One of these things is not like the others!

It was a wonderful October in my hometown!  I may have put the autumn decor on the front door, but beyond the door it was still green and wonderful.

When a few leaves were gone from the trees, the extra sun and milder weather made all of my plants on the front porch happier and fuller and more colorful.

I love October, a mix of fall colors and overgrown summer.

I waited all summer for blooms like these and yes, sunlight matters!

Temple Square and Red Butte Gardens

My husband and I have been serving on a committee which is planning a National Foote Family Meeting to be held in Salt Lake City in July of 2015.  Every month or so for the last few months we have met in Salt Lake City for meetings as we did last Saturday.  While in Salt Lake, we decided to extend our visit for an afternoon outing.

First stop was lunch on the 10th floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

I couldn't resist taking a few pictures of the view to the west from the 10th floor.

Glen's great, great grandfather worked on building the Salt Lake Temple.  It took forty years to complete it.  The family in Draper still has a piece of the granite left over from when one of the granite blocks was cut.

Our next stop was the Red Butte Gardens located on the mountain just east of the University of Utah campus. 

Our Thanksgiving Point membership expired the end of the July and we decided to wait and renew it next year, so we have been missing our occasional garden walks.

It was also time to explore another garden.

Red Butte may not have the expansive views of Thanksgiving Point, but it did not disappoint.

We can't wait to visit again in late Spring.  There was an arbor of wisteria and we just have to see it in full bloom.  We know that the garden will have a whole different look.

The rose garden was in bloom and the roses were beautiful.  We are enjoying perfect weather this autumn.

This trip, I concentrated on taking pictures of leaves and foliage.

So much texture and so much color.

It was an up and down walk so the occasional bench was welcome.

This was who was across the way from that bench.

A plethora of leaf shapes and colors.

I also loved the climbing vines.

In the Children's Garden, I took a picture of my sweetie through the water.

More vines.

There are plans in place to put in a more water wise garden on the mountain.

Juxtaposition of evergreen and deciduous.

 

On the way out, there is a large green house where they keep citrus in the winter (just like George Washington at Mt. Vernon.)  Glen also found a bougainvillea.  It made him think of his Arizona garden.

Autumn is now right outside the window

A little over a week ago, we were having daily thunder storms outside my kitchen window.

Today it looks like this, blue skies, beautiful color, and the temperature is 72 degrees.  Yes, today is pretty much my perfect kind of day.

A few days back. . .

and today.  Can you hear my heart singing?  I love this great big window looking east towards the mountains.

Last night I watched a beautiful moon rise over those mountains from my window.  We bought this place over a decade ago mostly because of the mountain views through the east facing windows.

This is what I made with what looks like my last big batch of cherry tomatoes.  It was delish and so easy.  Mix your favorite basil pesto with some cream cheese, spread it on crisped baguette rounds, sprinkle with a bit of grated Parmesan cheese, put under broiler for just a bit, then add one sliced in half cherry tomato and a sprinkle of fresh basil.  A taste tester called this bruschetta on steroids!

I have been making a special occasion dress for my grand daughter.  I am using satin.  Enough said. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and sewed together my Saturday Sampler blocks.  Peppermints anyone?  I think I am going to love this Christmas quilt.  I took a picture of them with oranges.  Oranges and Christmas just go together.  Hubby picked these up from Costco and they came from Chile.  So there you have it, eating local as in off the balcony garden and not eating local like from orange trees a continent away.  We live in a pretty amazing world.

My overflowing front porch

I've been gardening on my porch and balcony during my Utah summer.  I'm always most happy when I have something to water.  I open the door every morning to a new day and garden love.

I love late summer in Utah (so unlike late summer in Arizona where most everything has fried.)

Everything looks fat and happy and grateful to be alive.

The pots overflow with color and green leaves.

It makes me happy every time I go outside.

It is worth every drop of water.

And those sweet potato vines are hanging low.