Acorns are in abundance this year. Just walking along our trail I stopped and started counting the acorns within reach. I stopped at 100. SO many!
They come in so many sizes, colors and styles. 
Hubby brought me these home from his lunch time walk. I had to see this tree for myself. We went and collected a bag of them. 
Close by was another tree with a frilly cap. 
These are bur oak acorns and can be up to two inches log.
Surprisingly the tree wasn’t that big.
I decided to make a wreath with these wonderful acorns. I just used things I had on hand. 
Wrapping a 12″ foam wreath with burlap I had from Thanksgiving.
I made a few burlap roses by wrapping, shaping and hot gluing them.
I used a drawer pull I had bought at Hobby Lobby at half off. The leaves and berries I had in my stash too. The rusty wire with pearl garland I bought last Christmas.
Easy project as long as you don’t burn your finger. 
I ended up making three!
BUT back to the acorns.
Several folks have talked about a large acorn harvest means a hard winter.
Is this true? I don’t know. I started reading about it and the Farmers Almanac gives us 20 signs of a hard winter. Acorns being one of them.
Here are the 20 Signs of A Hard Winter.
Thicker than normal corn husks
Woodpeckers sharing a tree
Early arrival of the Snowy owl
Early departure of geese and ducks
Early migration of the Monarch butterfly
Thick hair on the nape (back) of the cow’s neck
Heavy and numerous fogs during August
Raccoons with thick tails and bright bands
Mice eating ravenously into the home
Early arrival of crickets on the hearth
Spiders spinning larger than usual webs and entering the house in great numbers
Pigs gathering sticks
Insects marching a bee line rather than meandering
Early seclusion of bees within the hive
Unusual abundance of acorns
Muskrats burrowing holes high on the river bank
“See how high the hornet’s nest, ‘twill tell how high the snow will rest”
Narrow orange band in the middle of the Woollybear caterpillar warns of heavy snow; fat and fuzzy caterpillars presage bitter cold
The squirrel gathers nuts early to fortify against a hard winter
Frequent halos or rings around sun or moon forecast numerous snow falls.
Ok, I haven’t seen my pigs gathering much and I’ve never seen a snowy owl. But it’s an interesting list.
Along those same lines, Lori from Vintage Viola recently had a post on Instagram about how persimmon seeds can tell you what type winter to expect. I found this very interesting so I went and collected from three of our trees (all the while Jack ate and ate them. I finally had to drag him away. Now, he will go to these trees for the next 4 months hoping to compliment his diet) So I cut the seeds in half and look at the inside and all of them had spoons, which means snowy winter.
Spoons means snowy, forks a mild winter and knives mean bitter winter. So I’m good with spoons. Lori lives in Oklahoma and she got spoons too. I have never heard of these before. Have you?
We shall see what comes from all this.
Katey
Jack ate persimmons before the first frost? Have you tried that?
No I haven’t! They felt soft though, but that doesn’t matter to him, he eats them in all stages!!!!
loved this blog about one of my favorite things by my favorite girl!! loved the list about winter..ha! how many of those could we possibly check??? funny. love you and all the talents you share so freely. love, mom
Can’t wait to give you the wreath I made. It will go well with your wonderfully decorated fall home.
What a very interesting blog! I couldn’t wait to tell you that my friend in AR had just learned and shared with me about the persimmons. I will go check mine this morning.
I can only testify to three of the list. (1)The monarchs are gone, although I don’t really know when they typically leave. (2)The spiders are busy, busy. I love watching their webs go up and grow so fast I can hardly believe it. They don’t come in the house but they build on the porch and from every tree. Third, there are so many acorns that it sounds like a shoot out as they fall en masse on my metal roof. I have to be careful on slopes because stepping on a blanket of acorns would be like “roller skating in a buffalo herd”.
Love the wreath. Was the door pull for a hanger?
Alice, Oh I miss you so much. How are you?? Let me know what your persimmons look like and your friends in AR. I agree about the acorns. Phil and I were out and had the same problem with sliding on marbles. Great to hear from you. How are those kitties? Katey
Oh, I wanted to tell you that my hiking buddy Kathy had a dog that loved persimmons so much that she could hardly get him to leave the persimmon tree when they were falling. He would literally eat until he was sick. Not that Jack could ever have a rival in the epicurean world – canine or other!
So funny!!! Yes he knows where all of them are and will visit long after the season is over. There is one that drapes across his fence and I know he just stands there looking at it waiting for one to fall. He hasn’t gotten sick that I know of but then again he is Jack.
I’ve noticed pigs all up and down Caney Fork building houses with sticks they gathered. then I noticed wolves huffing and puffing as well. a little girl in a red hood crossed the river the other day, and another little girl with blonde curly hair was sitting on my porch in a chair that was just her size. what does all of this mean? I’ll ask Mr. Grimm…. xox
N, I think we might be long lost cousins. Loved your comment!
I’ve told Nina about you Alice!! I know you guys would love each other. Katey
You are a funny one. You do live in an enchanting place.
Well I did see a big fluttery group of monarchs just down the street, unusual for this late
but in general not as many this year. Not as many acorns either! Must be the lack of rain.
You have so many different oak trees~ it was wonderful to see all the varieties
xx julie
All so interesting. Do you have persimmon trees there? It’s fun to speculate anyway and imagine how the folklores all started Katey
Love your fascinating post, Katey – learned lots of new folklore. Am anxious (!) to see if our persimmon seed prediction comes true! And Jack cracks me up!
Me too! Hope its true. Oh, dear Jack is just a big great white in a lab’s body… always circling to score the next meal. Katey
Hi there, do you have any of the bur acorns as in the photo just before this text “These are bur oak acorns and can be up to two inches log.
Surprisingly the tree wasn’t that big.” I am a botanical artist and trying to source a few just like this to paint. Please do let me know. Willing to pay and postage. Thanks! Jackie
Jackie, I will try and get by that tree and see if they have any. I’ll let you know. Katey