Join me… for a Fall Walk in the Neighbourhood.

Fall in my Neighbourhood.

I am feeling a bit under the weather today as I prepare this post. We had our Covid and flu vaccines on Friday and I haven’t been well since then. One of those vaccines must have been very potent indeed!

Today, rather than paint, I decided to use up some of my painted papers to create a fall scene.

Red Maple trees line streets in Morris Village.

This section of the town was built around 15 years ago. Each property had a red maple planted on the front lawn. At this time of year, those trees are a curse and a blessing. You can imagine the curse part: dozens of compost bags filled with fallen leaves. But the blessing part is well worth the cursing…the red maple fills the dining room and kitchen with a golden glow much of the day.

Collaged leaves in sketchbook.

Inspired by a book I recently purchased, CUT PAPER PICTURES – Turn your art and photos into personalized collages by Clover Robin, I decided I wanted to use up some of my painted papers in a double page spread in my floral sketchbook with fallen leaves.

After all, as Albert Camus said, "Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." Besides, the contents of a sketchbook can go off on a little tangent now and then.

I cheated a bit and I blame it on those darn vaccines.

I went out and picked fallen leaves and used them as a template. My stash of painted papers came in very handy as I already had the burgundy, red, and orange needed to create the leaves. I used Elmer glue stick, recommended by Clover Robin, to glue the leaves into the sketchbook. Thankfully, as I am not very energetic or feeling particularly artistic today, clean up was quick and easy. Now I am ready to move on to something else, maybe a few cough drops and a cup of coffee.

A few more fall scenes from the neighbourhood.

This town is such a lovely little place to raise a family or to enjoy in retirement. The streets are quiet most of the time. There are areas devoted exclusively for walking or cycling along a hydro line which is the path that we usually take three seasons of the year. In the winter, this path is not cleared and can be treacherous. But in the fall it crosses from the eastern edge of town to the middle lower area where there is a huge pond for migrating Canada geese to use as a stopover... and boy! do they take advantage of that pond. And if one wants to go just a bit further, say 15 minutes by car...there are more lovely areas to explore. (see October's Party is Over).

The neighbourhood decorates for Halloween.

So many neighbours go all out for Halloween and the decorations are quite impressive.  When I first moved into the neigbourhood, I was stopped in my tracks one night when I saw this ghostly appearance all lit up with the "dresses" swaying in the wind. Of course, it is an homage paid to The Outlander in which Claire Randall goes back in time to Scotland in the 1700s and meets Jamie Fraser, a handsome Highland warrior with a tender side.  It is still my favourite decoration each fall.

Only in Canada Halloween decoration.

For those of you who do not ever have snow, this is what happens when you are careless while using a snowblower!

I thought it was very creative and snapped a few photos. The next day, this was gone. So I wonder...was it a joke by someone on the street? Did the teenage kids set it up and the parents objected? I was disappointed but I saw that there was another very creative set up but I don't have a photo of that one, unfortunately.

Of skeletons and spiders...this is fall in our neighbourhood!

Finally, other homes have gone over the top, as in over the top of the roof, to add climbing spiders to the outdoor decor for Halloween.

And this home is all about skeletons rising up from the earth.  Love it!