Fall Festival Card...

It's time to play at Inspiration Station Blog again.   I won the random drawing for # 14 and recieved 2 digital images from ConieFongArt  Etsy.   After looking at the picture for challenge #15 I chose a set that included pumpkins,Sunflower, Happy Thanksgiving, and the image you see above.   I picked a floral bouquet called Floral Garden...very nice and there was lots of other cute images.  Looking at the photo took me back to my childhood living in the mountains of western NC.  I started thinking about how much we kids had in the fall.  We walked everywhere we went and at Halloween, the country miles did not slow us down in our quest to score big in the candy department.   I'm going to limit my trip down nostaglia to one other fall event that I might have enjoyed even more, "Chinquapin hunting."  These nuts could be eaten raw after peeling back the burr and rescuing them.  I read online that their flavor was similar to a Hazel nut,  although after not eating one for over 50 years I couldn't tell you!.   We would take every bucket we could locate and joining the neighbors from all over the county off we would go after school until dark and on Saturdays.   My sister and I were very close with 6 1/2 years between us with her being the oldest.  She looked out for me (and still does) and I followed her every where she went, so at 5 maybe 6 I joined the big kids for the hunt.  We probably shared ours at home, which probably worked to my advantage since you can see in the picture that robbing these burrs of this much desired delicacy required probably more skill than little delicate fingers possess.   The picture also reminded me of the many places we lived, always off the beaten path and  barely even paths to the houses some of the time, much less roads.   I roamed the mountains at will, changing my clothes when I got off the bus and walked (those trails) home, staying out until supper.   I loved when the leaves changed colors.   We moved to the upstate of SC when I was 12 and from that point on, neighbors were closer and when my husband and I bought our present home inside the city limits, we still had trees but let's just say we often know more of the neighbors business than we want to know, and probably vice versa.   My card takeaway was to use my new fall image and incorporate the colors from the picture.  Just being thankful to the Lord that we have seasons of harvest.  I colored in with Water Color Markers, I guess practice and you tube will bring improvement...the basket folder is old.   It was a fun challenge.

Thanks for stopping by, kathy