I love the number thirteen. That and the fact that I got an extra hour’s sleep this weekend made me feel quite chippy on Sunday. Monday (today) starts week #13 in my countdown, so for once I actually looked forward to Monday.

To a point anyway. This will no doubt be a stressful week because of the election. I am going to do my best to avoid reading the news until Wednesday … if I can. I’ve always been a bit of news junkie so it’s an effort, but I’ll have plenty of distractions (as in, meetings, meetings, and more meetings!).

Meanwhile. We went for a walk on Sunday, a gorgeous day with sunshine and coolish temperatures.

Here are a few scenes.

Talk about hanging in there! This tree doesn’t want to let go and I don’t blame it. It’s a lovely environment, full of dappled sunlight and rich vegetation. Worst case scenario: it’ll become a home and food for critters and birds so life will continue.

How’s this for a still life? I did not stage the fern, sticks and fungi. The composition caught my eye, and I took photos from several angles, but this is my favorite.

Aren’t these so pretty? I see patterns like this and I immediately think of knitting, of all things, imagining myself knitting up sweaters or shawls in these colors and lines.

And some more. They also make me think of full skirts that swirl when you dance.

Now this is something I wouldn’t want to blindly grab. Greg says it’s a “devil’s walking stick.” It can be quite beautiful when it’s in flower, but it’s November so no blooms.

Ah, that’s it for today. In just over three months, I’ll have more time to regale you with my photos and chatter. For now, I’m just counting down and enjoying the start of some real fall weather.

Even our cats are starting to assume their winter behavior.

You only see Maxine tolerating Junior’s butt in her face when the temperatures start to drop and she’ll take any body heat she can find. Junior was soaking up the sun, silly boy. If you look really close, you can see that Maxine actually has a paw draped over Junior’s feet. Like children, they are so adorable when they are sleeping.

Thanks for visiting! Hope you are all well and safe and happy. My friends in the U.S.: Remember to vote on November 3 if you haven’t already voted, and hang on to your sanity. I think it’s going to be a bumpy ride.