A great fall day!

What a great fall day yesterday was! It started out as any other normal Sunday would begin. Normally, we would go to the gym at 8am, followed up by Panera for our after-workout treat, after which we would go about our day doing chores or errands that we had slotted for that day. Dave and I had picked yesterday as the day that we were going to revamp the plantings on our front porch and make the whole area look more "fall-y." We went to Lowes to pick up some 'mums to put on the front porch. It broke my heart that I was going to have to tear out the plants that were in my copper-looking metal pots because they were doing well and showed no signs of dying. My only consolation was that I knew that it was going to start freezing soon and that they would most definitely die then.
As I was going to tear out the daisy bush from one of the planters, I was surprised by the biggest preying mantis that I have ever seen. This thing was about as long as my hand is fromt he tip of my fingers to the base of my hand at the wrist. I almost stopped my gardening for the day right there! I didn't want to go near that thing. However, the gardening wasn't going to do itself, so I plucked up the courage to flick it off the plant with a garden trowel.
As I was tearing out the plants, I realized that the soil was so root-clogged that I was going to have to tear everything out and wouldn't be able to re-use any of the soil, but while I was tearing out the roots for the sweet potatoe vines, I came across bonafide sweet potatoes! Out of four plants, I harvested about ten or so sweet potatoes of varying sizes. I couldn't believe it. Up to then, I had been certain that the name for the vine was just a cutesie name given to it by some gardener and that it really had nothing to do with actual sweet potatoes. That said, I don't think that I'll be eating these sweet potatoes... they don't look like normal sweet potatoes. Perhaps if I'd let them go until they died, they'd be ripe. Who knows?
After I finished potting the 'mums that we had bought at Lowe's, we washed the pick-up and waited for our friends Joe, Suzie and their daughter Isabelle aka "Izzy" to come over so that we could go get pumpkins... or "punkins" as I find myself calling them. Thanks Mom.
We decided to go up to Hubers farm because it wasn't far for us, but when we got there, it quickly became apparent that the "pumpkin patch" was no more than a squash patch that they had decided to randomly set down about ten to fifteen pumpkins in. What a disappointment. So, we ended up having to pick the pumpkins off of a table up at the stand... which we could've done at the grocery store as far as I'm concerned. Growing up in AZ, we always got our pumpkins from some guy who just had them set out on the ground and didn't get the opportunity to go to a farm and pick them out of the patch. That's why I like to pick them myself. It's more of an experience.
After picking our pumkins, Joe, Suzie and Izzy came over to our house for dinner and we grilled pork chops, portabella mushrooms and pineapple. Suzie made the best mashed potatoes (very against our dietary guidelines) and a salad. To go with the pork chops, I made a sauce that I saw on tv the other day called "chimichurri" sauce. It was very easy. I threw cilantro, garlic, olive oil and salt in a blender. Of course, put more or less of various things according to your tastes, but it was delicious! After that, we hung out for a little bit and then Joe and Suzie had to go home to put the little one to bed. She is soooo cute!!!
After Joe and Suzie left, I started putting together the front porch area. I had bought a hay bale for the corner to put a pumpkin on, but I think that I'm going to buy two more. I also bought 4 sets (with 3 in each) of that dried out colorful corn... to hang from the lanterns outside. I'll include a picture when it's all said and done.
I find that as I grow older, I'm coming to love the fall season more and more. Back in the day, I didn't like it as much because I knew that it just heralded the imminent onset of winter. Nowadays, I find that I can just appreciate it for its beauty (in the leaves), the great weather (not hot and not cold) and the overall cozy feeling that I get when I put on a sweatshirt and go outside in the brisk air to take the doggies for a walk.