Camera Crazy: Red, Yellow, Orange, Rust, Oh My!

While I was trying to think of another phrase to use besides holy cow, I had to turn to Google for ideas. The AI explanation opened my eyes to possibilities I'd never dreamed of, including profanity. Forgive me should any of you taken it that way. Let's just say that I am crazy excited and leave it at that.

Everywhere I look I see the colors above, however, I have yet to feel confident that I have taken a really good photo of this explosion of color that surrounds. Our neighborhood is packed with color and while I have photos of that I might save some for the dead of winter?

In my last post, the link to it should you have missed it is here, I did show off some neighborhood beauty, however this post begins with a trip to Franklin and a few other places. I was talking to Linda about how our friend Randy said that Bruce and I MUST take a drive over to Franklin because the leaves were extraordinary. Wouldn't you know it, the very next day Linda said that Kerry was going to Franklin and wanted company. Oh yes please! She picked us up and drove us over to his house and what a beautiful view of color he had from his back deck.

It was the start of a beautiful day beginning as we drove by Lake Chatuge,

and it kept on getting better and better.

They gave me the front seat so I could photograph through the windshield which was squeaky clean. Both he and Linda have been here for over a decade so driving in the mountains is a breeze for them.

We arrived at the highest point, a bit over 3,000 feet, where there is an overlook that you have seen before but it was green in those photos.

Honestly what can you say when seeing this? During our time in Vancouver was my first experience with Autumn, but there it was neat and tidy. This was the view from our 20th floor condo balcony.

Stunning, right? I was going crazy there as you can imagine, but I have also been going crazy in this mostly untamed environment we are calling home now. (The blog posts from that time are in the archives. This one is from Nov. 2, 2017.

Our first stop in Franklin was a bookstore that had been there a long time.

Two big rooms and lots of seating.

Who doesn't like browsing in a book store, especially when you once owned one. Yup Linda had one here in downtown Murphy that she subsequently sold to Kerry!

They had a lot of cute decorations downtown and Linda took our photo in front of one of their photo op spots.

The drive home had more pictures that looked like this one. Somehow, I lost my touch. 😀

A few hours later we were meeting up with Jon and Tammy at everyone's favorite, Perrones, for dinner. They were returning to Florida within days so it was good to see them when we could.

While we were in Franklin, Julie texted asking if Bruce could take her Dad out for some leaf peeping the following day. As it turns out, rarely is a Thursday free but on that day it was. All ready to go the next morning, she called and said he just wasn't up for it. We get that. Would he be up for a visit instead? You bet.

Visiting his home is a joy because not only is he a sweet man, there is something to see everywhere one looks. Both he and his wife were artists as is their daughter Julie so it's full of interest, including the garden with zinnias fitted with little jewelry bags to collect the seeds at the end of the season.

The porch is outfitted with enumerable hand crafted wind chimes.

Julie and her dad make bunting while watching MASH together since Julie's Mom died. It hangs in the trees between the properties.

We had a pleasant visit followed by a drive through the Folk School grounds. Before we left I ogled the leaves on their property.

See title above!

The roads are winding and tree laden and showing off a kaleidoscope of colors.

We got to the Folk School and were not disappointed there either.

Adjacent to the major gardens is a green house with lots of pots of multicolored mums, a flower that is used here for front porches widely.

Mums galore!

That Carolina blue sky!

Back over to Julie and Harry's house I wanted to see their garden before it's all gone. That said, so far the weather has been mild and things are still growing. Today I saw some rhododendron blooming as well as camelias. My weather app says it is 8 degrees warmer than normal.

Beautiful dahlias.

Along with lots of baby tomatoes that I kept sampling.

Still, it wasn't enough for me because I took a walk in the fog the next morning.

Spiderwebs were all along the bridge.

First I saw mountain fog burning off in the park across the street.

And a little later there was actual smoke coming from the other side. Apparently an auto repair place a few blocks away had a fire.

Of course I had completely forgotten the picnic with the pickleballers, but they let us eat anyway! It's a great group of folks that's for sure. I am becoming even more forgetful than ever!

Gary brought two little grills for the hot dogs.

Lori's costume was an injured pickleballer. Lori is the sweet woman kind enough to give me fabric for my scrappy quilt which has laid idle for the last week or more while we soak in all the color before it is gone.

While we were there some children came by to go trick or treating somewhere in the park.

Many of our players will be heading back to Florida soon, including the these two.

Our friend Camille is also going back to Florida for six months and we will miss her lively spirit.

And it was mostly Peggy who put it all together.

Anyway lots of fun with the pickleball gang.

Later that day I took another walk, this time on the other side of the riverwalk and it was lovely. This is the spot where the Valley and Hiwassee River join. I bet you already knew that, didn't you? It's not like it's the first time you have seen it!