I traveled over Woody Gap yesterday out to the Wide World, and the leaves where spectacular. It's been late, but the yellows and reds were very vibrant. We got rain last night and wind today, so I'm sure it won't be as nice today. It was good to see some nice colors at last.

Most of the reds are gone from my yard, the yellows are turning to a rust color. We had a bit of rain last week. Not near enough, and no more in the forecast.

We've had a bit of rain, still not enough. The leaves are about at their peak, and last weekend's Gold Rush days claims 200,000 visitors. Still unseasonably warm, though. We've only started fires two mornings so far, and the first killing frost still isn't in the forecast. I didn't make it to the Indian Summer Festival this year. Maybe next time.

We've had a couple of sprinkles, but nothing to amount to anything like what we need. The trees are still mostly green, the dogwoods & sourwoods are going red in my front yard. The acorns are hitting the aluminum ladder in the back yard like rimshots. My wife says there's two seasons here: 'garden' and 'fire'. It's supposed to turn off cool later this week, so we'll probably make the transiiton then. Our first killing frost still isn't in the forecast, though. The middle of October was the first frost when we lived in Atlanta, and it's usually at least a week or two earier here in Suches, but not this year.

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I saw the hummingbirds at the feeder yesterday, but not today. A cool front came through, and they might've followed it South. The trouble with hummingbirds is that they never properly tender their notice that they're leaving. They just fly off and leave one with a few ounces of sugar water in the feeder slowly fermenting in the sunshine. Maybe they're hoping it'll have a kick init by the time they return.

 The sourwood leaves are turning red, but other species are going a sickly yellow-brown and falling off the trees. It looks as if our hopes for a pretty fall are forelorn. 

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For me, I like the website weatherunderground.com for local weather. I especially like their network of local home-based reporting stations. The one closest to me is at Buzzard Roost Ridge in Blairsville. It's usually within a degree or two of my house.

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After the rain it's turned clear and cool. First time below 50 in the morning. It's the last week of summer, and I've completed spraying for ladybugs. I used the forumla from do it yourself pest control . (though I forgot to last year) and it really works. Spray it around windows and doors in late summerand it protects the house or cabin from ladybugs throughout the Winter. A couple of years ago Paul Harvey said that putting bay leaves on the window sill would keep ladybugs out. Some friends tried it, they said it did no good whatsoever. Nice try, Paul.

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We're at last getting some rain, the leftovers from hurricane Humberto. Before that the River was about as low as I've ever seen it. I saw a branch of a maple tree that had turned bright red yesterday. The hummingbirds are still around, but they'll be heading south pretty soon. It's amazing to me that these tiny creatures fly south to Florida then across the Gulf to winter in Mexico.

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The leaves on a couple of dogwoods are starting to turn red. Is this the beginning of fall, or are they suffering from the drought? Only time will tell if we'll have a pretty fall. We need a good, soaking rain and a hard cold snap to make it happen. Stay tuned.