Having a hard time getting started this morning. It is Monday after all.

Let’s start out by sharing the signs of fall everyone found.

Have you noticed any signs of fall around your house? How about around your neighborhood, school, or while out shopping?  

• Megan: Cooler mornings. Halloween candy and costumes. Pumpkin fields getting ready for selections
• Samantha:  yes, it is getting darker earlier. school supplies and hoodies
• Antonya: Windy, trees changing color, the flowers are still bloom, green grass.  Nothing yet someday there will be signs leaves on the ground, pumpkin outdoors
• Dominique: Just coloring leaves
• Brendan J: It’s getting a bit cooler outside, and the humidity is lower!  I have been seeing decorative and craft-type pumpkins – esp at Joanne Fabrics.
• Zachary L: Yes, some of the trees are showing a few colors.  Yes trees in the neighborhood have a few red leaves(not a lot) and stores have school supplies out and some Halloween stuff out
• Taylor: Leaves changing and falling and plants at the end of their time starting to yellow and have to be pulled. Sun is getting lower in the sky. School supplies in the store and Halloween candy.
• Roxanne: In the gardens yes I have. The corn has already been picked, the stalks composted and the corn fed to the deer. The annuals are starting to get leggy. It won’t be long until the mum plants start showing up at garden centers everywhere. Then it is time to refresh the gardens, adding that pop of fall color.  At my local Hallmark store, Halloween decorations are already out. Not too much is in for Christmas yet. Just the ornaments. Expecting around October 16th, more Christmas things will arrive.
• Matthew: The petunias are really leggy because nobody pinched them back. The baby mallards in our backyard and creek are almost fully grown and flying. The momma duck left the baby ducks. A tree in our backyard has orange and red leaves on it. A very tall tree across from our neighborhood has been turning red for a couple of weeks now. My mom and I saw Halloween cards at Walgreens today. We saw Kroger selling Chrysanthemums also today.

Zack went around our yard and found quite a few signs of fall:

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Sharing that truly makes me feel better. I love, love love fall! Yeah I love Christmas as well, but for some reason Christmas isn’t as relaxing or warm and fuzzy. Maybe because it’s the first time you get to drag all those wonderful thick sweaters out of storage or when a bonfire’s warmth is really appreciated. Seeing the squash and pumpkins at every roadside stand, mum fields beginning to bloom, sunflowers towering high into the sky with their heads still standing proud and upright — Just driving around calms me, fills me with hope, and inspires me to get in my craft room and do something.

So, What is the one thing that screams FALL to you? Okay, maybe there’s more than one. Here is what was shared:

• Megan: Cider mill, candy corn, pumpkins
• Samantha:  cider mills and Halloween
• Antonya: scarecrow
• Dominique: Scarecrow. Spiders
• Brendan J: HALLOWEEN!!!
• Zachary L: FOOTBALL!! 
• Taylor: Jumping in the leaves and carving pumpkin
• Matthew: People planting Chrysanthemums in their yards or in pots by their front doors, our Fall garden flags, Fall decorations inside the house, cool nights, wearing a jacket to school and around town, trees turning red, orange or yellow, leaves falling off of trees, pumpkins for sale at the stores and decorating front porches and ultimately carving the pumpkin with Dad and Mom!
• Roxanne: Going to the orchards out in Romeo. Purchasing everything that is fresh and yummy. Drinking apple cider, planting mum plants, buying a hay bale, decorating the house for Halloween. Going shopping for a Halloween costume. Decorating pumpkins. Celebrating my parent’s birthdays.

Love candy corn. Well, love might be too strong a word because actually I really just like the first couple bites and then it gets a little too sweet, but my mouth is watering just thinking about it. I especially like the chocolate ones!

Cannot wait to go to the cider mill! Okay, so we have gone to the cider mill many times already this summer because Blake’s has a great Farmer’s Market, but we have not gotten the wonderful donuts and cider yet. We save that for fall.

Scarecrows! Absolutely those scream fall. Maybe we should have a scarecrow building contest. We could collect old clothes, stuff them with newspaper, prop them up on a chair…sounds like fun to me. Anyone interested?

Halloween! Of course. As I said, we’ve already bought our Halloween cards and I’ve been picking up Halloween crafting supplies as they come out at the Dollar Tree. So very excited to start making some new decorations — although I already have more than enough, but how can I not make something new?

Football is definitely a sign of fall. We can hear the marching bands rehearsing at the high school already.

Jumping in leaves is another great fall activity. Right up there with pumpkin carving. I know this might be anticlimactic for some, but around here it’s also exciting because both of those are great for the compost pile too!

Love fall flowers and decorations too! Our pansies from the spring are beginning to whither, so pretty soon we’ll be replacing them with some pretty mums and decorating the front porch for fall. This year I’m hoping to use our homegrown corn stalks!

So much fall to look forward to, but we still have summer left to enjoy.

What to do today? It’s Monday! Let’s ease into the week with a Summer Crossword. There are 12 questions and you can either print off and send in a copy or use the form at the bottom of this post to share your answers.

Have a good day.

Zack & Lisa

Summer Crossword Challenge