This morning I let my dog outside and it was really foggy out. I thought for sure that he would stay in the side yard, where he usually stays. He generally “does his thing” and then plays with the cats for awhile, and scratches at the door to be let back in. This morning he was staying out longer than usual. The fog was lifting as the sun was coming out, and even calling his name didn’t make him come back. I didn’t panic.. yet. I went to the back patio doors to see if he had gone out into the big back yard we have. Wouldn’t you know, I didn’t have batteries in my camera. There was my dog, playing with (from what I could count) at least seven rabbits. It seemed like they were doing their own special game of hide and seek and tag. One or two rabbits would take turns chasing the dog, then he would chase them. No fear in the bunnies what so ever. It makes me now wonder just how long this game between he and the rabbits has been going on. It would have made for a wonderful video. I just put batteries on my shopping list.
Welcome September
September is one of my favorite months. Temperatures start to cool off, and there are a lot of family birthdays to celebrate. Fresh apples are readily available to use to make caramel-candied apples, and fresh apple cider is available in the stores (no preservatives added – my favorite!) Fall festivals abound, and the whole world seems to start getting ready to hunker down for winter. Some evenings and mornings I can smell one of the neighbor’s wood fire wafting in the air. There is a clean, crisp feel to the early morning air, and I love watching the squirrels gathering their acorns and the leaves on the deciduous trees start to change color.
Cooler weather
It really cooled down last night. The temperature gauge on the porch read only 63 degrees at about midnight and I was chilly even in sweat pants and a sweat shirt. I put on some fluffy socks and sat outside for awhile looking at the stars. The night sky was so black and clear and there were so many stars that could be seen, it sort of made me realize exactly how small we are, if that makes sense. This morning I noticed that the leaves one of the dogwoods in the front yard is starting to change to red already! It won’t be long now before we are all complaining about the winter weather again!
Oyster shell crafts
I love doing crafts when I have spare time. My crafts are diverse and seldom do I make the same thing twice. I come up with an idea and then I’ll make it, and after I make one, I don’t make another. I think I do this just to see if I can make my idea work and then when I do, I move onto something else.
My dear friend Rhonda sent me a box of oyster shells that are really unique. They are a whole lot different than clam shells…a much rougher texture. Inside, they look like there is abalone in them, so some of the colors are beautiful.
Now, I have to figure out what to make with them. I keep looking at them and I have a feeling I’m going to come up with something soon. I am tossing a few ideas around in my head that might work. It would be nice to send Rhonda a gift made out of them.
A mouse in the house
I just spoke to my mom about an hour ago, because she called to make sure I was coming home to her house. Then she called back to tell me that she has been trying to capture a mouse that is in her house, all day long. Apparently she can’t set the traps. I personally don’t like to kill mice. I think they are cute, and that is a cat’s job. I’ve never had a mouse in the house. I had to assure her that my husband would set her traps for her, since she is afraid of the little thing getting into her pantry and eating her dried goods. I can tell by her voice that the hunt for the mouse is now on. This should be a trip, to say the least!!
And in comes November
Tonight it will be time to change our clocks back, which always messes with my internal time piece. But, since I can’t stop the months from flying by, and I do love the colors of fall and the other seasonal things that are associated with this month, I’d like to say welcome to Fall.
Isn’t it funny how the actual day to change the clocks back and forward seem to change each year? I never know if the time change will be the middle of October or the first week of November! All I know for sure is that when they do “fall back,” it gets dark before I leave work. I don’t like driving home in the dark. It makes me feel cheated of that little bit of daylight each afternoon.
Carving Our Pumpkin Today
Every year I buy a pumpkin to carve for Halloween from a local farmer who has a produce stand a few miles from my house. This year he had a small crop of pumpkins for sale, and they seemed to be a lot higher this year than last. I asked him about that and he said that the drought we had this summer really took a toll on his pumpkin crop. Evidently, the crop was only about one quarter of what it was last year, because growing big pumpkins requires a lot of water and we just did not have enough rain to make a good crop.
With that in mind, I had to decide if I wanted to be extravagant and buy a big one from the few, expensive big ones that he had, or settle for a smaller one that fit my budget. It also occurred to me that I could just not buy my pumpkin from him this year and go to WalMart to buy one for about ten bucks. But I really don’t want to give my money to WalMart when I have a good local option, and I believe in supporting the local businesses and farmers as much as possible. I decided to buy a smaller pumpkin and stick to my budget, and hope that next year’s crop is bigger and better for everyone.
I’m going to carve something like the design on this photo. I like the idea of a more intricate design than just a grinning face. I’m not sure how to make this work on a smaller pumpkin, but I guess I will figure it out tonight when I carve the pumpkin and put it out on my front porch.
Fall
Fall is my favorite time of year, the kids are in school so I have a bit of free time during the day to keep caught up. The weather is wonderful with warm days and cool nights perfect for sleeping with the window open, and most of all it is the time of year that the leaves turn, the only downfall is that the leaves also fall into my yard and have to be raked up and hauled off. Other than that this is the best season by far. I can wait for the real cold weather I like it like it is now highs in the 60’s and the lows in the 40’s with fall getting the least amount of rain of all the seasons it is a perfect fit.
Summer
Every summer we spend as much time at the lake as we can, fishing, boating and swimming. This year has been no different. The best thing about this year has been taking our dogs out on the boat, they love it and seem to really enjoy going fast on top of the water, they hang their heads over the side and bark with glee. I had never known that a dog would love the water so much. When we pull in a big fish they sniff and bark at the fish like they were responsible for reeling them in it is so very funny. A couple of the dogs even like to get out in the water and paddle around, Dottie and Diva really like it the best I think, they jump in when ever they can. Over all this has been a great summer and I already can not wait for next summer to get here.
Garden
Living in the city of Nashville, I do not have a large space for a garden but I still want to have some fresh vegetables available to me. I have planted a couple of tomato plants in pots and some pepper plants in a couple of planter boxes just to have some produce available to me. My tomato plants are blooming and are growing rapidly. Just being able to grow a little garden is a great way to enjoy life and spend some time in the yard that I would not get to do with-out my little garden.