We had a nice week and weekend but about 7 this morning, a COLD front blew in bringing strong North wind and rain. The rain wasn't much and was soon gone but the wind is still gusting. The sunshine is ever so warm and makes the south side of the house very nice.

I went out this morning to feed the puppies and couldn't see Max. I can always know where he is by where his line goes. But the line was behind his house and he wasn't there. He was lying inside his house like nothing was wrong. I think I worry more about someone shooting him than him causing some damage. There are only two neighbors left and one knows Max. The other could do something for meanness. I don't think Max was even looking at the hens and that's good. 

The leaves are slowly turning to yellow and brown and falling to the ground. The wind is helping to knock them down along with the acorns. Sounds like little bombs hitting things in the yard. 

The sudden North wind reminds me of the leaks in the windows that need to be taped. Lots of little things that appear with the changing of seasons. I guess this is actually Halloween today. Happy to you. We don't decorate or celebrate so we'd not notice it passing. I wrote an article about having a party to gather your children and their friends and keep them off the streets. Thanks to my dad's third marriage, we now have a member of the family who is a sex offender living among you. You'd not want your kids or grandkids knocking on his door and wanting candy. Please be ever so very careful.

Another month half finished. We are looking at the Harvest Moon and glad we don't need it for being out at night for harvesting a crop. It is a beautiful and bright moon, riding high in the sky. When it is at its brightest, the dogs and coyotes are quiet not the usual howling. I don't need the flashlight to be out doing nighttime chores.

This summer was certainly the year of the bugs. All the usual and a few others. The click buts and the crickets appear at the same time. Though they were slow and few at first, they soon became abundant, just everywhere without end. Even saw a few silverfish and I'd not seen them since just after we moved here. The white crickets have been terrible and I have even seen lots of the babies who are a pale green and much smaller. They are also easier to catch and kill. They can sing up a storm that is worse than the regular crickets. I had called them singing bugs until I found an article in our local electric company magazine. They look nothing like the common black cricket but the sound is similar. As the temps get cooler, they will both try to move inside the house. 

The click bugs are a nuisance. If they get inside clothing, they leave behind a trail of brown liquid that stains. They don't bite but they have a shell that is a crust and it takes mashing to kill them. Toss them into a bucket with straight sides and they cannot get out and just a little water is enough to drown them. They can fly but also propel themselves by the "click" that gives them a short boost into the air. 

The bees had not been so bad this year and I had bragged on how they'd not been around the hummingbird feeder. But with the hummers long gone, the wasps and bees moved in to take over the feeder. For a long while the birds had a time of pulling out the flowers in the feeder and dropping them to the ground. I put them back and filled with fresh nectar but the birds were long gone and the insects took over.

We have some critter that runs around on the roof of the house at night. We can hear it but I've never seen a squirrel out and about in the dark. What else could it be? The rodents seem intent on being inside the house, not on the roof.

The black birds had done a great job on reducing the number of grasshoppers but as the hoppers from other areas run out of food, they move into our yard. Some spots are empty and fine but in other, there are hordes. Makes me wonder about having any garden next year at all. We did go a  year with no garden but it didn't help anything. That was the year all the iris disappeared. 

Fall has arrived in our part of Texas. We didn't get over 48 yesterday and that's cold. 44 for a low and now we should see a few warmer days. The strong north wind has died down this evening and it is quite pleasant outside for the first time in several days. 83 tomorrow will bring the a/c back on after we've been outside working up a sweat. 

But it means that we can now bake something in the oven and enjoy the warmth. Not wasted against the efforts of the air conditioner.

The turkey roast had been in the freezer for about 7 months just waiting for a better time. It takes 2 1/4 hours at 350° and now, it is ready, gravy with ladle beside it. Stuffing all fluffed and ready. Green bean casserole is piping hot with big spoon atop. Cranberry sauce opened and sliced. Just the jelled plain variety but that's okay by me. No pumpkin pie but Randy bought some peaches from the store and I turned them into a peach cobbler. I'd been hungry for one and that fit with cooking for the day. They shared time and space in the oven.

A green bean casserole, some packaged stuffing and we had a fine cold weather supper. There was some leftover whipping cream from a Jell-O dessert so we are going deluxe.

The tree leaves are kind of changing color. A yellow for some and just brown for others. It's usually into the freezes of winter before we see the beautiful deep red in the oak leaves. In the spring we see the red and pink in the new growth of the oaks but we have about 2 weeks in the fall when some of the trees are colorful.