I was working in my garden the other day, in the late evening, and I could feel the change in the air. Fall is arriving. It may not be so obvious when you account for the high temperatures, but the angle of the sun feels different and the temperatures are dropping more at night. This year has been a year of many different challenges, both in the garden and in life. In the garden, both disease and animals have been a formidable foe towards a bountiful harvest. Out of six tomato plants, I may only get my hands on three ripe tomatoes due to animals and disease. Out of two squash plants, that have now died, I only picked two small squash thanks to a very hungry deer that ate all the leaves and buds. Thankfully, there are other crops to harvest from.

In life, there have been many other challenges. A wrist injury put me out of work and finding a new position has been difficult. Also missed work has meant many weeks of missed pay, which means my emergency fund is shrinking. I have also had some difficulty renting out two rooms that need renting so I have been covering missing rent. It has been a pricey year to say the least. I have had reoccurring and persistent trouble with my wrist, which can limit many daily activities. The most aggravating being chopping food, playing with kids, and keeping up with garden work. A lot of projects have been postponed during this year’s events. But I am ever faithful that God will continue to provide according to my necessary needs.

The crickets you may hear chirping while you peruse my blog is mostly due to limiting wrist movements so I can continue to heal. I have still been active on Instagram since it easy to document my adventures with my phone. I will share some of my favorite images from this year in today’s post and maybe explain a few.

Virginia had a particularly wet spring and start to the summer. I went hiking out in the mountains and there were many, many different types of mushrooms and other varieties of fungi. Probably the largest selection I have seen in twenty years. It was truly amazing. I found one mushroom that 12 inches in diameter. The largest image below shows one of the most stunning that I found.

My best friend from high school married her long-term boyfriend in August. They met in college and he moved down to Virginia to prepare for their life together. They had a beautiful reception at Pippin Hill Vineyard. It is a beautiful property that serves a tasty menu.

 Montezuma is a small town in the Shenandoah Valley that is southwest of Harrisonburg. There is a produce market there that I favor. In the fall, they have an interesting and large selection of pumpkins. The price is right and the variety is fun. They also, obviously, sell other seasonal produce. I had one of their pumpkins on my front step last fall and I eventually cooked it up in a soup.

Thank you for stopping by today! I finally got two rolls of film scanned in and hope to share some of those images soon.