today was a good day

yesterday was a perfect early fall day with crisp air and blue skies. i worked all day cleaning the garden up - finally giving up on the watermelons and ripping out the vines. on the edges of the garden in the field were wild carrots and tiny pearl like onions or chives. i bit into the carrot and found it to be sweet and fragrant. it was a pale naples yellow and about 2 inches long. today was overcast and cool. i walked to the creek bank thinking maybe i will use river rock to line some beds. on my way i stopped to admire three different species of lichen colonizing a dying white pine.

the fall asters are in bloom. there are large and smaller varieties of this color as well as tiny white ones with a crimson center. it was magical when the wind blew. leaves swirled all around me as i watched one silver maple leaf spiral down to earth at an impossibly slow speed.

the beetles and bees and hornets and all manner of flying insects move over blooms at a frantic pace; their nervous energy the counterpoint to the quiet of the forest today.

trout worked the wood lot by taking all the burn sticks out of the pile and into the field.

native rudbekia along the creek bank brightened the dark water below.

i found a door and two windows in town yesterday. the door is very heavy and i like the vertical window panes. the windows are the classic 6 panes also good solid heavy wood.

the hens had a big two days of free ranging. they sunned yesterday - but today they have stayed under cover scratching through thick layers of decaying leaves finding a good variety of protein. i love to find an old log to turn over for them, exposing soft pupae and nits of termites.

peggy jean and wren are my belgium antwerps, their little beards crack me up. they are the smallest breed i have but are the fastest. good thing too -they are on the bottom of the hideous system known as the "pecking order" and there is nothing to be done about it except "run for your life!". the barred rocks rule the nation of poultry because of their size and thick as a brick conformation. but Easter is the kingpin of the whole flock -she is the oldest and the best layer. someone else started laying too -but i dont know who!

along the roadside and in the ditches are falls perfect compliment of asters and goldenrod. the joe-pye weed and thistles are over and only a few queen annes lace can be found. i am seeing the first little bit of red in the foliage and dont know if it will be a spectacular color season or not.

i found a jack o lantern basket at the dollar store and bought it for the scarecrow. but i dont like this face. i want a menacing face and i really want to carve one. but it wont last. for halloween and day of the dead, i will and light up the inside to decorate the garden. i think i will invite some friends over for a bon fire, tortilla soup, and maybe even a few swigs of tequila.

Tonight i am going to the play at our tiny community theatre. the play is called "Art". Soon it will be time to prepare for the christmas play and i have already pledged to help create dickens' olde england for the tale of scrooge. i painted the castle for the play of narnia and really enjoyed it.

Tomorrow i think i am going to get up really early and do the farmers market 20 miles north of me. you have to be there by 7 to get a spot. I found some old round hat suitcases that i cleaned up and re-did the fabric inside to showcase my ornaments. they are awesome for transporting the fragile glass and also great for display. one holds the halloween designs, the other christmas. I will also have bantam eggs for sale tomorrow. they dont look good in regular egg crates -they are too small. so i package them in silver boxes and they look great. Its supposed to be bright and sunny tomorrow. i hope so. sunny and cool means a good farmers market turnout.

have a great weekend everyone!