Friday Favorites: It's Officially Fall

 It's official; summer has ended and fall is here.  We've had lots of cool mornings and evenings and I've begun putting away all the summer things.  Here are a few highlights from our week.


We met up with friends of ours to go hiking on Friday and after a few false starts we ended up hiking at Bigelow Hollow.  We saw SO MANY little newts all over the place.  Seriously we had to watch the trail as we saw well over a dozen of them.  They were so cute and some of them were so small.


My friend brought me some beautiful flowers as a sorry for mixing up our hike and not getting to hike Mt. Wachusett.  She didn't need to do that but wow were they beautiful and so colorful!






Saturday Alec's karate studio had a demonstration at a local craft fair right near the falls.  It was such a fun way to start our weekend.  The whole studio did a great job showing off their skills and we walked around the fair for a bit.  Then my husband and I sat around near the falls talking waiting for Alec to finish walking around with this friends. 







I spent much of every afternoon this week out on the deck reading my latest novels (finishing up This Tender Land and moving on to the latest JD Robb "In Death" book and starting The Reading list). 








I've got the house decorated for fall and even put away all the garden decorations and pulled out the fall welcome mats (I just need some mums now!). 







We loaded up on bug spray and headed out hiking on Tuesday before all the predicted rains moved into the area.  We are seeing a crazy amount and weird variety of mushrooms and fungi this year since everything has been so wet. 



Honey mushrooms perhaps?

Best I can tell these are called Indian Pipe or Ghost Pipe

We think this is yellow stagshorn 


My youngest turned 14 this week!  It's so weird hearing him talk of college and big life plans already.  




I got an order in from Gap this week and I am loving these new sweaters I picked out. 




Linking up with: On the Edge, 





Comments

  1. Andrea NineSeptember 24, 2021 at 6:23 AM

    The color of that Newt is so Fall. Love the flowers and your outfit.

    ReplyDelete
  2. HollySeptember 24, 2021 at 6:54 AM

    LOVE your fall decor- it is on point!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kellyann RohrSeptember 24, 2021 at 7:03 AM

    I'm hoping to get my fall decor done this weekend. The view from your deck is amazing - I'm afraid I would stay there all day!
    xo,
    Kellyann

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne September 25, 2021 at 5:42 AM

      It's tough not to but it can get chilly once the shade hits this time of year.

      Delete
  4. EllibelleSeptember 24, 2021 at 8:33 AM

    These are such great favorites! Beautiful nature pictures, those mushrooms do look really neat and interesting! And loving your pretty bouquet of flowers!
    I decorated a bit for fall last night, I usually do this in early September but been so busy!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne September 25, 2021 at 5:43 AM

      Thanks! We were so surprised by all the different types of mushrooms we're seeing this year.

      Delete
  5. Julie's Creative LifestyleSeptember 24, 2021 at 8:53 AM

    Happy birthday to your son. I like the way you decorated the house for fall. Your new sweaters are just great. Have a happy Friday and weekend Joanne.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dara @ Not In JerseySeptember 24, 2021 at 8:55 AM

    That newt is really cool! Happy 14th!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne September 25, 2021 at 5:44 AM

      It was so neat to see so many; I have only ever spotted one while hiking before and we were literally sweeping the trails with our eyes as we walked so as not to step on any this time.

      Delete
  7. Lindsay's Sweet WorldSeptember 24, 2021 at 9:35 AM

    Happy happy birthday to your baby! I hope y'all had a great time celebrating him!

    ReplyDelete
  8. ClaireSeptember 24, 2021 at 9:58 AM

    Love your Fall decorations :) Great photo.

    ReplyDelete
  9. the 4 M'sSeptember 24, 2021 at 12:14 PM

    I am so glad our weather is cooling off some: we are finally spending more time outdoors and are able to enjoy the backyard! Those nature pictures from you hike are really nice: it is fun to see different kinds of plants!
    www.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne September 25, 2021 at 5:48 AM

      Our weather seems to be cooling off pretty quickly; our mornings and evenings can be downright chilly.

      Delete
  10. Sparkles and LattesSeptember 24, 2021 at 1:09 PM

    Cute Gap order. I love Fall and the cooler temperatures too. Love the nature photos. So many beautiful flowers! Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  11. R's RueSeptember 24, 2021 at 2:23 PM

    You take the most beautiful hikes. Happy Fall friend.

    ReplyDelete
  12. JoesetteSeptember 24, 2021 at 4:40 PM

    Great week! I love your fall decorations. I almost ordered those same pillow covers, but went with orange instead, but I still wish I'd got those.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne September 25, 2021 at 5:50 AM

      That's too funny! I knew I wanted something with blues and greens and am just loving this trend of pumpkins in all colors.

      Delete
  13. Memphis BridgesSeptember 24, 2021 at 5:15 PM

    Love all your fall decor! Happy Weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Tamar SBSeptember 24, 2021 at 8:29 PM

    What a cool newt - those fungi are so funky too!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Nancy 's Fashion StyleSeptember 25, 2021 at 3:03 AM

    I haven't been in the forest yet but in fall it's the most beautiful isn't it. Happy weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Amy JohnsonSeptember 25, 2021 at 8:49 AM

    Those newts and mushrooms are crazy! How fun!

    ReplyDelete
  17. AstridSeptember 25, 2021 at 9:53 AM

    Happy belated birthday to your youngest!

    Aw, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks newts are quite cute.

    ReplyDelete
  18. NY Foodie FamilySeptember 25, 2021 at 9:57 AM

    Happy birthday to your son! Those flowers are beautiful - love the colors! Hope you enjoy your weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Gary A WilsonSeptember 25, 2021 at 10:16 AM

    Hi Joanne,
    Great stuff !

    I was hoping both for our summer to be over (which makes my wife nuts) and for some real rain (that we desperately need but also makes her nuts) but her preferences won the week in both measures. We had heat and barely a drizzle of damp air.

    Loved your photos especially the newts. In our forests, when it's damp enough for them, we too have plenty of them, very dark brown ones, and you're right, you have to be careful to watch for them on any trail because they simply cannot move fast enough to see you and scamper away to safety. They live life a lot slower.

    I also loved your forest mushroom shots. Here in the late winter mountains of California,, we have an odd, but amazing variety of something similar called sarcodes and they're rare but if you happen to hike past them in, they are a remarkable find.

    I wrote about them and shared some public photos of them because while I have seen them, maybe four times while backpacking, I did not have a camera ready to capture my own images.

    You must take a look at them because they are one of the weirdest things in the forest.
    https://garyawilsonstories.wordpress.com/pushing-winter-aside/

    Thanks for a great coffee share.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne September 25, 2021 at 8:20 PM

      OH wow; those are so cool looking! Thank you so much for sharing.

      Delete
  20. NatalieSeptember 25, 2021 at 8:15 PM

    Looks like a great week. Your nature photos and fall decorations are lovely. Thank you for linking up with #weekendcoffeeshare.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Jo TraceySeptember 27, 2021 at 12:33 AM

    Loving those new sweaters & the fungi is so interesting. Your autumn decorations look lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  22. LeanneSeptember 27, 2021 at 4:49 AM

    ohhhh I love JD Robb and have finished her latest book already. I've actually gone back to the start and read all the way from book one to the end again (the only author I've ever done that with) because I love Eve and Roarke so much - and all the side characters too. Your sweaters are lovely - finding a good v-necked sweater is quite difficult, so you did well indeed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne September 27, 2021 at 12:59 PM

      I was thinking about re-reading the whole series too! I have done that with two other series-- Harry Potter and the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich.

      Delete
  23. KirstinSeptember 27, 2021 at 10:24 AM

    That newt is so cute! I love your flowers. I had friends bring me some flowers on Saturday when they came to pick up a door. Dahlias are my favorite. Because our house has been in a bit of chaos lately with remodeling and finishing the other part of our house, I don't think I'll decorate for fall inside. I'll get some pumpkins and stuff for outside, but I think that's it

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne September 27, 2021 at 1:00 PM

      I like Dahlias too.. really I enjoy getting any sort of flowers from anyone.

      Delete

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