october cozy

Thanks for all the help on my last post regarding the problems with Blogger. Guess I'll just have to wait and see if my blog roll reappears. Glad I'm not the only one this has happened to (not that I wish this on anyone!) and that Blogger is working on it.
(Update: I re-created my blog roll and put it back on my sidebar. Let's hope it stays there!)

The past four or five days have been nothing but dreary weather ~ cool temps, dampness interspersed with periods of rain, and endless gray skies. My favorite maple tree - the one across the street - is starting to put on its annual show. I love photographing the color change of this tree every year.

Despite the cool temps, some of my plants are still going strong, like this Boston fern. This is the first time I've ever had this plant and from what I've read, you can over-winter it indoors. I'm going to give it a try. 

This is the only potted annual I have left (Gerbera daisy) and a couple of days ago, even in the middle of all the rain, out popped a beautiful, bright pink bloom! I was really surprised for this time of year. 

Alongside the patio, there's still a lot of green. Another new-to-me plant this year was citronella, which is the monster potted plant on the left. I had no idea it'd grow that tall. The stalks kept falling over from the heaviness, so I had to prop it against the fence.

Inside, I've added snippets of fall decor in the living room...

The kitchen got a few autumn touches, as well...

We've been eating a lot of soup already, too. There's nothing better than a warm bowl of soup on a cold night for comfort and nourishment.

We tried this Creamy Vegetable Soup with Leek and it was absolutely delicious. A definite keeper! Easy to make, hearty and dairy-free.

Wouldn't you know it, no sooner than I started writing this blog post, than the sun came out! It's amazing how your mood can instantly pick up when the sun comes out after seemingly-endless days of dreariness. With that all said, I'm going to get a start on dinner in the Crockpot (tonight it's Butter Chicken) and then run some errands.

Happy October!