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As I was cleaning up the garden and preparing for the upcoming chilly weather, I noticed the wonderful variety of flowers still in bloom. Don't get me wrong, mum's are nice and I'm sure I'll even be planting a few of them myself. But while we think of fall as a time of colorful leaves on the trees, you might want to take a moment to notice the many other colorful contenders.
For this week's pay-it-forward, I decided to gather a variety of flowers, foliage and other fauna and arrange it into a vase to give to a neighbor. (I make a point to purchase inexpensive used vases from thrift stores and yard sales and keep a supply on hand, as this PIF can be done throughout the blooming season.)
So my son and I went exploring to see what we could find, keeping an open mind to what we could put in our vase. It really was amazing to see the assortment of flowers -- and shrubs -- that are still putting on a show.
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After clipping a variety of fresh blooms and foliage, my son helped me arrange it all into a vase and then delivered it to a neighbor. She was so pleased, she insisted on rewarding my son with some candy treats, which my son considered to be a great idea. And after making one for our PIF project, we still had enough flowers and foliage to make an arrangement for ourselves.
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