I began raking leaves in our yard in October and finished (finally) in late November. I carried leaves over to the garden to cover the paths and beds. I carried leaves over to the compost pile in the garden. There are two large piles of leaves on the edge of the yard and finally I resorted to the mower to chop up the leaves and blow them away.

This is a patch of wintergreen that grows in the northeast corner of our house where the house and addition meet and is shaded from sun.

Except for a few plants, like wintergreen, almost all ground vegetation is bare of leaves. Christmas ferns are a hardy exception. Even in a cold and snowy winter there will be green leaves visible in early January.

Most trees lose their dead leaves; beeches are an exception. These are young beeches down in the hollow to the west of our home. A deep gully is between these trees and the rocks and hillside opposite.

For some reason textures seem to stand out in autumn and winter. This is the inside of a tall stump, the remains of a hollow tree that fell years ago.

Every evening before bringing in the cats there’s the walk. This started with Bobo and Kitty Boy is an eager adherent. The walk is about a half hour sitting with the cats before coming inside for dinner. Bobo loved walking rather than sitting until he got older which is why it’s called the walk. Kitty Boy likes to sit on or near the walker. If other cats are nearby he’ll sometimes perform antics batting and chasing a nut or a branch. In this photo Molly and Kitty Boy are sitting on the shack porch. Kitty Boy is looking toward the large cistern. Tansy was nearby under the shack.

Sunset sometimes lights up the trees and hillside with color, even when it is not autumn. In autumn, though, the colors are dramatic. This is a photo taken late in the day in the hollow to the west of our home looking up toward the ridge where our home is.

October was when the big change happened in the woods. Leaves changed color and fell. Temperatures were cooler—we began using the wood stove in September.

I cut up another large red oak brought down by wind next to the rocks road in October. The tree fell between two smaller trees which helped keep the log off the ground. The top was snarled on two bent trees. Once the top was dealt with, cutting the log was not that difficult since it was mostly in the air and not under tension. Most of this tree is now cut and split leaving the bolt stuck between the two trees and a bit of the top to cut once hunting season cools down a bit and it’s safe to work in the woods again.

Maple leaves tend to fall earliest and show the most color.

I started to bring up firewood stacked in the woods to restack near our home for the wood stove this winter. Some of the firewood is stacked along the roads on our property. The bulk of the firewood is in the woods reached on trails like this one by our ATV pulling a trailer.

This is a photo showing the west side of our garden in October. The western section of the fence is to the left. The newest solar panels are to the right. We’re looking south.

October was very dry which meant lots of clear blue sky. Great for generating power but a little nerve wracking heading into fire season.

There were still flowers in October. These yellow flowers (ragweed?) were next to the path into the garden.

And these white flowers were on the other side of the path into the garden.