I can’t believe I came home from Italy only a week ago today. Already, I am ensconced in my life back here at home. I keep looking at my photos of Pantelleria, with tearful eyes, just to remind myself that it really did happen, to relive it a little, and to revisit the beautiful people I shared the week with. This has been a full weekend of both enjoying autumn and catching up on chores here at the home front! I am at Ocean Shores. A rain storm kicked in last night, and this morning, I can hear the loud surf  churning wildly!

Here are some photos I’d like to share with you:

I had Rick take some photos of one of the most beautiful bouquets I have ever had!  Most of the flowers came from MaryAnn.  She was at the Pantelleria retreat and presented them to me just before yoga class started.  The dahlias in the bouquet are from Simone.  These flowers capture the essence of autumn.  The big sunflowers bring a smile to my face.  What could be more beautiful than this burst of color and thoughtfulness?

And it’s good to know that one of the most reliable vegetable to grow in my garden here at the coast is CABBAGE.  Yup!  I planted a few varieties this year and I now have a fridge full of cabbage heads.  Cabbage is slug proof, likes cool summers, lots of cloud coverage, and rain!  Perfect for the weather here at the NW coast!  And lucky for me, they can last a while in the fridge.  Thank goodness we like cabbage.  The fact that it is full of good nutrition is another plus.  I have collected some great recipes using cabbage as the main ingredient.  Ah, the beauty of cabbage:

And we picked chanterelles this weekend!  I just love the bounty of autumn.  (These photos are actually from our foraging a few weeks ago, but this week’s harvest looked about the same.):

My mind is alive with these autumn images:  deadheading, leaf blowing, cabbage picking, seed collecting, soup making, mushroom foraging, marigolds, asters, hummingbirds at fuschias, and bouquets of dahlias and laughing sunflowers.  And, tucked away in the not-so-back of my mind, I have the image of swimming in the Mediterranean Sea, pinching myself to make sure I am not dreaming.