What a pretty fall it's been. The sunrise has been this gorgeous many a morning as John & our son are leaving for work and school. I wave goodbye to each of them as they drive their cars away in the near-darkness that fall brings with it's shorter days. The foliage seemed to come and go quickly this year but maybe it was due to being covered in snow at times...
The Halloween storm brought a good foot+ of pretty snow. The foliage covered leaves held onto it and there were widespread power outages. Our generator was humming for part of the day on Halloween. Our kids still went trick or treating that night for "beggar's night" here in the Mills. The snow did nothing to dampen the spirits around here. We saw several snow sculptures with jack o lantern heads or other snowballs made into huge jack o lanterns themselves...complete with orange paint! Our middle boy went as a Christmas caroler as a way of enjoying the strange weather.
All of the snow melted in about a week but we had another storm just in time for Thanksgiving. We got to play in that snow too!
The boys love it when we pull them around for this kind of sledding. No, it's not warm enough for a tee-shirt really, but on another of these days I did watch a rousing snowball fight which had one child sporting shorts! Tall boots, gloves and yes, shorts. No wonder I'm having trouble with the seasonal shift in clothing around here. Each time I think we can pack something up--rain gear, shorts, light coats---the old season pops up again! 
The bluebirds have been sticking around this fall. We've watched 2 families all year and I've been quite surprised to still be seeing them around. I've finally been enjoying time in the yard again. I must admit it has been a hard fall for me to spend time outside due to the loss of our beloved Border Collie, Tide. Tide was diagnosed with Lymphoma at the beginning of the summer. We were prepared by the vet for "2 days to 2 months". Well, he stayed with us for close to 4 months but it was in a steady decline during that time. I am learning to live without a constant shadow of a border collie now and it's been a little tricky. For over 20 years I've owned first CJ and then Tide as my constant companion dogs. It is just plain weird to live without one but I'm not ready for a new dog just yet. 
This cat in particular is trying to do her best to help. Jester goes all over the property with us. If we're taking a walk and she realizes it, then she's along in a hurry. Cats don't walk with us like dogs. They sprint ahead and climb up a tree. Or they hunker down somewhere...far from home even and make me worry. When I've about given up looking and calling then a streak of color will race by me. Not so very companionable. But she's doing her best.
I've managed to do a lot of horse back riding and a lot of knitting too. It's been a good fall!
~Rachel
