COLOR IN A COLORLESS WORLD

This time of year seems colorless to me. The crops are gone, leaving tawny stubble against brown dirt. The lawn is dry -- not much green. The deciduous leaves have yet to turn but are looking dry. The vegetable garden is gone or bedraggled.The evergreens have nothing much to bring their green to life. Dust and smoke hang in the air. Just pretty drab.

Here and there, though, we see a touch of color. We got a little spontaneous bloom from the hollyhocks that march along the south side of the farmhouse after we cut them back. Sometimes I wish I had a nice country border garden there, but I guess the hollyhocks will have to do. After all, they come back on their own year after year and require very little care. What could be easier? They make the hummingbirds, the bees and the butterflies happy. And they do have country flavor.



 Here's one of my favorite settings -- red apples nestling in the branches of a pine tree.


And lastly, the rose hips on Hallie's bramblebush are especially bright and pretty this year.  KW