We had a great trip to Tennessee. We went camping and attended a family reunion. I am writing 100 posts in 100 days but since I took a little hiatus because of our trip it looks like it will be 105 days. I will share about the trip but since every tenth post I’ve been doing a little “progress report” (reflecting on the process of writing an essay a day) I’m just going to go with that tonight to get me back in the flow of writing. Ten posts ago I had 261 followers, now up to 276. Still averaging about 20 views a day. I’ve really tried to always include some type of “how-to” aspect in every post.  Essay number 26: How to Write a Sonnet shines in how-to glory. Essay 24: Clouds in My Coffee veers off course a bit but I really enjoyed formulating a sort of “treatise” on “moggers” (aka mom bloggers). In other exciting blog-world news, one of my favorite people (and family members) from real-life, started a WordPress blog: The Magnolia Fox! So I am very excited to discuss blog-world and WordPress with someone in real-life. And, of course, to read and share her blog!

After a long and wild and exciting and relaxing and great trip it takes a few days to acclimate back to “non-vacation” life. For inspiration to get back in the “groove” of Spy Garden I checked out another real-life friend in blog-world and she wrote a great post about collecting fall leaves with her adorable one year old daughter. Here is an excerpt:

Such a simple task reminded me of the wonder we have at the start of our lives. Each leaf was a thing of beauty for my little lady as she examined each one carefully before adding it to our collection. I sat with her in the yard, looking over her shoulder at the leaves, full of little caterpillar bite marks, covered in color, formed in unique shapes, and thought to myself how she’s mentally cataloging each one of these details with amazement. How many fallen leaves have I seen in my lifetime? Millions? But for her, today’s leaves were the first–the only. They were fascinating and unusual and worthy of exploration. God is amazing and gives us so much to discover in this world, and I’m thankful that Emma Vance helped me remember that on this first day of Fall. (http://theshoves.blogspot.com/2013/09/fall-harvest.html)

Her thoughts really sum up a lot of why I started Spy Garden blog. I always try to make this site useful and include “how-to’s” or share information about plants or animals and other things I enjoy. But perhaps the greatest “How To” we can learn in life is how to appreciate the details around us, stay present in each moment and remember to connect with that simple childlike wonder. Even though the harvests are winding down and masses of leaves will soon be covering our garden’s mounds, there are still many sights to appreciate. Enjoy the unique shapes, interesting details and try to experience them with childlike amazement!

Violet de Provence Artichoke Dried Out Bloom

The little white fluffs inside are very similar to dandelion seeds. Each seed is attached to its own puff. And the blooms are chock-full. They are piled up on my garden “desk” along with neon pink amaranth stalks/seed heads (more seeds ready to be saved!)

Knock out rose blooms, just planted five days ago and already setting new buds!

Thai Red Roselle calyxes

The garden fish have swum south for the winter!

Lots of little Patisson Golden Marbre Scallop squash (I counted 11 on the one plant!)

Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkins

I planted these pumpkins pretty late in the season (mid-July) but still hoping to get some pumpkins out of them. I did notice a few blooms so hopefully we will!

More mums beginning to bloom

Still mostly green but starting to look like fall