Fall (finally) arrived today at 8:44 a.m., just as I was stepping out the door. Ah, glorious Fall, even though the “real feel” was still hot and humid.
If you know me personally, or have followed my blog for a while, you know I adore Autumn. Tell me what other season has more ambiance than Autumn? (Well, okay … Christmas does, but that is a holiday, not a season.)
What’s not to like about Fall? The crispness of the air and who doesn’t love the jewel-toned leaves that flutter down and crackle beneath your feet? It’s sweater weather, with a trip to the cider mill if you’re so inclined and sweet pumpkin treats to savor, or chomping on a Honeycrisp apple with a wee wedge of cheddar cheese on the side. The harvest décor on homeowners’ lawns makes for pretty pictures, plus also gives mischievous squirrels a chance to feast on gourds and Indian corn or to scale and eventually topple corn stalks. Fall is fleeting here in Southeast Michigan, so I try to make the most of it.
I decorated inside this year, a few touches here and there and added a handful of Hershey Kisses in this furry friend’s basket, a gift from my friend Ann Marie …
… then I sat back to enjoy a cup of cappuccino and a sweet treat.
I was gobsmacked to learn about the concept of “Walktober” which only entered my vocabulary a couple of years ago, despite being an avid walker since 2011. “Walktober” is about getting your steps in while enjoying the cooler temps and admiring the Fall foliage. It’s simple, it’s free and good for you – what a concept!
These are a few Fall foliage photos from last year in some of those jewel tones.
Hopefully our drought-like conditions for September here in SE Michigan do not obliterate the colorful Fall foliage. I’ve heard that the colors will be subdued due to the stress from September’s unrelenting days over 80F and lack of rain. Michigan is a top leaf-peeping place, especially in the Upper Peninsula and only second to New England. Starting soon, our travel bureaus and weather folks will post a weekly schedule to show peak leaf-peeping dates and locales.
Unbelievably, in early August, I saw Poplar and Locust tree leaves littering the boardwalk at Lake Erie Metropark and red-tinged leaves gave a pop of color on the trails.
There were even bright-red berries, which must be poisonous since the birds and squirrels didn’t feast on them.
Here in The Mitten State we enjoyed a few cooler days in September; it was wonderful to walk and take photos and not come home by mid-day feeling exhausted from the heat. My furry friends at the Park decided it was time to alter their feeding routine, i.e. instead of eating all their peanuts at one time, they wisely switched to eating one and burying one. Yes, the squirrels are resourceful and know the routine. Soon they will begin to bulk up and their fur will thicken, all Mother Nature’s way of ensuring they are protected from the wicked Winter weather.
Even though it felt like “furnace weather” on those nippy nights when temps dipped into the 40s, I didn’t succumb to flipping that switch and instead dug out a fleece hoodie and my flannel shirts and turtleneck sweaters.
Flannel shirts for Fall are a long-standing tradition for me.
Last month I had to give up my 10-year-old Windows 7 laptop and jump ahead three operating systems. Yikes! The laptop was working well, except the Firefox browser was freezing up occasionally, but patience is a virtue and after I gave it a few minutes, everything was okey-dokey again. But then WordPress introduced some AI features, upgraded their platform and those changes did NOT play nice with my old laptop. While I could comment and read posts, I could no longer create a post.
So, while getting acclimated to this new device, when logging onto MSN’s homepage, I was constantly bombarded with snippets of things people did/ate/wore/listened or danced to in the 60s, 70s and beyond. I admit I watched those slideshows and yes, I remembered most, if not all of those things, especially some of my own questionable clothing choices in the mid-70s, like when I often dressed like the Brawny Man, Brawny Paper Towels’ mascot.
I know I have taken a few trips down Memory Lane lately, but here is still-another remembrance and coincidentally, it is from exactly 50 years ago, September 1974, just as I embarked on my junior year of college and, when I abruptly changed my wardrobe from the polished look the previous year, to what my parents referred to as my “Brawny Man” phase. Personally, I preferred to call it my “mad-about-plaid” phase, but who wanted to rush from class to class, or chase down a story for the college newspaper, clear across campus in impractical garb like a miniskirt and heels, or a pantsuit?
The similarity to the Brawny Man likely coincided with the introduction of the Brawny Man line of heavy-duty paper towels, a product still in use today.
I laughed to myself when I Googled to get photos of the Brawny Man and the paper towels bearing his likeness for this post and soon found myself down a rabbit hole for the next half hour or so. This handsome, rugged guy in his red plaid flannel shirt and Timberland work boots actually DID debut in 1974, at the same time I was debuting my new look.
I remember Mom being horrified that I wore a long-sleeved thermal undershirt that peeked out of the flannel shirt and on my feet were work boots, but not the over-the-ankle-Timberland-style work boots (or I’d have really heard about that). Those construction-type boots were paired with heavy socks and sometimes I tucked my long hair under a wool hat, in what became my new signature look. Sometimes I’d pacify Mom and get “a bit girly” with a cotton turtleneck sweater instead. She even told me that one day I’d look back on my college days’ wardrobe and wonder why? I do wonder why … why no one ever took my picture so I could include it with this post? 🙂
So, when we had those nippy days a few weeks ago, around Labor Day weekend, I dug out my flannel shirts and turtlenecks, a look I never stopped embracing for Fall’s cooler days.
I even went to the cedar closet to retrieve this red-plaid vest that must be 30 years old now.
The work boots are long gone, replaced by my heavy walking shoes, but donning those warm and comfy clothes took me back in a heartbeat to my youth.
I am joining Terri Webster Schrandt’s September 22nd Sunday Stills Photo Challenge: Celebrate Autumn or Spring.
Photos of The Brawny Man sourced from Pinterest and Brawny’s website.






















Linda, I’m glad to hear that you are finally enjoying fall weather!
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Well, today is the first day it was not in the 80s … and it is raining for the first time all month. It’s been stinkin’ hot!
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I enjoyed going down your memory lane.
I have a plaid flannel shirt that I’ve been told I shouldn’t wear where people will see me. It’s warm and SO comfortable.
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I’ve gone down memory lane quite a lot lately. I did get some ribbing about my Brawny Man look. After working from home all those years, I wonder how I wore heels, skirts etc. I got a lot of use out of my flannel shirts and I put my elbow through one of them and my mother patched it and I got a similar warning! The more you wash them, the more comfortable they are.
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I think you and I would get along great since we share the love of Autumn, walking and flannel, Linda! 😁 I also have my collection of flannel and Buffalo plaid. I actually wore a brown knotted poncho with jeans to church this morning! I cracked up at the Brawny man. Wow that took me back!
Your autumn pics from before are quite beautiful! Love your decor! I’m actually having an iced coffee this afternoon. It’s been a long warmish/hot season and I’m so ready for my cold weather clothes. Have a great week!
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Yes we would get along fine Terri. Glad you like my decor. Next year I’ll put out a few more things. Fall is great and I’m always happy to get into sleeves and long pants again. 🙂
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I have a few flannel shirts in my closet. Mostly I wear sweatshirts in the winter but whatever works for the weather is my mantra!
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I am all about comfort now too Kate … sweat suits in Winter suits me fine too. Don’t you wonder how you got all dressed up every day for years when you worked?
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I enjoyed it back then. I always loved pretty clothes.
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I did too – I loved shopping and dressing up. I still have not gotten rid of all my dress clothes – I look at them and say “maybe later”. I used to go shopping for clothes and accessories with my mom all the time and we had our favorite stores, now all gone except Macy’s and I don’t care for their styles. I looked around when I needed new walking shoes back in the Spring. They don’t carry many shoes – have to order them online. I just have gotten complacent about getting dressed up since I no longer worked on site (April 2009).
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No reason to dress up = comfort clothes all the time!
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Yes, one of the best benefits and I have not put on a watch since I retired.
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I don’t have either flannel or plaid shirts… perhaps I need to remedy that. Your story reminded me of my wardrobe change from high school to college. I switched from semi-preppy to boho-hippie almost overnight. Now that I’m retired, I’m more “whatever is comfy” (and flannel sounds pretty comfy).
I am looking at getting a new laptop soon and worry a bit about transitioning to Windows 11 (from 10). Knowing that you made the leap from 7 to 11 gives me a bit more confidence.
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The flannel shirts are comfy Janis – you won’t regret it and it might get chilly enough there to put a turtleneck underneath. We are about the same age, so yes, what a transition for us clothes-wise with our new styles. 🙂 I went for comfort clothing rather than cute clothing. My last year in high school, I saved up my allowance and bought a maxi-dress and wooden purse. I admit now that combo was cringeworthy and my mom said – “you’re not going to school, nor out with us in that get-up” so back to the store it went.
I like Windows 11, but I was surprised it only had two USB hubs. I have used a wireless keyboard and wireless mouse with the laptop for years. But I always had a flash drive plugged in because I have various documents I update periodically, or if I’m drafting a post and not ready to post, plus pictures – I put them on the flash drive. So I had to buy a USB hub in order to have a place for the flash drive. I’ve had desktop crashes in the past, both at home and at work and lost my work and I don’t use the cloud. I like HP laptops and I still have my original HP laptop from 2009 that I store my photos on and I have scanning software on it. The start button on this Windows 11 is next to the delete button which I find a little odd.
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my bed sheets are a flannel red plaid. Can’t say I’ve ever seen that Brawny man ad before? I suspect It’s an American thing.
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I would like red plaid to sleep in Wayne. You must not have Brawny paper towels in Canada … it’s the brand I usually buy now.
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A fun post full of your memories Linda
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Memories are golden aren’t they Brian? Now my clothing choice here I do wonder about now, but as we have discussed before, the 70s were a whole ‘nother era and you really had to be there to “get” it.
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True
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I hope your fall colors won’t be as subdued as they’re predicting. We do look forward to tha annual display and don’t want to be disappointed! Your indoor decorations look so inviting, especially the cappuccino mug. We’re seeing a few leaves on our dogwood starting to turn color. You’ve made me want to go buy some flannel shirts to go along with my sweathers. 🙂
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*sweaters
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I’m hoping so too Barbara. We did get some rain last night and have rain/storms for Tuesday (not severe thankfully), but it may not help since the trees are already stressed. Those colorful leaves are at the whim of Mother Nature and the wind – so better enjoy them and take photos, as they may be scattered on the ground the next day, like the beautiful Magnolia blossoms – also fleeting. My mom and I got those mugs at least 20 years ago. They were on sale at Macy’s and we treated ourselves. (They are “Fleur Rustique by Ambiance”) I just looked and they’ve been discontinued. They are pretty, but your hot drink cools off quickly as they are so wide. Yes, get a flannel shirt or two. I think they are so comfy. Mine are all men’s shirts which doesn’t bother me, but I like them roomy so I can put a cotton turtleneck sweater underneath and the sleeve length is perfect.
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I love my fleece pullovers when things get chilly here in PA. Over a turtleneck most of the winter. I love fall too. Fall and spring are my favorites, summer my least favorite. Winter is pretty when I don’t have to drive in snow!
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Fall here in SE Michigan is pretty and the cooler temperatures are so nice … especially after this hot Summer. I like layering up to go outside instead – it is invigorating. I always liked Summer in that I could walk every day, but the last few years have been hot, muggy and buggy – that is no treat. I never drove to work as I worked downtown and took the bus, then from 2011 through March this year (when I retired), I worked from home, so my driving skills in snow and ice are not great, so unless it is clear as a bell, I am likely to walk.
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Haha questionable fashion choices, that made me laugh. I had a few too as well as questionable hair style choices. Our weather was beautiful here until yesterday, then the rain started. Supposed to rain most of the week. We’re camping in Algonquin Park so the rain is messing up our plans! The tres here are either green leaves, coloured leaves or no leaves. I think the weather has confused the poor things.
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We were part of the 70s Susan – what else can we say? Yes, the hair was pretty bizarre sometimes in that era as well. 🙂 Doesn’t it figure that it would rain all week when you get to your favorite camping spot, especially if you, like us here in SE Michigan, never saw rain the entire month of September until Sunday night? Hopefully the moose will trot out occasionally for a bite to eat!
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I hope the moose come out! It is pouring rain here today and possible tornadoes! They forecast 50-70 mm of rain, it’s coming down hard right now ☹️
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The moose are probably busy trying to find a dry area to get shelter. I hope you two stay safe in this bad weather. Yesterday, the morning weather guy said lots of heavy rain today but nothing more. Okay, we needed the rain. Then early afternoon, it was “keep an eye to the sky – we’ll have high winds and even an isolated tornado is possible.” We never got anything but the heavy rain, but of course, I was thinking about that “isolated tornado” the rest of the day. So I hope that’s the same outcome for you.
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Memories! I never had an abrupt change to my fashion sense (what little sense I had about fashion) but I have slowly morphed to wearing nothing much more than Tshirts and jeans and sweatshirts now days. I used to do the whole suit thing, heels and all, but I don’t see the point now. Besides even those with real jobs are pretty casual these days, from what I’ve seen. Lucky them. They have no concept of wearing pantyhose and high heels all day!
I don’t know who is going to host the Walktober this year. I need to find out! October is almost here!
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Memories are always fun to look back on Dawn and I did have a few questionable choices after I got my first job. I’ve become very laid back too – comfort counts now, the older I get. The first law firm where I worked we had a strict dress code for everyone – even the runner had to be in shirt and tie in those days (early 80s).
I wondered if you’d be hosting again this year or if Robin would be doing so.
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I’m pretty sure Robin had found another volunteer for this year, but I don’t know if that person remembers! 🙂 I’ll post about it in a day or so and see what comes of it. I can host again if need be.
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Okay, sounds good Dawn. I was happy to learn about Walktober through Barbara who was surprised I had never heard about it until she posted about it.
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I’m so ready for autumn and all the beautifully colored leaves. I too like plaid flannel shirts. My granddaughter calls them my “Grandma shirts”. I wear them proudly. 🙂
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Just like that, autumn arrived and we’re 15 degrees cooler and cloudy today, but I’ll take it! I’m hoping for beautiful leaves – we have a rainy week which hopefully helps out the trees to be less stressed from the heat and keep those leaves longer. Flannel shirts are like comfort food to me – you slip them on and instant coziness, especially the older they are.
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Enjoy! It’s supposed to be in the 70s here for the rest of the week. Sounds wonderful. 🙂
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Finally a break from the heat! I know we’re both headed out on a walk with our camera (and you with your husband and dogs). 🙂
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Happy Walktober, Linda! I hope you get a lot of steps in next month.
My college wardrobe definitely trended more towards Brawny Man than polished too. It was the 70s!
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You had to be part of the 70s to “get” the strange trends, including that of Brawny Man. Construction boots, Earth Shoes and those moccasins with the fringes … well we thought we looked great Laurie!
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I love the word “Walktober”. Autumn is my favorite season too Linda. I loved flannel shirts back in the day. What cute fall decorations and how sweet of Ann Marie to bring you candy!
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I like that word “Walktober” too Diane and I can’t believe I never heard of it until a couple of years ago. I love everything about the season also – do you think it is the best eating season, not just for Thanksgiving and the kickoff to the holiday season, but all the treats that are associated with Fall? I decided to get out a few decorations for the kitchen – next year maybe a few more, an indoor Winterberry wreath and some Fall straw flower arrangements. I loved to decorate at home and at work, but got out of the habit. Must do better! Actually, I worded that sentence poorly about the squirrel holding chocolates – Ann Marie knows I like squirrels, so she got me the squirrel and it’s holding a basket and I bought some Hershey Kisses for it to hold … they are too convenient though!
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Though SW Ohio is a far reach from SE Michigan we’re experiencing similar weather–very warm and dry. The trees seem to be turning early this year; the maples’ red leaves more rust than red. Perhaps the promised rain this week will brighten the landscape a bit. In spite of these setbacks, I’ll do my best to enjoy these weeks of autumn–my favorite season also. The crispness of the air, bright pumpkins, tart cider, cozy fleece, and more stoke my energy and increase the feel-good endorphins in my system!
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Nancy, I think we all need this pause in the heat, even though it will be close to 80 by week’s end (unfortunately). I just heard a story on the CBS national news yesterday about the crop losses in Ohio. It was sad to hear and farmers were lamenting that their corn was drying up on the stalk and the soybean crops had to be used for animal feed over the upcoming Winter. That is a terrible loss. I think Fall brings so much ambiance and is a treat for all the senses.
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I’ve always loved the flannel shirt with the turtleneck for fall then a sweatshirt or sweater with turtleneck in winter. 🙂
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We Michigan ladies know how to dress for the seasons don’t we Ruth?
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I’m a heat lover, but autumn is nice too, for a while. I hate when it descends into the cold and damp of November, though! Fall colours are definitely the high point and I enjoyed your photos. Fun decor for the season, as well. 🙂 Flannel shirts and turtlenecks are certainly cozy. I like the warmth of flannel, but would prefer solid colours over plaid. The Brawny reference bought back a few memories. Happy Autumn! 🍂
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Autumn is pretty now and after the leaves drop and go unraked and rained-upon, they lose some of their charm, that’s for sure Debbie. I have a post from a while back that we got snow a day or two after Halloween. The snow on the red Maple leaves looked beautiful – even the snow on my neighbor’s pumpkins made for a fun post. It is actually cold in the house right now and I just got up and put on flannel shirt. We’ve had a drizzly ugly day and maybe severe weather later … I thought we turned a corner on severe weather after the heat was over – sigh. So you did have the Brawny man over in Canada! A fellow blogger said he had not heard of him and he grew up in Peterborough – he now lives in Tofino and left Ontario many decades ago.
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We’ve had rain off and on all day here, but it’s still warm. Snow on red leaves would be something to see! I remember when I lived in London (Ont), it snowed ON Halloween once. 😲 I’m not sure whether or not Brawny paper towels were available in Canada, but I remember seeing the commercials. We get American TV channels too.
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It was pretty Debbie because the leaves were shiny in the snow. Once we had a freak snowstorm and it had been raining every weekend in the Fall and I hadn’t cut the roses down and put the garden to bed. I had ice dripping from the roses. I’ll send the link to see the photos in a separate comment. There were some red leaves with snow there too. I remember one Halloween when I was young, maybe five or six, it rained and it was cold. I had a new cloth coat and was dressed like Little Red Riding Hood. I dragged my bag on the ground (we had gravel roads on Sandmere Place) and lost all my candy and the red cape stained my new coat … not a Halloween to remember and my mom said to my dad “how could you not notice these things?” She had a point. How could I forget you got American TV channels in Canada – my grandmother loved the American soaps and got into them after she retired. 🙂
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Here is the frozen roses post I mentioned to see the frosty roses:
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Very interesting you written your memories Linda. Wonderful decorating & red shirt. Beautiful photos.
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Thank you Raj, I’m glad you liked the photos, the memories and the shirts!
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You are most welcome! Why you wearing red shirt that time? You describe me! please!
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Raj – it was a style that was popular back in the early 70s and as a college student running from class to class or chasing down a story for the school newspaper, this fad suited me well. It was comfortable and warm as Fall weather got chilly. I still wear flannel shirts now – the longer you have them, the more comfortable they get.
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Thank you so much, Linda. When I was college student wear stylish shirt & pant. I like Red colour.v
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I did as well Raj, so this was a different look for me.
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Yes, Looking different you! Can you now wear red shirt, Linda?
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Yes – it still fits Raj.
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Now Still wear red shirt.
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Miss Linda…………………I enjoyed your “Love for Autumn”…………………………..story…………………..I always enjoy your pictures and stories of your “youth days”………………….no I’m not in favor of The Fall season……………………….all summer I worked at our church gardens ………………keeping up with the weeds that grow with or without rain…………………………I just know that I have a lot to do yet to get ready for the winter months…………….
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Ann Marie, I am glad you enjoyed this post and my reflections on my “youth days” which seem like very long ago sometimes. I like Fall for many things as I mentioned, but like you I don’t like it as it leads to Winter – ugh. Less walking for you and me. Not just lacing up our walking shoes and heading out without a care in the world as there is ice and snow to contend with. I remember you told me the church volunteers were no longer able to help out at the church gardens, so you took it on yourself. Having taken care of your own yardwork before moving to the apartment, you know well what goes into closing down the garden. You’ll get a short respite due to all the rain coming up – feast or famine as you’ve probably been watering like crazy all September!
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It’s still not cool enough here for flannel shirts, but when it is I’ll have mine ready.
You mentioned having difficulties creating posts. I’ve found the same thing lately. I use the old original WP word editing system, which I’m beginning to wonder about. So many little glitchy things + my photos/images no longer show up clearly after I hit publish. Somehow something ain’t working right.
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We’re inching back up to warmer weather here again Ally, but when the *real* Fall arrives I’ll be ready to channel my flannel again too!
Yes, I was not happy I could no longer create a post. I use the block editor and I draft my posts in Word and put asterisks in the document for where I want to insert my pictures, then copy the Word document over to a WP post. The header image was fine, the text portion was fine, but uploading subsequent photos would not work. They froze every time and I’d usually have to restart my computer. I generally upload the photos, one at a time into the post, so I tried loading all the post’s photos to my media files then selecting them – that didn’t work either.
It was fine until WP introduced all the AI features to check your grammar or help you write better and Firefox browser had stopped doing updates for Windows 7, so that didn’t help either. Also, WP kept boldface and italics but have eliminated the underline function in the drop down area, so now you have to block the area and put Control and U like in Word. I had an issue a while back where photos on old posts were grayed out and all that displayed was the name I gave the photo, usually A or B, etc. or a numeric sequence. I never knew that until I sent someone a link as I knew the name of the post, searched and sent the link without looking at the post. She said “did you know half the photos are missing?” WP did not have an answer except to suggest I go back and remove the grayed-out images and put in new images.
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I am enjoying this early fall weather. And I will join you in the flannel shirt fan club. I have several, though not all are plaid.
Where we part is in the near-universal fan-dom of all things pumpkin flavored.
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I hope the cool weather stays for good this time JP. Flannel shirts are like comfort food – to me anyway. I am not a fan of the pumpkin spice latte craze though. I tried it once and found it too sweet.
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I hope you have wonderful sightseeing adventures with fall foliage! They are gorgeous to see and to hear the dried leaves crunch underneath your shoes. I am still “mad for plaid.” There’s something so comforting about that pattern in my mind.
Our weather is insane. It was 95 earlier in the week and then down to high 70s. It’ll be mid 90s next week.
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I am sure looking forward to the cooler weather Esther after this hot and humid Summer. I don’t know how you do it with your incessant heat – I’m glad you got a brief respite. On the news this morning, I heard a report that people get “Fall Fatigue” shortly after the first week of Fall because they miss the extra daylight hours, barbeques, carefree Summer days – okay, those are the good highlights. What about a rainy July/early August, no rain for three weeks in September, the tick infestation and all the volatile weather this Summer. I am ready for Fall. I like plaid too. I have a blazer that is buffalo plaid. I used to wear it with black pants. I still have it, but haven’t worn it since I worked on site in early 2009.
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I love Autumn. We don’t get the colorful leaves like you do, but the temperature and humidity becomes much more tolerable. My favorite cool weather garb is a hoodie.
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Autumn is beautiful, even if the colors won’t be so great, I welcome the cool “sweater weather”. We were up to 76 degrees today and it was humid and almost foggy this morning when I left to walk. The first day of October was sure not like this back in the day or even a few years ago.
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