Hydrangea

Everyone seems to be rebooting today after the holiday which, although technically is only one day, stretches to almost a week for many people. Everyone I talked to today seemed to be moving at half speed except for Ozzie who is invigorated by the cold weather

It is very overcast and cold, and rains halfheartedly every time I go out. The wind is meant to blow a new storm in tonight or tomorrow, and the trees are rapidly losing their leaves, so OilMan is outside raking leaves…he has some complicated explanation as to why this is necessary, but I'm busy trying to catch the last of the fall color. The hydrangea fills the bill nicely. It is a very satisfying plant which blooms beautifully for months, turns deeper colors in the fall and is even attractive in its dried state. 

I love autumn colors. I rarely wear the pastels of spring or the jewel tones of summer, but will don the reds, golds, and russets of fall. Decades ago, having one's "colors done" was all the rage. People were labeled 'summer' or 'winter'. I never had my colors done, mainly because I am stubborn enough to 'know what I like' without paying someone to tell me, but if I had, I think I would have been an 'autumn' and sent home with a swatch of fabrics the colors of the falling leaves.

Of course, as those who did have their colors done discovered, there is a group of people (designers? artists? who are these people) who select the colors of the season called Pantone colors, which will be featured in garments, paint and fabric colors for the year. This year one of them must be purple….