Mum's the word

It's cold and gross and rainy here today. So I thought we could hop in the time machine today and go back to a few weeks ago (October 10th, to be exact....or was it the 9th?). It was such a beautiful, perfect fall day. The sky had a sprinkling of clouds and was perfectly blue. The weather was mild - we didn't even need jackets. Anyhoo, in Schwenskville, PA there is an exotic flower nursery that looks like it was pulled from a Mother Goose book. Every Fall, the folks at Ott's Nursery cover this 'mountain' with colorful mums. Alternately, in the Spring it is covered with pansies.

Really, the photos do not do it justice. It's so large and colorful - you can't even appreciate how impressive it is without visiting yourself. My favorite part of Mum Mountain is the winding path that takes you all the way to the peak that is surrounded by four 8ft(ish) tall pillars made from mums.

Izzy and I love watching the bees work.

 

 

I wasn't able to get a shot but some of the bees had some really impressive leg warmers on. They were so loaded up with bright yellow pollen that they were almost unable to fly with the weight. Some were even leaving a dusting trail behind them as they took off back to the hive. We all know bees are hard workers but I imagine the bees that work at Mum Mountain have it pretty easy. It's not like they are going to come up short in the pollen department when they work this place.

The Ascent

Phew! made it to the top!

The view from the first landing

Izzy was clearly not listening when I told her to pick a flower.

"She don't use tissues"

Hugging the great pumpkin. Someone should let Charlie know he's at Ott's.

Ott's also has this awesome greenhouse/rain forest set-up. There is all of this lush greenery and a koi pond. You walk over this rustic bridge over the koi pond...

...up some stairs that wind around and take you over top of the waterfalls of the koi pond...

...and then back down again to this cute little cove with chairs that I want to steal and put in my backyard.

It was such a nice day. I can't wait to go back in the Spring to see the pansies.

♥ ♥ ♥

This is totally unrelated to the post above but I had to share the weirdness. I was chatting with my friend Stephanie about this facial rejuvenation mask. 

Seriously, that's something a serial killer would wear at the spa.

Anyway, it reminded me of this infomercial from the 90's. Basically it's a tazer for your face.

I really enjoy the 'Holy shit, what did I sign up for?' look on the model's face after she receives her first 'treatment'.