is getting tired of it. :) There will probably be only one more vacation post.

My Memories Giveaway Winner

And the winner, decided by Random.org, is Cecilia!!!! I'll be contacting you shortly with your free download. :)

Didn't win the giveaway? There is still a chance to to get your own My Memories software with a $10 discount. Simply use this code STMMMS20181.

Not only will you get a discount, but I'll make a commission. :)

Stay tuned for "Misty and Mosquitoes" the further vacation adventures.

Vacation Adventures - Multitude Mondays

Today we left the mountains.

Can you tell I'm crushed?

The pain was short lived though as we headed for the eastern shore. Cabins were replaced by Cape Cod homes. Mountains by flat marsh lands. Shrubs and creepers by rolling waves. Mountain air by salt water breezes.

The road here was fascinating and so, I'll tell you all the highlights combined with my multitudes for Mondays, for all of these I am so very grateful!

44. The very last marshmallows of our mountain adventure, toasted to a crisp and gooey all through.

45. Foggy mountain sunrises.

46. Warmth and chill combined into a lovely fall feeling.

47. Plaid-flanneled mountaineers.

48. Safety on the road.

49. Fields of ready to pick cotton. The first cotton fields I've ever seen.

50. Peanut fields, again, the first I've seen.

51. The Chesapeake Bay bridge/tunnel.

53. Seagulls.

54. Chincoteague Island (Yes the one Misty was on!!!)

I can't wait for the further adventures tomorrow. Hopefully nothing too scary. We've already met up with a raccoon, and a venomous "but not necessarily lethal" baby snake. I'm ready for shells, wild ponies, and bike rides. :)

For anyone interested in the giveaway. Please remember to let me know and become a reader. If you are already a reader and would like this digital scrap-booking software be sure to let me know by tomorrow. The giveaway winner will be announced tomorrow evening, (as long as my internet holds out.)

Fine print: Please forgive the absence of pictures. The internet is very spotty right now and I can't seem to get quite enough to allow me to upload. :/ Close your eyes and try to imagine it. :)

Vacation Adventure Day 4 and 5 Simple Things.

Things I loved about these last two days.

Cool drizzly air necessitating soft cardigans and warm drinks.

Sunny park benches, perfect for reading books on.

Burgers, grilled by myself, the first ever, and they were edible. :)

Hammered Dulcimer shop, with the most unbelievably beautiful dulcimers - That I was allowed to play. Taking home a set of new hammers to try out on my own dulcimer.

Sense of supreme accomplishment of looking over the hills after a steep hike.

Campfire warming my face and hands, while the cool mountain air blows across my ankles.

Swirled clouds above mountains.

Seeing complete blackness in the depths of a cave, and knowing just a little of what it must have felt like for the blind to be given their sight.

Little hillbilly produce stands along the road, proudly pronouncing the fact that they sell "boiled peanuts" and "taters".

Drippy caverns with their beautiful rocks, and blind trout. (And yes, even a bat or two)

Southern accents.

And I saved the very best for last -

A store entirely dedicated to Scotland, with a brief nod to Ireland and Wales. Bodhran's, kilts, haggis, claymore's , and clan plaids. Bagpipe music in the background, Scottish flag in the foreground, it was perfect. :)

Fine print: Images are my own. The cave picture being one of the last ones taken, after I realized that flash photography is necessary in a cave. :)

Vacation Adventure Day 2 and 3 -

Fog closed in over the highway, blanketing everything but the road from view. It was almost as if we had entered a world of cloudy dreams, a gateway into another land. And then, almost as suddenly as we had entered the blurry tunnel, we emerged.

There they were.

Blue and boldly scalloped against the skyline. The blue ridge mountains.

There are no words to describe them.

After a long trip we were glad to sit on a dock near a lake and splash our feet in the cold water. Many fascinating things were discovered at the "lake of shining water". Probably the most interesting being a snakeskin.

Our cabin was reached after a tremendously scary climb up our own mountain. A climb I cringe ever day to repeat. I'm getting really good at holding my breath as the van attempts to climb it.

The cabin is lovely. Some of the walls are covered in tree bark, there is a headboard made of sticks, and a screened in porch perfect for reading. The kitchen (my very own domain this vacation) is perfect. Folks, I don't think I'm coming home.

After a campfire and way too many marshmallows, we watched the stars come peeping out of the sky. I'm not sure I've ever seen so many.

Today (day 3) started off bright and early. We hit the blue ridge parkway, and sat gasping at the view for the next hour and a half. It's incredible.

Lunch and then we hit the trails. We climbed a mountain. Really, truly we did. See that waterfall in the picture? We started there and climbed all the way around and up, to where I took the picture.

After a strenuous climb and a equally exhausting walk/ slide down we collapsed in the car.

And the strangest adventure of the day began. We found ourselves on a narrow winding road. A very narrow road, with intersecting "drives" labeled names like "Marie's Way," and " Overthemountain" (that spelling is correct). And then the road got drastically narrower. 1 lane, the other blocked off with construction vehicles. And then suddenly we found ourselves stuck. Behind huge equipment, a sheer drop off, and no place to turn around. We sat there for almost a half an hour, before everybody could be backed up and turned around to let us pass.

But what we found at the bottom of the mountain made it worth it all. A small general store.

Packed full of candy, bandannas, lovely (if over priced) clothes, and soda. Real general store style soda in glass bottles.

That is, by the way the best soda in the world. I wanna buy a case before I leave. :)

Tonight ended with giant marshmallows and smores, and cool mountain air.

Until tomorrow!

Amanda

Fine print: Pictures are all my own.

Vacation Adventures Day 1 - Of Coons and Little Girls

The adventures started in the Tractor Supply parking lot. Our family was still groaning and stretching as we ambled across the parking lot. The busy highway behind the store roared, and made me long for the peace of the mountains. I couldn't wait for the peaceful streams, forest trails, and wildlife.

Then I looked over at the parking spot beside me. And saw it.

A Racoon. Just sitting there, watching us. A racoon, in the middle of the day, in a busy parking lot.

Not a good thing.

I had never seen a real life racoon, only stuffed ones. But I had heard the stories. Any coon dumb enough to be out in the middle of a parking lot in broad day light. Any coon that didn't bat an eye when humans passed 6 feet in front of him. Any coon like that was one sick racoon.

We got past the racoon, and when we returned to the car my furry friend was gone. So there is my first wild life adventure for this vacation. And I wasn't even out of the city yet.

Sitting beside of my little six year old sister, is almost always an adventure. Whether she is wearing the neck pillow on top of her head, staring through her pink horn-rimmed play glasses, or beating me repeatedly in tic tac toe, she's quite a trip.

Her favorite thing to do is copy whatever I am doing. While I was working on a writing assignment. She was typing on her play laptop, her forehead wrinkled, her headphones on -silently mouthing the words to the song she was listening to. Copying me in every last detail. A good reminder for me that she is always watching my example.

The rest of our driving was quiet and uneventful. We ate lollipops, searched for out of state license plates, and all talked at once. That's what vacation is all about. :)

Fine print: Neither picture is my own. My racoon didn't have a leafy background, :/ and my sister is cuter than that. :)