Finally finished!  Today a couple of knitting friends came over for coffee.  Kathryn was working on a pair of socks for her daughter and it made me realize I had a pair in a bag somewhere waiting to be finished.  I drug them out and in a couple of hours the toes were finished.  Yea!! one less UFO.  These are made out of 98% cotton and 2% elastic.  I love the fit that the elastic provides. 

I was sitting at my computer this afternoon when a beautiful roadrunner came right up to the patio door. The door is about 1o feet away from my computer and that’s as close as I’ve been to one of these birds. My camera was just a reach away, but by the time I could get to it, he had started to move away.  I was able to catch a few shots of him however the zoom on my lens is not strong enough.    I’m amazed at how tall he stood, maybe 18″ or so with his crown up. 

Roadrunner on step

As I was raking the leaves yesterday afternoon, I remembered how fun it was when my Dad would rake the leaves to form walls for me to play in.  I did that yesterday thinking of Emma and how when she’s a bit older she will enjoy playing in the leaves.  They smell so sweet. 

My main concern was to get them off the sidewalk in case it would snow. I hadn’t checked the forecast, but sure enough about an hour later the white stuff started to fall.     By the time I raked, used the blower over the gravel areas, and bagged I was ready for a nap.    We only got three large bags filled.  Here’s what it looks like this morning. 

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It won’t get done today, but maybe this weekend the rest of the leaves will fall and I can get it all bagged up.  I do wish we had a city service with would come and vacuum up piles of yard debris, how easy that would be!

We had a good bit of snow earlier this week.  The leaves have come down all at once, they didn’t even have time to turn colors!  We usually have windy days, but today is so still you can hear a leaf fall. 

Green on green

One year old today!

27 Today!

In mid-April I discovered a couple of freshly hatched tortoises in my backyard. 

I’d say he’s doubled in size.  He’s getting a bit less afraid of me.  I don’t see him often, maybe only four times all summer.  This is the first time he didn’t entirely retreat into his shell.  Over the past few days, I’m seeing less and less of the turtles, and today I haven’t spotted a one.   I’ve noticed several burrows around the yard — I’m sure they’re all busy digging deep for the winter.

When I was in PA last month, we came across a huge turtle in the middle of the road.      This turtle was as big as a dinner plate with legs about as thick as a half dollar coin.  I thought I would do my good deed for the day by picking him up and moving him off the road .   That was a big  mistake on my behalf.  He was a nasty, nasty common snapping turtle (which I didn’t know at the time).   I could not get behind him to pick him up.  No matter which way I moved, he turned to face me and kept up an offensive stance.  I could tell if he got a bite of me, it would be goodbye finger.  Turtles are supposed to be slow, but this guy was  the fastest turtle I’ve ever seen.  Finally, we found a long-handled window scraper in Sarah’s car and used it to wedge under his shell and lifted him to safety.   Next time I’ll find an easier good deed to do!  It’s a fun memory of us laughing and screaming along the side of Puddingtown Road! Sarah took a couple of pictures with her phone, but unfortunately her phone was stolen out of her car before we could transfer the picture.

The weather has changed, and fall is here.  Time to start putting the yard to sleep for the winter.  One task that I’ve wanted to get done for the past few months is to take care of my poor rusting BBQ.  I generally keep it covered, but this summer I haven’t, and the side table started to rust. 

I still have hopes of having an outdoor kitchen someday, and I can’t see buying a new BBQ until then.  So this morning with a little help from Hubby, we took the table off.  I wanted to get the grease spot off so the new paint would stick, so I hit it with a little oven cleaner.  Not only did it take off the grease, it took off most of the oxidized paint. 

After 4 light coats of a high-temp paint for BBQs, I’m happy with the results.  Not perfect, but I don’t think it will affect the meat one bit!

Maybe I’ll do the other side soon — it’s not rusting yet.  I’m going to let it dry for a day or two and then get the plastic tarp out.  I need to spend a few minutes cleaning up the smoker before covering it also. 

I’ve gotten behind on my Red Delicious BOM.  I’ve been working on a substitute for one of the blocks, and except for putting in some stems, here it is –

It’s funny how looking at a picture is so different than seeing it on the design wall.  I can really see that it needs stems — I was considering  not adding them.

Actually it was another two weeks!  It’s hard to believe how fast time can fly and it’s hard to believe, I use to live the busy, busy life that Sarah now lives.  I was genuinely worn out at the end of each day, and the accumulation of activity had me begging for naps!!  It’s hard to beg a 10-month-old to take a nap so Mia can collapse!

ahh...finally

Many hands make light work!

Sarah has a cozy sewing room.  It’s much larger than mine and has a wonderful view. 

The view of the neighbors yard

P.S.  The beer was tasty (from what I could tell from my two sips).