Daily Notes- October 18

Art Propelled image

Woke up this morning to light SNOW cover on everything.  Our newspaper announced it as "the end of the growing season".   I also had the "joy" of paying the first seasonal oil bill-nearly $500 and that's for 6 weeks of oil I think, now--(later the bills will come every month)--if we keep the house cool not warm.  Welcome Winter.   Where did I leave my sweater?  the heating pad?

I carried the two large pots of geraniums into the house just before sitting down here.  They are in the vestibule.  Seeing how many bugs and worms might be co-habitating before coming into the house proper.  The big asparagus fern is still outside and will need a good haircut before entering.

Not much to do today.  The garden needs a good cleanup--- my sister in law picked the last of the raspberries, I guess.  The ones ripening will be mush about now.  The fig trees are already inside.  And now that my rosemary plant has gotten a frost--it can come inside without fear of drying up. Nature's way of letting the plant know it needs to stop growing.  Lots of branches on the rosemary so I can, perhaps, prune it into a topiary globe and a bare stem and used the cuttings for cooking and for starting new rosemary plants--perhaps for gifts.

There is never enough room inside for all the things we have outside.

My worktable in the sewing room is filled with cloth.  I will need to start cutting and sewing.  A new baby quilt top for Connie's group and I have a charm pack to turn into holiday potholders again this year.  Or perhaps into placemats?  I loved making the other charm pack into holiday potholders--adding from my fabric piles to stretch the material into ten potholders.  And NOW I have remembered how to do the binding!!!!   I did have to watch a few You tube videos.

Daily Notes- October 17

Well, are they really gone?

Riley always enjoys having guests.  And these guests were family.

My brother and his wife were here in Maine and we had many, many good conversations and much laughter over two days.  We also shared good food.  My pie--that I was so worried about--was wonderful.  The crust flaky and crisp.  The apples filled the entire crust--no big gaps--and the Pink Lady apples were tart and crisp.  A good pie.  Good visit.

We are finding that MSNBC on the television works very very well to keep Riley for having a panic attack while we are out of the house for periods of time.  No destruction of woodwork or furnishings. No saliva wetness all over the floor from panting.  It works, I can't explain it.

After all the cleaning and carrying of un-needed things to the Attics--my knees are hurting.  For some reason the large joint in the thumb is aching.  So, I am thinking today is a good day to just rest, read a book and perhaps take a few minutes (or more) to just close my eyes and rest.

A day to rest.

Daily Notes- October 15

It seemed like such a simple thing.  Bake a fruit pie.

Nothing went as planned.  The crust would not "pull together" and remained dry and crumbly no matter what I did.  Then when the baking time was done--no fruit juices bubbling out of the top crust. so I covered the entire pie with foil and back into the oven.  A few bubbles after 25 minutes.  Meaning the pie had been baking for over 2 hours.

It looks great.  I have no confidence it will taste great.  Or even cut nicely.  It might be the sort of lovely pie that has to be served with a giant scooping spoon.

It never looked like the crust in the picture.  So much more "lumpy".

The beds are made, the laundry done, all the floors mopped or vacuumed.  The trash and garbage are out on the curb for morning pick-up.  Bathrooms spotless.  My bother is somewhere  "having an easy drive" which is a wonderful thing in itself.  It's getting dark and we have drizzle.  Rain is coming.

We just got a call--inviting us to have dinner with brother and wife--lovely visit.  And they aren't staying with us.  Will come for dinner and another visit tomorrow.  I guess I misunderstood.

So, it's good.  My house is clean.

Daily Notes- October 14

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

We had a hard freeze here in Maine overnight.  Like ice on the plants.  Too soon.

I was thinking ahead (and feeling cold) so I upped the number on the thermostats before bed and we had heat overnight and for the morning in the bathrooms.  But it's still cold and I'm not wearing sweaters--but I should be---so I set the number up two and now we are warming up.

But I am going to dig around in the closet for my sweaters.  I didn't put them away in the Other Attic like usual.  Or--did I go up there for warm stuff a few weeks ago?

Who remembers.

I went out and got some new bed pillows for the guest room.  Worked hard in there to get the room dusted and carpet vacuumed (one of the two rooms that still have carpet), fought with the bed (king) to get the underskirt on top of the box spring and then the sheets on etc.  That's when I realized I need more pillows.  The room looks "minimal" but comfortable.  I may need to add another blanket.  Guests staying this month are from warm states. and yesterday as I made the bed--it was still warm.

I have floors to do today and dusting.   I'll dust first.  And there is still clutter.  I am planning to bag up all Riley's dog toys.  He doesn't play with them at all now.  Usually, the toys were spread out over the entire floor surface of the house- making that a twice a day routine of picking them all up (making a big pile).  He'd grab a toy and shake it to death.  Then go get another one.  Most of them had squeakers.  I may start doing a load of small toys in the washer every week.  Then donate them to a dog shelter if they allow that.  Riley also has a collection of enormous toys--as big as he is.  For some reason, only known to Riley--he loved carrying (dragging) these "big as he is toys" around and then climbing on top of them for a nap.  A giant moose is sharing his dog bed right now.

Riley is sounding the alarm--intruders in the back yard.  Squirrels or Deer.