November -- Dried Flowers, Photography, and Calligraphy

Hello dear readers.  Are you having a good week and a good November?  It has been a beautiful month so far, and I just cannot believe how gorgeous the foliage has been this fall.  I shared with you last week some photos from our drive in the mountains, but really, that didn't begin to touch on all the beauty we've seen the past few weeks.  The colors this year are so vibrant, and they're everywhere.  When we go somewhere (and if Hal is doing the driving) I find myself looking along both sides of the road constantly because that colorful foliage is a sight to behold.           

Our maple tree last Wednesday   
              There are large, older maple trees in people's yards and along the roadside; and there are not-so-old maples in parking lots of churches, shopping centers, apartment complexes -- everywhere.  These maple trees have foliage varying from yellow to yellow orange, red, burgundy red, russet red, and orange red.  We've even seen some that are almost purple and some that seem to have a pinkish tint.  They're just magnificent!  I feel like the foliage must be this pretty all over the country this year, that it must be to do with the seasonal weather.  Is it gorgeous where you are, too?            

    I think the maples are the big standouts in fall, but there are other trees with lovely foliage, too.  The hickory trees are pretty, with their golden yellow leaves.  Also the crepe myrtles are colorful, the dogwoods, and the Bradford Pears usually put on quite a show.  Around here, the Bradford pears are some of the last to get their autumn colors.     

                 At any rate, all this pretty color makes running errands not as much of a chore as usual.  :)          

   In my previous post, I mentioned that I had dried some of the limelight hydrangea blooms.  I was pleasantly surprised at how they turned out.  It certainly seems to be a case of getting the timing right; I read that you need to cut them off the branch between August and October.  I was afraid I had waited too late, but I just did squeeze by.  :)     

I actually dried eight blooms, and the others are in another vase.   

I enjoy displaying these in the foyer, since the colors of the flowers are a dead match for the colors in the wallpaper.     

Lorrie, who blogs at Fabric, Paper, Thread recommended "The Last Bookshop in London" a month or so ago.  I downloaded it to my Kindle, and it was a pleasure to read.  I really enjoyed this book, and I'm so glad Lorrie recommended it.  I've gotten so many good book suggestions from various bloggers over the years.     

I'm pretty sure that "After Dunkirk" was suggested on my Amazon account, or maybe on my Kindle -- can't remember for sure which it was.  After reading "The Last Bookshop in London" I must have been in the mood for more books on World War II.  I read the reader reviews of this Lee Jackson book, and decided to give it a try.  It was a real page turner, folks -- I loved it.  I then went on to read the next two books in this series,    

"Eagles Over Britain" is mostly about the Battle of Britain, as fought by the pilots in the Royal Air Force, incredibly brave men.     

"Turning The Storm" is about the war in Europe -- the French Resistance, the incessant bombing of London by Hitler's Luftwaffe, the code-breaking work being done at Bletchley, and America heading toward joining the allied countries in the war.  There was so much happening in these books, and I was amazed to find out that most of the people he wrote about in the series were real people.  Not just Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, and Franklin Roosevelt, but lots of others I had never heard of.  This made the books even more interesting to me.  In addition, they are clean books; I don't think I saw a single curse word in all three books.  I was all set to read the fourth book, only to discover it's not out yet.  It's due to come out in June 2022.       I started back with my calligraphy last week.      

Practicing for Christmas cards in 2019   

All the above writing was done in 2019.  I'm anxious to get back in the habit of practicing calligraphy again, and I worked on my letters some last week.  Hal enjoys calligraphy, too; there are so many different styles and things you can do.  You can also add colorful artwork to the writing, and Hal is much better at that than I am.  More on that later.       There is always plenty to do and no time to be bored really.  Reading a good book and working on creative hobbies is a good way to spend our time, we have found.  It's a healthier place to focus our mind than on all the crazy nonsense going on in the world right now.  Do you have a favorite hobby this time of year?     

Thanks so much for your visit today!  I hope you have a good rest of your week!