The beautiful Fall colors are still hanging on in Chicago… literally clinging to cement walls! Great colors, great textures & great shadows!

A beautiful splash of Fall colors… colorful clusters of red berries on autumn trees as Fall continues to hang on a few days longer. And here for it!!!

So, sure I should be in the studio glazing…
or sure, I should be at home setting up for my HOLIDAY HOME SHOW...
but c’mon… it’s another gorgeous Fall day in Chicago!!!…
and I couldn’t say “NO” to my bike!!!

Especially when there are small pockets that still have trees holding onto their leaves!
Won’t last for long… enjoy it while you can! I can “work” later tonight, right???

Fall is definitely here… and leaves there are a-fallin’!
Loving the colors & textures… so different on every leaf.

After last week’s sudden snowfall, we’ve lost a LOT of colorful Fall leaves. However… I did find this colorful “hanger-on-er” this morning… a splash of beautiful Fall color lingering as long as it can. And I’m here for it.

So I was scrolling through Instagram earlier today and ran across this post.
And I thought to myself… “Wow, that flower looks a LOT like the dahlias I have blooming at home right now. And I wonder if mine will survive yesterday’s snow at all?!”

And then I looked closer… it also looks like my condo… also looks like my bricks… like my basement window frame… my dahlia plant… my tomato cage… wait a minute… THAT IS MY DAHLIA!!! Blooming but struggling under the snow!!!

Turns out Sarah walks her dog Sheryl past my place regularly, and has been enjoying my dahlias all Fall. Who knew???… That the “runner-up-in-my-eyes” on THE GREAT AMERICAN BAKING SHOW would be posting pictures of my dahlias on her Instagram?! Small world!

And just for the record… the snow did them in!!! Got home tonight and the plants are frozen, wilted & DEAD!!! Hope I can still save the tubers…

So we got a good bit of snow yesterday & freezing “rain” overnight… not sure if it was a trick or a treat? Sure, it was pretty enough, but I definitely wasn’t ready to chip all the ice off my car this morning just to get in!!! Loving the Fall colors… I just want them to last longer!!!

Beautifully colored Fall ivy leaves with a bit of sunshine streaming through.

This may have been the “perfect” Fall colors weekend here in Chicago. Which was reason enough for me to head out for a hike in the woods yesterday. It started out nice & sunny, but all too soon the clouds moved in late afternoon. Gray skies… but still beautiful Fall colors!

Although I’d rather be outside on the OTHER side of that window!!!