Flow Snurries

It’s that time of year, if not a little late.

But earlier, to Ellie’s Veterans Day concert.

The bird feeder has been discovered. Already crowded with many species.

Garden…

…spread with chopped leaves, forked, and tilled.

Fall is the time for tilling.
Bird feeder up and stocked, but mostly unrecognized. By my observation, only one chickadee so far.

Tensegrity…

…also known as lighter-than-air and levitation.

Took more than a few attempts to get it right, but a fun challenge.
Lentil soup and turkey burgers for dinner.
The weather is on the verge of change.

Environmental Lit/ Nature Writing…

…workshop at the library. Nine incredibly interesting participants, and my lesson plan worked perfectly. Great conversation, great fun.

Breakfast With The Leftwing Breakfast Club

Almost three hours of discussion, leading somewhere? Later, a walk to the post office and library through a dream of autumn.

Big Un-Thanksgiving Celebration…

…which included lots of bike riding, park play, music, and delicious eats.

Matchless Soccer Match…

…as a result of which Will’s team clinched the devision championship.

Out Exploring…

…with the boys while Becca, Maddie, and Ellie got Covid vaccinated. Will and Katy got the shot today, too.

And after inspecting this tree, we tore a big, old, rotten stump quite in half. looking for grubs, beetles, and ants.

Lunch on the grounds of Holy Hill after a tour of the basilica. James and Ben whispered softly while inside, but seemed more interested in the green marble pathway around the nave than the barrel-vaulted ceiling immensely high overhead.

After Holy Hill we explored Glacier Hills County Park, nearby, and found many things of interest.

Six Robins…

…in the locust tree. Taking turns dropping down to Vi’s crab apple to pluck a few of the small hard, but apparently very tasty and nourishing, fruit; to then flit back up to a perch high in the locust. The number of apples on Vi’s tree is rapidly diminishing, but still counts to many thousands. All will be gone before the end of this month, since squirrels are helping, too. Then again, I’m thinking that these robins might want to be contemplating all the protein waiting for them a little farther south.
BTW, did you know that the American robins’s scientific name is Turdus migratorius? Maybe that’s because of eating too many crab apples?

Messy farmer

And Down They Come

After a night of hard frost, many trees, though not all, let their leaves drop by means of batch processing.

Letting Loose

For three wild days they clung to twig and branch
As the November gale ripped limbs from trunks
And toppled ancient boles.

Then morning broke, clear, and calm, and cold,
And one by one, then many at a time,
The golden leaves let loose, and rattled to the forest floor.

It might have been the frost that bid them go,
Or, it might have been some rhythm eons old.
—JBN

Avoid Caulking Leaking Gutters…

…if at all possible. It’s a messy, sticky business. Most of today’s other chores were less bothersome.

Garden now frosted

Presentation Followed By…

…a walk in the woods.
Presentation at the Senior Center, with an audience of maybe 15. Everyone seemed engaged—got some nice compliments, and sold about a dozen books.

Boo

Chilly trick or treating, and first frost of the season expected tonight. About 80 tricksters, and most of the candy gone (which is a good thing).

Harvested the last of the tomatoes. Maybe some will ripen; the others might be fried. Hate to waste them.

Also finished the first sanding of the kayak. The boat has now been moved to the basement for epoxy and varnish.

Katy’s Halloween Party

Impromptu event planned and coordinated by Katy. Good turnout, and lots of fun. This will, no doubt, become an annual event.

Reshelve The Books…

…that were boxed and moved by the remediation crew after the flood. Books are heavy and the job was tedious, but what else would be more fun on a chilly, gray day? And, the activity proved to be a good opportunity to weed the collection and to rearrange it into some semblance of order.

Rainy Afternoon…

…greatly improved by home-grown squash soup with smashburgers, plus a little time spent getting reacquainted with the Aerophone (been a long time since I last practiced, and the fingers forget).

In preparation for a Tamia and Tig presentation Monday at the Senior Center and Tuesday at the Library I’ve been going through some old files. Here’s one I might use as a handout: Refuge and Outlook

Parent—Teacher Conferences…

…which found us at a park, making krispie treats, and having a pizza party.

Refinish The Kayak…

…and also do some house touchup painting, and some swapping of storms for screens (Just the 3 easy ones around the breezeway; all the others have been replaced with modern fenestration.). Nice bike ride, too.

Twenty-seven Quarts...

…probably an all time record, and done in spite of meetings and doctor appointments.

Welcome To The Cannery

Huge crop, lots of work, and we are only half way done. Endless boiling, skinning, slicing. We are beet, but looking forward to the finished product.