Friday!

Whooosh!  Another week has flown by!  How is it that they're going by so quickly?!  Is the world spinning faster?  I wish the days would slow down!  I'm trying to get stuff done here!

This week was a bit more productive in that I finished my weaving project.  And, I've started to get back to exercising everyday.  It's just walking with a little running here and there but it's a big deal that I'm getting back to it.  I was doing great earlier this year but fell off the fitness wagon months ago.  I haven't been all that enthused about getting back to it.  The heat had a lot to do with it.  It's VERY nice that the weather is cooling down now!  Mornings have been in the 50's and that's much more comfortable than 80's.  Especially when the sun is shining.

I snapped a couple pictures on my walk this morning.  I think it's interesting that these trees are covered in little yellow flowers when the calendar says it's Fall.  Looks a lot more like Spring to me!

Another accomplishment for this week isn't quite complete but what I've done so far feels really good!  I've been going through absolutely everything in my craft studio.  I'm getting rid of things (donating, trash and recycling) and organizing.  I'm finding so much more space!  I love that!

I also accomplished something I've been putting off...a dentist appointment.  Ugh!  I had all my old fillings replaced earlier this year and thought I was good to go and wouldn't need the dentist except for cleanings for quite a while.  Wrong!  During our June/July road trip some of my bottom teeth all of a sudden became very sensitive to cold and sometimes chewing.  The dentist checked it out and couldn't find anything wrong.  We decided to give it some time and use Sensodyne toothpaste. It's not any better and I've been putting off calling for months.  I just don't like going to the dentist!  The only  thing he found this time is that the nerves under two teeth look  inflamed.  So, I've been instructed to take Advil every six hours for three days.  He said it often fixes the problem.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  If that doesn't work I'll need to go back and get a "medicated filling" to try to calm the nerve.  If that doesn't work...root canal!  Ugh!   But, hey....going this week was an accomplishment!  Right?!  :-/

Ok....I need to get off the computer and back to work!  I want this day to be productive.

Have an awesome weekend!

FO Friday - Autumn Crochet Bunting

I'm so in love with the Half Lotus Bunting pattern that I found on Ravelry!  I've made three of them so far.  I posted one of them last week that I'd made for my daughter.  When I was making panels for that one, I was also making panels for an Autumn colored bunting.  I waited to post it because I thought it might look cute with crocheted acorns hanging from the ends of the strings.  I tried making some but they just don't look good with this thick yarn.  That's ok.  I love my Fall bunting anyway.  Here it is on my family room fireplace mantel...

I love it!

It's not Autumn yet but Fall is my favorite season.

So, why not enjoy it a little early and a little longer?!  : )

This project accomplished a little de-stashing.

But, have to admit that I bought a few colors for a better Fall look.  ;-) 

Kolob Terrace

One of the must-do plans we had for our recent Utah trip was to see Kolob Terrace.

It's part of Zion National Park but the road to it starts well west of the main entrance.

It's actually above the Zion Canyon.  The elevation is much higher and Fall is the best time to see it.

We packed a picnic lunch and brought our dog, Salsa, for a day of sight seeing.

It was gorgeous from the start!

The views went for miles in all directions.

Wow!  There's Zion Canyon from above!

A little surprise along the way...

Once we got to higher elevations the colors became more vibrant.

 We were a little late for some sections.  But, it was still beautiful.

This is a driveway to a house that was for sale.

What an awesome place to live!

The Kolob Reservoir at the top was much smaller than we'd expected.

It was chilly up there!  We encountered snow on the ground and a few flakes falling along the way..

There were a lot more homes up there than we'd expected to see.

I can only imagine what it must be like to live in a place with distinct seasons.

I bet it's wonderful!  It's definitely beautiful!

I love the color combinations nature creates!

I think Salsa loved it all about as much as we did!

All the amazing colors made me very happy!

It was like candy for my eyes and soul...a color high!

These are lucky cattle to live in a place like this!

That's Zion Canyon in the background.

The little blonde one on the left was adorable and so curious about us.

Another beautiful, Fall day!

The hill in the distance and on the right is where we went canyoneering.

It's the location of Lamb's Knoll.  We passed it on the way up and back.

We had to stop there again for more pictures.

The colors had changed even more from our visit just a couple of days before.

  

A patchwork of beautiful colors!

I love this red glowing from the sun!

Orange!

Spring-like flowers among the fallen leaves of Autumn...

Breathtaking!

This is the same path we hiked to go canyoneering.

Salsa got to see it this time!

Walking along the base of the rocks...

Salsa got to check out the skinny crack in the rocks where we exited from canyoneering.

She seemed to be a bit uneasy in the tight space.

We loved walking on the soft, pink sand.  I bet it felt great under Salsa's paws.

I had to get a picture of the changing oak leaves!

A view from the knoll...

We've been to Zion during Summer, Fall and the start of Spring.

It would be hard to pick a favorite time of year to visit but Fall is definitely more colorful!

Chilly Morning

These chilly mornings after a long, hot summer are so refreshing.

I'm enjoying a hot cup of tea this morning and a little fun with mazes.

I'm wearing jeans instead of shorts, socks instead of flip flops and I even have a jacket on.

Enjoy this wonderful Fall day!

Excited for Fall

The extreme heat of this summer has stayed way too long.

I'm excited for Fall!  So, over the past few weeks, I've been doing some 

Fall-ish things in hopes of hurrying it along.

I bought some adorable Halloween decorations.

I'd like to find a spooky tree to decorate with these and others that I have.

And, wouldn't you know...usually I'm wondering why holiday things are out

so early...this year I'm wondering why they're so slow to show up.

I found these at Pier One (the cute characters) and Hobby Lobby (the glass balls).

When we saw New Belgium Brewery's Pumpkick beer we had to get some.

We visited their impressive brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado a few years ago.

We love trying their limited edition "Lips of Faith" series and their other seasonal brews.

My favorite, so far, was "Kick" a couple of years ago.  So, when I saw this had the word

"kick" in the name, I had to try it.  I'm glad I did!  It's yummy!

The label says it's brewed with pumpkin and cranberry juices and spices.

Sounds weird but it works!  Oh...and I had to find a football game a couple of

weeks ago to watch while I drank it.  Even though it was about 110 outside, I tried

to imagine cooler temps and my favorite season, Autumn.  Ahhhh!

Who knows?  Maybe it worked.  It finally cooled down this week and we haven't needed

to use the air conditioning for a couple of days now.  It's even cool enough to have the windows open!

Wooo hooo!  Yippee!