I apologize if this whole autumn splendour thing is getting a bit boring. However, the pictures don't do justice to the amazing scenery that we've been surrounded with over the past few weeks, and even a friend, who has lived in this area a lot longer than I have, admitted that this year's colours have been the best that she has ever seen. So even as the leaves blow away and grey skies take over, I'm not done yet; I am still harvesting these pictures from the memory cards of my cameras and prolonging the season in that manner.

These are my favourite cluster of birches, enjoying the sunshine. In their shadow, beside the river, a patch of milkweed was sending its silken seeds into the breeze.