Autumn leaf fun...

We spent many hours outside during October and November, raking and mulching up leaves. Of course, Riaan and Eliza had a blast playing in the multiple piles of leaves that were generated by our raking! :)

 Eliza playing in the leaves.

 Riaan hiding in the leaves.

 This boy loves being outside!

 Before raking photo.

 After raking photo. :)

Time for a small bonfire! :)

The Main and Litearra Launch...

I went to the launch of two of Washington's newest businesses recently: The Main and Litearra.

The Main is a new collaborative working space located above the Cherry Ghost Coffee Shop in downtown Washington, Indiana. Here people from different backgrounds can escape home or the office and work in a quiet, relaxed atmosphere. Such a space allows for network opportunities and less distractions - and also readily-available coffee! It certainly is an attractive new venture in Washington, Indiana!

The other business that launched was Litearra Communications, a copy-writing and proof-reading company based here in Washington - but with clients around the globe. It aims to provide clear, concise copy and editing work that meets a company's needs and appeals to a greater target audience.

These two companies are certainly welcome additions to Washington's ever-growing portfolio of emerging businesses!

 Noticeboard at The Main.

Dan Maley and Dave Colbert launched the two businesses.

I Went to Tristan...

My grandfather, Allan Bryant Crawford, was born in 1912 and died in 2007. His many titles included engineer, meteorologist, cartographer, surveyor, postage stamp designer, author, and explorer. One of his areas of expertise was the Island of Tristan da Cunha in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean. He first went to Tristan in 1937 with the Norwegian Scientific Expedition as their official surveyor, and he produced the first map of Tristan da Cunha for the British Admiralty, which is still in use to this day.

He was the leading authority on Tristan for almost seventy years and he wrote several books on Tristan over the decades. I was very excited to recently receive my third first-edition copy of his book, I Went to Tristan, published in 1941. I plan on giving a copy to Riaan and Eliza when they are a little bit older. :)

As a postscript, Candace and I followed in my grandfather's footsteps and visited Tristan da Cunha back in 2013. You can read about our adventures in this post and the following several blog posts from that visit!

 Basic map of Tristan da Cunha on the inside of the front cover.

The Norwegian Scientific Expedition in Cape Town prior to departure for Tristan. My grandfather is standing at the right.

Colours of Autumn...

From mid-October onwards, most of the trees in our area began to change colour as the temperatures dropped and became more seasonable. The leaves changed their hues from green to yellow and orange, brilliant red and maroon. They then turned a dull brown and began to drop off - all within the space of a month or so! The seasons are certainly changing!

The highest leaves often turn red before the other leaves of a tree. They look like tongues of fire!

Another Hobbit Breakfast...

Thorin Oakenshield, in J.R.R. Tolkien's classic book The Hobbit says, "If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." This is a quote that resonates with us, and we try to have a Hobbit breakfast at least once or twice a year. We had a spontaneous Hobbit breakfast as a family earlier in October. We enjoyed a yummy meal and read Tolkien quotes together. It was lovely!

 Candace reads Tolkien quotes while Riaan plays with Gandalf.

Our delicious breakfast. Yum!

Pretty flowers...

We had an extremely long summer and flowering plants continued to grow well into autumn. We planted some sedum (at left) in our back garden and were pleased to see it flower late in September. There were also other pretty flowers in full bloom into October, like this pretty aster plant below. :)

A bumblebee enjoys the late summer flowers.

Farewell, Granny...

My Mom left for Cape Town on Monday, 23rd September. Thankfully, her flight was in the afternoon and so we had a leisurely morning before leaving home just after 10h00 and driving up to Indianapolis International Airport. Candace and Eliza joined Riaan and I on the journey this time, and that was very nice - especially for the sad drive home after saying our goodbyes.

We ate Chick-fil-A for lunch at the airport -although Mom was too nervous to eat - and then said our sad farewells at just after 13h30. We have loved hosting Mom here in southern Indiana and we would gladly host her - and any of our family and friends - again! Thanks for taking the time to visit us here, Mom - we had a wonderful time and it meant a lot having you visit us again!

 Mom saying farewell to our cute Rusty.

 Eliza with her Granny.

Family selfie at Indianapolis International Airport.