Another beautiful blue-sky afternoon… perfect for another bike ride along the lakefront. A bit on the chilly side… long sleeves & gloves again. But I wasn’t quite ready for trees to be changing colors already! As much as I love Fall… I’m not quite ready for it. But let’s be real… this tree is in fact BEAUTIFUL in the beginning of its Fall coloring!!! Okay… so maybe I’ll be “ready” soon…

Hard to believe it’s already October! While I want Summer to last forever… I actually LOVE Fall too. And I’m ready to kick-off October with a big bowl of gourds on the table. Thanks to the folks at ART IN THE BARN for selling off their seasonal decorations at the end of the art fair. I came home with a couple bags of pumpkins & gourds! Although we all know that in a side-by-side contest… GOURDS are so much cooler!!!

It definitely feels like Fall is right around the corner. The zinnias are still beautiful, but you can tell they’re nearing the end of their season! Beautiful colors with great petal structure… but a few of them aren’t holding up so well. Enjoy the end of summer while you can…

Clear skies with cool breezes. It’s the first day of September, and I hate to admit that it feels like Summer is slowly coming to an end. It was chilly enough this morning that I actually put on long sleeves! I’m not ready for this… I WANT MORE SUMMER!!!

Pretty little flowers in the garden with their intoxicating scent.
It’s Lily-Of-The-Valley season!!!

Seems like the cooler weather we’re having this Spring is helping the magnolia trees hold onto their flowers a bit longer. I’m okay with that… at least there’s some benefit to all these cooler rainy weekends?!

Celebrating a little bit of EARTH DAY today with admiration & appreciation of the beautiful Spring flowers along the bike trail this morning. Crab apple blossoms to start your Saturday… and your Earth Day! So go outside… and see something beautiful in nature!

I’m celebrating the FIRST DAY OF SPRING with a beautiful sunrise bike ride. Finally, some blue skies & colorful clouds to brighten my morning. I’m tired of gray… I’m tired of Winter… and I am fully embracing Spring!!!

This morning I was excited about my iris shoots popping up! But then at Navy Pier this afternoon… I spied these colorful crocus flowers bursting through everywhere!!! A fun surprise… considering we still have chances for snow! And the first day of Spring is not until Monday!!! Even the bees were out enjoying the sunshine today!

Although we’re still dealing with cold temperatures, snow flurries & freezing rain… seemingly changing on a daily basis… it is encouraging to see little sprouts of my variegated iris working their way through in the garden. Spring is coming!!!