The Evidence of Fall

Maybe you've heard me proclaim that we have no Fall here in South Florida. The weather doesn't cooperate with the calendar, and we're left with little to get excited about. No leaves changing, no cool air; it's pretty much life as usual. For the most part, Fall just isn't much of a sensory experience where we live.

But what was I thinking?! I forgot that we actually do have a way of telling when Fall has arrived.

It's the Pumpkin Patch at Trinity United Methodist Church in Palm Beach Gardens.

For years Trinity has been taking advantage of the great lawn out in front of their brick church. They load it down with thousands of pumpkins! (The guy there told me each shipment they receive has about 5,000 pumpkins in it and they were getting, (we think he said) 6 shipments.) Of course Casey heard differently about how many pumpkins. She thought he said 2,000 pumpkins per shipment. So as you can see our actual facts are iffy. We just know it's a lot of pumpkins!

Through the years we've made it there now and again for the spectacle and the fun of hunting for pumpkins. Most years, we tend to forget.

So this year, Casey and I decided to head over while we were both home for an hour at the same time, and while we were thinking of it, so we could get a glimpse of our only known South Florida evidence of Fall. 

It was a hot, sunny afternoon and the rain hadn't made it's way over from the West yet. We arrived to a visual sea of pumpkins and no other customers, which was kinda fun, especially since once the schools start to come on field trips, it gets kinda crazy there. They had some cute displays, wagons for hauling kids and pumpkins, scarecrows, hay, and they were also selling pumpkin bread.

My hope was to find that they had blue pumpkins (a phenomenon I was alerted to by Revi over at Revisionary Life). Unfortunately, there was not a blue one to be found at this pumpkin patch. 

They did have a very few really dark grayish green ones but they were covered with lots of creepy pumpkin warts. So I opted for a cool veiny one instead. I also snagged one of the few teeny little white ones they had. The guy said the kind of pumpkin I got (the big veiny one) has been known to last all year if you keep it indoors. Nice; I like getting my money's worth.

Casey wanted to take my picture by the big pumpkin height chart, but I passed and got a shot of her instead (makes for a much better picture I assure you), high black work socks and all. Too bad they didn't have this height chart back when the kids were little so we'd have the comparison photos. 

We do have a shot of all three of the kids standing under a tree in the middle of the pumpkins back in the day. So we got a picture of Casey with her pumpkin standing under that tree as well. She was trying to recreate the same stance as her childhood photo so we could compare them when we got home. 

My how they've both grown - she and the tree! The tree was just a little thing with it's branches hanging just above the kids heads last time they took a photo there.

The next day, the little silver Pottery Barn frames below came home with me from a garage sale. They had been used as dish markers. I decided to make use of them in another way for the time being. So today while working on a sign I've been making, I worked on these as well. Last night I cleaned the frames a bit and today I worked on painting all the glass with chalkboard paint.

The plan for the frames was to spell out something pertaining to Fall. Since I only had 5 frames, I went with the obvious, F-A-L-L (I know; I'm just busting with creativity!) and used the leftover frame to draw a leaf. This way, in case it stays hot and I forget it's Fall, I'll have the word right there to spell it out for me. :) Yes, the L's look a bit like C's, but I had no intention of starting over.

In the end, I decided I liked it better without the old books in the mix. You have to say, I'm trying to be a sport and participate in "FALL". You've gotta give me some points for that.

What? You don't? Oh. Never mind then.

Meanwhile these little chalkboard frames will come in handy for all sorts of other things when they are finished serving as my Fall reminder.



The book on the table, Autumn, is a Susan Branch recipe book I've had for years. The old books were purchased at one of the sales on Saturday, for 50 cents each. They include: The Complete Works of Alfred Tennyson (1883); It also has an inscription inside dated June 11 - 1886, which says:

"To Sallie, from her friend and teacher, H.S. Leslie. June - 11 - 1886." 

...The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas (1940) and The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe (1946).


Each of the books has so much character to it, but I think they are making my table look a little cluttered right now. I'll just have to find a new spot for them.

Check back soon and I'll unveil the little sign I've been working on and more of what I found this weekend as well.

Open House Party @ No Minimalist Here
Wow Us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style
Cowgirl Up @ Cedar Hill Ranch
Knick of Time Tuesday @ Knick of Time
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm
Metamorphosis Monday @ BNOTP

Mop it Up Mondays @ I Should Be Mopping The Floor