I spent the rest of the year doing what I knew how to do - cutting the grass and trimming the bushes. On this day, I took a stroll around the yard to see what everything looked like as the season was coming to a close.

My mom was the gardener in the family. Gardening was her hobby, and was something she really enjoyed. And she was quite good at it. Her yard in Pennsylvania always looked wonderful.

Me ? Not so much. If my stays in Pennsylvania and Missouri are any indication, my yard has traditionally been the place where plants come to die. In spite of not having a green thumb, I have become quite capable of keeping the maintenance up to date. My goal has been to keep the place looking presentable. And considering I have no idea what I'm doing beyond basic maintenance, I think I've done ok.

I still have no idea what the flowers are on the front porch. But they are blooming in November, which is something completely foreign to me.

I'll have to ask my neighbors if they know what these flowers are.

I have an audience, once again.

Opa is keeping an eye on me.

Opa always has the same look on his face.

It's a look of, "You disappoint me, human."

Even so, I think Opa approves of my maintenance efforts.

I continued my stroll around the yard and heard a ruckus next to the driveway.

I spotted this guy running down one of the pint trees next to the driveway.

I then spotted his buddy on the other side of the tree.

They were having a fun time chasing each other around the trees.

I pointed the camera and started shooting.

I actually managed to get a few decent shots.

The noticed me after a few seconds and scurried away up the tree.

I might as well finish the season the way I began - more panorama shots.

I took a couple of pics from the front walk.

Side yard panorama.

I noticed something else as I headed into the backyard.

This looks interesting. I appear to have stumbled upon someone's trap. Getting the camera to focus on the center of the web was a bit tricky.

I found that if I turned slightly, the sunlight would reflect off of the web and make it much more visible.

Not too bad.

I had no idea what was actually in the center of the web. It doesn't look like any spider I've seen before, (not that I'm real familiar with spiders to begin with).

According to Google, this is a type of Spiny Orb Weaver spider.

The term, "spiny" refers to the six spines sticking out of its shell-like body.

I'm also seeing the term "Crab Spider," which is often used due to the way it looks. However, there is such a thing as a crab spider, and it is very different from an orb weaver. So even though people may call them Crab Spiders, they aren't. Very confusing.

These guys are harmless and quite beneficial to have around because they feed on mosquitos and other small pests.

I had to take one last panorama shot for the season.

I see I've got a few branches to gather for the next Leaf and Limb collection.

One final backyard panorama to finish the season. Now I wait for February to start this process over again.