Pumpkin Carving 101

Just in time for the holiday, here is a host of information on carving, stencilling, lighting and even photographing you Halloween Pumpkin

Link: Pumpkin Carving and Pumpkin Carving Patterns for Halloween

Autumn leaves

If the leaves in your area aren't changing yet, you can find tons of color over at the Flickr photo sharing site. Click on any of the links below for a dose of Autumn joy.

Fall colour

The colours of Autumn have bathed a variety of Group pools with glorious reds, oranges and yellows. Enjoy and/or share your Autumn photos in this sampling of Fall in the Flickrverse: Fall Into Autumn, Autumn Leaves, Colors of the World, Autumn colors, New England, Four Seasons - Autumn Theme (New & Old), Utata, Leaves, autumnphotos, fall foliage and All things Autumn.

(Via FlickrBlog.)

Thunder and Lightning

We have had more thunder and lightning here in Los Angeles in the last 24 hours than I can ever remember in my 19 years living here. I grew up with regular Summer thunderstorms in the farm lands of Ohio and I often missed them here. Today, though, with 5 computer systems in my home office, I am not very happy with them today. I guess this is just the year for weird weather no matter where you might live.

Still, with the thunderstorms has come periods of refreshing rain. Sure, the streets may flood throughout the Valley and the rain seems to blank everyone's mind as far as driving goes, but the garden can really use a good, deep drenching after so long without.

Of course, I never did get the leaves off the roof or get some Agapanthus re-planted into the front garden, but there will be time to do that after this storm passes.

I noticed the locust was beginning it yearly turn to gold. Usually it only takes a good rain to remove most of its leaves in one fell swoop, but I think it is too early in the cycle to knock them all off just yet.