Giving thanks for the country life in Wichita.

Chris and I went to his folks' house in Wichita, Kansas for Thanksgiving. It's fun to see Chris switch gears so quickly to his old country boy self. He immediately pulls on his overalls and sets out to cut a tree down or work on the truck. He spent all day on Friday in the garage, so I took out on my own to the city. I drove around, took some pictures and did a little shopping. Wichita is a pretty cool town with a lot of interesting old buildings, museums and antique shops. On Saturday we drove to Newton, which is only 30 minutes away. We always stop at Good Old Days Antiques where there is a cat that rides around on your shoulder while you shop. We also checked out our friend, Dave Loewenstein's mural that he completed this fall. It was a great Thanksgiving!

Good Old Days Antiques.

Cutting a tree down with Grandpa Earl.

The collector in me.

Chris and I love to go antique shopping, even if we don't buy anything. Just looking at the craftsmanship of old items is interesting. It's especially fun to head out on a road trip and stop at all of the little junk shops along the way. I can remember where I have gotten every single treasure. Each one has a special story.

Out with the old and in with the new.

The past couple of weeks have involved a little bit of change for us. This summer we purchased a gorgeous baby blue 1965 Chevy pickup truck to replace our deteriorating 1973 Dodge Dart. We decided to give the Dart to Chris's brother because we knew he would really enjoy it. So a couple of weekends ago we drove it down to Maize, Kansas where his family lives. It was sad to see it go. I really loved that car and had lots of wonderful memories taking road trips in it and cruising around town.

Those are tuberose bulbs that I pulled up for next year's planting.

The other big change I have mentioned before--this weekend Chris completed my new garden fence! It looks so great. My husband is so handy and determined. It's an inspiration to watch him work on a project.

The handyman at work. The upper garden will get a new fence in the spring. This lower garden will be getting raised beds in the next few weeks.

The juniper bushes in the front yard received a lot of trimming and everything in the garden was pulled up.

Today I spontaneously decided to climb this tree! I felt like I was in 4th grade all over again. This tree is in our front yard and is an incredible presence.

More evidence of the juniper bush trimming. We're going to have to have people over for a bonfire before it gets too cold!

And finally, the view from the living room. I often look out and see Chris hard at work in the yard. He makes me so proud!

There's a chill in the air.

Happy autumn! As the days get shorter and colder it seems as though my to-do list gets longer. There is a lot of yard work to do to wrap up the season. The biggest project of all is the new fence around the garden that Chris is building for me. While he worked on that this weekend I cleaned out the pond and put a net over it to keep the leaves out. The pond is so clear. I bet our 5 fish and 1 frog are very happy. I also cut down the okra, raked some leaves, and cut back some perennials. Oh yeah, and we had a few fires in the fireplace. Ooh winter, how I look forward to you but please wait until I check everything off of my to-do list.

I found this little guy while I was raking.

We had to rent an auger from the hardware store to dig the post holes.

Here's a glimpse of what the finished fence will look like. I'm excited!

Bailing water out of the stinky pond.

Clean pond, happy fish, net in place!

I just had to show you this plant. I bought a few sprigs of it at the farmer's market. I think it's fascinating! It's a kind of milkweed.