O is for octagon

It's ABC Wednesday and time to stop and enjoy the fall colors in my neighborhood. See more "o" words here. And, remember this is the next post for this week's theme which should be evident after today.

Busy as a ...

The final post for this week's theme is in a neighborhood garden (and surely you have it by now). Check out Monday-Friday to see the other posts. I'll reveal the theme tomorrow.

Gingerbread

Post #4 for this week's theme is again from down the street. The (non-edible) gingerbread trim on many of the Victorian homes in my neighborhood has been painstakingly restored although I doubt the original colors were so vivid.

Stairway to the stars

Post # 3 for this week's theme. Do you notice a pattern yet? Down the street someone has constructed this very pleasing, sturdy, and functional fire escape - I imagine that's why this was done.

House columns

Back to photographing columns - these are down the street from me. The house on the left is a typical turn-of-the-20th c. four-square with graceful turned woodwork. The house on the right was built a few years ago and its porch, while fitting the general style of the neighborhood, just somehow doesn't live up to the elegance of the old house. What do you think?

Pony express

An enterprising and creative neighbor has fashioned these mailbox covers for an triplex down the street. Makes me happy on a dreary spring day.

promise

The promise of summer. A deflated paddle pool in the evening sun.

Nice paint job

I've always liked the colors on this Victorian house. They have a weird modern extension at the back, though, which always looks very incongruous.

Blooming

A lone red blossom amongst the not-quite-ready-to-open green. Anyone know what kind of flower this is? They look fuzzy, though I didn't actually touch them myself.

Painting job

This house has been half-painted for months now. I think they must have given up over the winter. Maybe now that it's warmer, they'll finally finish the job...

Keep Minnesota Tidy

In the 1990s, the City of Saint Paul finally separated out the house sewage and the storm sewer systems so that the Mississippi River would stop being such a toxic, sludgy, dangerous mess. Schoolkids went around town spray-painting these little signs next to the storm sewers along the street. I've always found them quite charming.

Lincoln Ave.

Saint Paul is home to the longest uninterrupted stretch of Victorian houses in the country. This is one of them.