September Has Arrived!

Although it's still in the 80s here, fall is on the way! I LOVE this time of year when it starts to cool off and I can start to think about autumn and Halloween.

I know that when my chrysanthemums start blooming that summer is on the way out and autumn is on the way in.

We're also getting to harvest from our garden now. The tomatoes went nuts this year, and my husband is making dinner from the garden tonight. We planted a blackberry bush several years ago, and this year we had an amazing yield from that bush, which is taking over the entire area where it's planted.

The birds have been frolicking in the yard all day today.

I'm especially grateful for the cooler weather on the way since I just had to spend several days in Arizona. My company held a conference in Scottsdale. The resort was fabulous and my room was enormous! But it was hot; I was a drippy mess more than once. I work for a wonderful company though. The people and culture are amazing, the company is doing all sorts philanthropic activities to help end childhood hunger, and they did drunken history videos (yes, just like the show) of the company's history. They also allowed those of us who had to be there the entire time to sign up for an offsite activity. So I got to tour Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesen West. 

FLW's office. The docent is pointing to his portrait.

The oasis in the desert. The town apparently laughed when he bought the water rights, but there was indeed ground water and the facility is still not on city water.

A beautiful, if harsh view.

The inner courtyard.

The docent showing us the back view of the kitchen area.

A lego reproduction of the compound. I think we were told it had 185,000 pieces.

Interesting colors and shapes in the entertainment room.

The architecture was amazing and very organic. One night with dinner I asked for decaf coffee and think I got the real deal and of course couldn't sleep. So I got a Kindle book about the murders at the original Taliesen in Wisconsin. Frank Lloyd Wright sounds like he was one of the genius types who wasn't sure how to be a human being, but I still had fun seeing the place he had designed out in the desert.