We Survived, and the Beauty Lingers

Since my last post, we have had the end of Daylight Saving Time, the Day of the Dead, and Election Day. Mostly all good. 

I like having light earlier in the morning. Monday Night Football on the Day of the Dead was not good for the Seattle Seahawks. Bad, very bad. Election Day, very good!

Now it's Wednesday and the winners and losers are trying to explain themselves. Just give me the results, which are still coming in in some states. It was a very good year for women! It was a bad year for Trump, deservedly so. How will he respond? Will he get even nastier, or try to restore some legacy besides monuments to himself? 

Here at the Reeder Homestead, the clouds are slowly moving in, but the fog is gone. This will be the last day of sunshine for a while. Much needed rain is coming.

Outside the Japanese maples are putting on their big show before the final leaf fall.

In the front yard the Fern Leaf Full Moon Maple is in full glory.

The Korean Dogwood makes a nice companion.

In the back yard the unnamed red Japanese Maple is glowing with gorgeousness. 

Its dogwood companion is just beginning to light up.

Soon we'll be enjoying the color from the inside.

Through the kitchen window

and the dining room windows. Yes, the "Halloween" cacti are blooming. 

and the upstairs windows.

Now Tom wants me out in the garden for a consultation. Gotta' go outside. 

I can happily do that!

Where Have all The Flowers Gone?

 Saturday I picked the last of the zinnias and some still blooming French marigolds. There were more buds forming but with the night time temps now in the 30's, it was time to pull out the annuals and put the raised beds to bed for the winter.

I did that Sunday morning, while Tom cleaned out other beds around the lower yard. One more job done, but more to do.  We still have to get the dahlias out and stored. Tom plans to plant cover crop this year. 

In the early afternoon on Sunday we watched our Sounders lose badly to the Vancouver Whitecaps. I think our playoff hopes are over.

But this evening our Seahawks play 'da bears on Monday night Football. Go Hawks. 

Now at noon the fog is thinning and the sun is lighting up our maple trees. That will be my next post.

The housework is almost done. The laundry is calling me for the next load. All is well. 

Happy Halloween!

 

I did not carve that 40 pound pumpkin. It's probably 5 inches thick! Instead I drew a face with a permanent marker on the bumpy side of the pumpkin. It is sitting out at the corner of the garage where it can be seen down the driveway. After Halloween I will turn it around to the "pretty side" and it will continue to be an autumn decoration until Thanksgiving. Pumpkin orange is such a cheerful color. 

I have a little candy. I will see if we get any kids at the door. It has been a long time since we even tried to get trick or treaters here, what with our long driveway, no sidewalks, and we're on a hill. Long ago we used to place paper bag luminarias along the driveway to welcome candy seekers. 

It has been such a beautiful Fall here. I got over to the nearby park for a walk on Thursday morning. It was lovely.

Wednesday afternoon we spent almost two hours visiting our 99 year old friend Dede. She is not coming to Friday breakfast with us anymore, so we will need to make time to visit her. We took her some Halloween candy.

Thursday afternoon I had an appointment with my neurologist. Once again I know what I don't have, so NOT Parkinson's or Normal Pressure Hydrocephalies. That's good. A brain scan will be scheduled to see for sure.

 I sort of diagnosed myself: hip and lower back malfunctions from age and surgeries affecting balance and gait, type A personality that makes me have to hurry even now that I am aging and that makes me even more clumsy. My doctor said I probably got that right. :-/ Memory issues probably in the "normal aging" range. Not great to hear, but better than the afore mentioned. 

So now October is coming to an end already. Our dark, wet season is beginning. But wonderful color is still outside my window. I'll get back to the park later this morning. We'll turn our clocks back this evening. We'll watch soccer  instead of football on Sunday and the Seahawks play on Monday night. 

This week looks to be dry and we'll get outside to do yard work and enjoy the daylight.

Life rolls along. We just try to keep up.

October Family Fun

 On Saturday morning we took our "kid" to the pumpkin patch. There were some BIG pumpkins. 

We enjoyed looking at all of the different pumpkins, gourds, and squash.

Since the entry fee is applied to whatever pumpkin you buy I decided to buy one, so we went shopping.

We started out with one smallish one, then we had two smallish ones, and then eventually I went for the one big pumpkin.

The corn maze and pumpkin mosaic were a separate entry fee and not something we needed to do. Cool though.

What we really came for, besides some fun, was the produce.

$2.50 for a whole stalk of brussels sprouts.

The price is by the piece, not the pound, so Jill went big.  Of course we bought Kettle Corn.

That's a 40 pound pumpkin, but Jill could handle it. It's now sitting at the corner of the garage, where it can be seen from the street. I don't know if I will attempt to carve it. I might.

If I do we might actually get a couple of trick-or-treaters. We haven't for years. Maybe I should buy some candy?

Then on the way home we treated Jill to some Starbucks. We had fun.

Sunday was our family Apple Cider Bee. We gathered on a rainy morning at my nephew's home on Winlock. It rained, the first real rain for the month of October so far, but we had cover and we know how to dress in layers. 

There were four generations of family present, to cut up apples, to grind and press them, collect and strain the juice, and do lots of visiting and catching up. There were siblings and cousins of three generations plus a couple of "littles" from the 4th G.

When the cider making was done, of course there was eating, lots of eating, and lots more talking. 

This is the family that has ownership the the cabin at Rockaway Beach on the Oregon Coast. After the eating the members of the Cabin LLC had our business meeting. We are an organized bunch. 

And now as I finish up this post on a Monday afternoon, I look out the upstairs window to see the glory of Autumn taking place. What a beautiful Fall we are having, just right for celebrating our beautiful family.