Fall colours

Stormy Pastel Autumn Sky | Whims And Fancies

We have been having such a wonderful October here that I have been having the time of my life with my camera. Weekend before last, we had a fantastic storm with heavy gusts of wind. I was painting in my room at the time, but finally I just had to bundle up in warm clothing, put my Wellies on and head out with an umbrella.

Stormy Autumn Leaves | Whims And Fancies

Leaves swaying heavily in gusts of wind

I walked quite a few miles all on my own before heading back home. The gusts were so strong that my poor umbrella was hardly able to keep up. I was so mesmerized by the sound of rain pattering on my umbrella, the singing of the rain under the grove of oak trees, the swishing of the wind and the vibrant colours of the sky that I never realised how wet I got.

Stormy Autumn Rain | Whims And Fancies

Fallen leaves all over the path

Stormy Autumn Sky | Whims And Fancies

Pastel Sky

Stormy Pastel Autumn Photo | Whims And Fancies

Even the dark asphalt took on the vibrant colour of the sky

After Storm Autumn Rainbow | Whims And Fancies

Rainbow from the setting sun

After that brilliant storm over the weekend, we had a dry and hot Santa Ana. This weekend weather has cooled off again, and clouds are gathering in the sky. Eager to be outdoors, we decided to visit the local pumpkin patch this Sunday afternoon.

Autumn Pumpkins | Whims And Fancies

Orange is not the only colour

Autumn Flowers | Whims And Fancies

Flowers are not for Spring alone

Autumn Sunflower | Whims And Fancies

Pumpkin-hued sunflower

Autumn Weird Pumpkins | Whims And Fancies

The strange ones

Autumn Pumpkin | Whims And Fancies

The flamboyant ones

Happy Autumn Everyone!
-Soma

I am also linking up on Photo Friday, Life Thru The Lens, Through My Lens, Seasons, Our World Tuesday and Friday Photo Journal along with with other linky parties on my Events And Links page.

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Scones

It was really overcast a couple of days ago. For some strange reason, the cloudy, cool weather gave me a huge urge to bake. I gave in and became a mad baking lady. I kicked off the baking session with these easy scones. We treated ourselves to a couple of warm ones that afternoon with butter and jam. I sometimes like to eat them with just butter and sprinkled sugar.

Peach Crumble

Once the scones came out of the oven, I prepped a peach crumble. Since I am allergic to all fruits with pits and cores, I can only eat canned peaches. First I drained the syrup from the peaches and added shredded coconut and sugar. Then I prepared the crumble, added some coconut to that as well and then into the oven it went at 375F for 30 minutes. If I could, I would add coconut to everything! I almost wanted to skip dinner and go straight to dessert that night!

Whole Wheat Bread

Last but certainly not least, I baked three loaves of bread. I really love homemade bread, but I haven’t been able to bake for a while because I had been a bit under the weather. Since I am feeling a lot better now, I just had to bake bread. Once I had made up my mind, there was no going back. This bread is really not that hard to make, just a lot of waiting around. Since I was puttering around the kitchen anyway, the timing was perfect. I love the smell of freshly-baked bread wafting through the house.

Charlie kitty On Quilt

After I finished all that baking, I felt like Charlie in this picture. By the way, this is the reason why this quilt is still not finished. I partially hand quilted it. Every time I got up for five minutes, he was on it, sleeping. I finally finished the quilting last week and I am feverishly hand sewing the binding now. It is a queen size quilt, so there’s a lot of binding to sew. Currently this is the only quilt I am working on. Since I am not touching anything else until it’s finished, hopefully I will be able to show it here very soon.

It’s not all his fault though, for my not finishing the quilt, I must share part of the blame. Puffy clouds and cool weather have been inviting me to go play outside, and I must heed their call. I have been out and about with my camera a lot lately. This is our first year here in the Napa Valley. Fall is like a second spring, only all the leaves turn into blooms. I thought I’d share some of my favourite photos here.

Fall Colours Napa Valley Vineyard