Franklin, WA....

Several weeks ago,

I went for a day hike

to the town of Franklin, WA...

 

I have waited to share

the pictures I took,

because Franklin is a Ghost Town...

 

I saved it for October,

the spookiest month of the year...

 

Franklin really wasn't that spooky,

but it's only the beginning of October...

 

 

Franklin was a coal mining town,

and as a lot of coal mining towns did,

it had a lot of tragedy...

 

here is a link

 if your interested in the towns history...

 



 

bits of coal still litter the ground...

 

 

when I think of Ghost Towns...

 

I think of the old west...

 

 I imagine

weathered buildings,

where the wood has turned grey....

 



 

but here,

ghost towns are void of wood,

only moss covered foundations remain...

 

leaving your imagination to fill in

what it was all like,

back in the day...

 



 

it is a beautiful hike...

 

through the deciduous forest,

here where conifers are too common,

it's a nice change...

 





teasel weed...

 



 

and it's wicked leaves...

 



 

 

meadow flowers,

gone to seed,

in the late summer...

 



when you reach the hilltop,

you find them...

 



overgrown graves...

 

I noticed all the English Ivy,

through out the town...

 

it's not a native plant...

 

I imagine a young bride

traveling far from home...

 

bringing along a snip,

of ivy,

something from home...

 

now, it has gone wild,

consuming the town...

 



 

the forgotten...

or maybe

not forgotten?

 



 

this is what made my heart beat

 a little faster...

 

the grate covers the main mine shaft.

it's 1300 feet down,

and when you drop a pebble through the grate

it takes a long time to hit bottom...

 



 

I'll be linking up to...

Outdoor Wednesday

 

Thank you for coming along...

Fragile Beauty....

Throughout the summer,

I have been gathering...

 

 

roses in apothecary jars...

then I started

just tossing petals

around,

letting them dry in place...

 



a sort of hoarding,

for the coming drought...

 



 

pretty paper roses,

in their cheerful simplicity,

always thrill me too...

 

I am very uncomplicated that way...

 



 

ombre roses on a platter...

 



the kitchen chandelier

often becomes

an impromptu drying rack...

 



 

buds served up

on a silver platter...

 

 

heads bent,

dried right in the vase...

 

graceful, 

fragile beauty

 

 

snips of lingering blooms,

tucked in creamers

on the kitchen window sill...

 

make doing dishes

a little more fun...

 

Thanks for stopping by today....

A Bumpy Night...

Autumn came roaring into

my little corner of the country...

 

it was eager to get started and hasn't let up yet...

 

last night the wind howled,

the power was out

and a neighboring town

had a small tornado...

 

saying small and tornado together

seems strange,

but, here in the Pacific Northwest

tornadoes are rare

and damage is minimal...

 

still...

 

 

tea and pretty dishes seemed appropriate

after such a ruckus...

 



 

after running an errand this morning,

I dashed into the house,

quickly grabbing a few blooms

that had weathered the storm...

 

 

a tattered Eden Bud

and Beautyberry...

 



floppy...

 



I let my cherub compote

hold a big Honey Crisp Apple,

for a centerpiece...

 



baking is one of my favorite parts of Autumn...

 

Apple Scones

will warm you up every time...

 

here is the easy recipe I used...

 



 

I have been slowly working on filling my china cupboard

with Limoges China...

 

this set of Berry Bowls is my newest addition...

 

I bought them from the sweetest seller

I have ever met on Etsy...

 

Andrea at

GoingBackwithTNJed

spent the time to wrap all the little dishes

up so pretty and

really made it special...

 



 

for me

Limoges has the great quality

of being fancy and casual

all at once...

 

the way each dish in a set looks the same,

yet there are variances in the set,

 

see how one dish has a bud in the center

the other the back of a bloom...

 

a matched set

of mix and match...

 



 

fragile as an Autumn Rose in bloom...

 

 

petal scattering

with a gentle touch...

 



 

I hope your staying warm,

and if not something warm is baking

in your oven...

 

tonight I am joining

Sandy for Tea Time Tuesday

something yummy is always cooking over there...

 

 

Thanks for joining me today...