Painting the Town Red....and yellow and gold

Virginia creeper lines a fence

A few days ago when my doggy cyberfriend Georgia Little Pea and her Typist, who live Down Under, blogged about the arrival of spring and showed us photos of trees in bloom and their newly-painted bright red shed door, I felt a bit jealous.  My shed door needs painting, I love red, and I remember the happy feelings the arrival of spring brings.  Up Here it seems like almost overnight our hot dry summer became chilly, damp autumn. In fact, autumn seems to be rushing into winter.  On the way to Eddie's class this morning I spied a light dusting of snow covering the tops of nearby mountains. Brrrrrrr.

But looking around me on a blustery fall day, it seems like we have just as much colour in our lives in fall as they do in an Australian spring.  The brilliant yellow maples along the sea walk, the scarlet trees on Joan Avenue, the multi-coloured hillsides all around us provide more colour than Crayola has crayons.  With the sun low in the sky, and the skies sometimes blue,  sometimes silvery grey, often a mix of both as winds puff clouds and weather systems through one after the other, the landscape changes by the hour.

Eddie and I see lots of colour on our morning walks.

Winter Crocuses bloom in a front yard, 

blackberries ripen on the path to the seawalk,

and though the colours along the seawalk are subtle from the berm, 

and from the harbour parking lot,

Up close, the trees are beautiful. 

Even the crew building the seawalk extension
sport red and yellow tools.

 I can't wait for the extension to be completed.  It was originally scheduled for June, then September, then October.  It's getting close, but I'm betting the grand opening won't be until spring.  We're on Island Time here.

In this next photo you can see the extension.  The existing seawalk would be to the right of (outside of) the photo, then there is the gravel path visible along the front of the RV park,  And then the new extension, taking walkers around the smaller bay and over to a whiter, sandier beach and small park.  It will make for a great walk once finished.

Crofton Sea Walk Phase 3 - extension to Crofton Beach Park.

But back to the colours of fall in Crofton and the Cowichan Valley:

On Thursday, Gail and I took the dogs to Swallowfield.  

This bridge marks the turn into Swallowfield, 

Where fall colours are reflected in the Chemainus River. 

A moment of sunlight illuminates the landscape.

Gail, Sadie B and Eddie on the estuary.
Sadie:  "Throw the stick, throw the stick, throw the stick!"
Eddie:  "Look! I'm sitting!  I get a treat, a treat, a treat!"

Chemainus River wends through the trees,

And Sadie B enjoys a swim. 

And then it's time to head home. 

Enroute, we stop to capture more colour, 

But we've also brought fall indoors, with these
Japanese (or Chinese) lanterns our
neighbour Mary gave us.

And while we don't have a red shed door, Georgia,
we just had this old dark brown wood buffet redone!
(Thanks, Lesley from Embellish! in Duncan)

And so we have fall both outside and in - reds and yellows and orange and green, greys and blues and silvers, and - um - white?  No. No No No No No Snow.  Not Yet!

I guess it's time to put the snow tires on.

Maybe I should paint them red.

Just joking!  These were ones I painted for garden planters this summer!

All seasons have their magic - no matter where you live. Have a nice spring, Georgia Little Pea.  And we'll enjoy the fall.