Well, it appears that fall has finally arrived in Illinois! Cooler temps and shorter days and the leaves are finally starting to turn and fall off. There is some color, but not like usual. We've not had enough rain this fall for lots of color. Our flowering dogwood has color, though. It's very red in contrast to the almost completely green leaves behind it on the oak tree. Hope you enjoy the following pics taken today in my backyard.

Our driveway and the "raker" himself!

All that's left of my Rudbeckia is seed pods and this one little lone flower still blooming.

These large oak trees run across the whole back of our property. There a little acorns all over the ground and the squirrels are loving it! They've been very active lately getting ready for winter.

This is our backyard. Now you know why we are raking, mulching and vaccuming leaves like crazy. We have almost 1 acre and it's filled with trees.

The sun through a maple tree on the side of our yard. They are just starting to turn yellow.