Them Leaves, Them Leaves, Them Dry Leaves

If you remember, I went to Missouri a couple of weeks ago, where the gas is cheap and the leaves are turning all sorts of fantastic colors. I brought home a gallon ziploc full of leaves and stuffed them in a book to press them. The other day I pulled them out to see what I could see. Hmmm...the colors were not exactly the vibrant hues I remembered.


In fact, this brown leaf was originally the most spectacular shade of bright yellow. I guess it lost a little something in the pressing.


This one was a wonderful shade of orangey red, much like the fake leaf in the background. Because yes, I resorted to supplementing my supply with a few silk leaves which look a little less glaring in real life than they do in these photos.

The weird green brain ball is actually a hedge apple, which I wouldn't have recognized if it hadn't been for this Kansas lady who is educating me on all things midwestern. Every person who has sat at my table has picked this bad boy up and asked, "What the heck is this thing?" It's quite the conversation piece. They sniff it, want to know if it's edible, and weigh it in their hands, feeling its heft as if they are thinking about chucking it. Which, according to my mom, we did when we briefly lived in Oklahoma. Ok, not me personally, because I was only 4, but the kids at the school where my dad taught were enamored with the hedge apples and found that they were fun to throw at the outhouse across the field. Until someone came out of the outhouse. Not too happy, I might add.

So there you have my fall centerpiece. No gourds or Indian corn this year. I learned my lesson a few years ago with the dried corn. You can't store it in the attic or the garage to use again next year, because the rodents, well, they rather like dried corn, and I'd rather not have them visit any more. So no Indian corn for me.