Break Out the Coats

What a weekend.  We had two beautiful and sunny days with daytime temperatures in the 60s and evenings in the 40s.  This was the first time since Spring that we had to bundle up.  By this I mean that I put on a sweatshirt and long pants (and thought at one point of getting a jacket) and Ross went with a long sleeve shirt and his shorts instead of a short sleeve shirt.  Ross is warm blooded and I am always cold.  In the dead of winter I want to place flannel sheets and a wool blanket on the bed but he gets too hot.  He is best with a light blanket and regular sheets.  I would wake up as popsicle if he had his way.

As you can see in the picture we are starting to lose our leaves.  Everything in the garden has been early this year and it looks as if the changing of the leaves will be early too.  We had a tropical storm go up the East Coast Thursday and Friday which dumped a lot of rain on us.  With it came strong winds which knocked down a lot of leaves.  We needed the rain but could have done without the winds.  We thought about starting to rake, but I thought we should wait another week and let some more drop.  Ross mowed the grass though to help mulch what was already on the ground.  I think the chickens were upset since they love scratching up the leaves looking for bugs and worms hiding beneath.

I spent a lot of the weekend watching the chickens (they desperately needed some outdoor time after two days of rain) while Ross worked on a new Spring bulb border in the front of the house.  He has gotten really good at making rock borders, and we are in no short supply of rocks.  We chit chatted a bit with our neighbors from across the street, and they even mentioned how nice Ross' borders looked.  Now that he has finished this border we will have Daffodils framing the entrance to the driveway; I just love Daffodils and they look so nice with our old stone walls as a backdrop.

Speaking of the stone walls, I have decided to make several jack-o-lanterns this year to place along the wall.  I already started getting pumpkins (because pumpkins are also early this year) to complete my task.  I just love Halloween.  I only wished that the communities around here made a bigger deal over this holiday.  I'll probably start carving in a week or two and slowly build up my army of orange gourds.  As I buy more pumpkins I will of course sneak a sugar pumpkin or two Ross' way for rendering.  He makes a mean homemade pumpkin pie and Thanksgiving is right around the corner!