It’s
October – a delightful time of year in the Pacific Inland Northwest. Mornings
and evenings are cool, but afternoons have been unseasonably warm. I’m
comfortable in warmer pajamas, but it’s too soon for sweatshirts and warm-ups. I
see it could well freeze at the farm early in the week and come close to it in
town. I also see that by next weekend the highs could be in the 70s again.
The autumn plague of blue aphids has begun. They’re harmless, I guess. Just inconvenient. And they love our purple ash tree, so we’re part of the problem.
I’ve
already set out my Halloween displays, and I even made a pillow top from a
favorite Halloween sweatshirt. I loved that shirt the moment I saw it at Kmart
all those years ago, hanging all by itself at the end of a rack. I bought it
and enjoyed wearing it, but it got old and the sleeves were a little short, so
I retired it with intent to repurpose it as a pillow. It happened this year,
and I count it as another finished project.
Mike
and I spent this last week at the farm. I made a last batch of elderberry jelly
(5 jelly jars), and while I had the canning kettle out, I cooked a batch of green
tomato mincemeat (4 pints). Mike mowed the lawn, hopefully for the last time
this year. We don’t water here, and usually the grass has gone dormant before
now.
Mike
rode his bike a couple of times, and while he did, Bess and I hiked the planted
fields. Next year’s crop is canola, and it’s already coming up. It’s a bit
disappointing for us. The game birds seem to prefer the wheat. The bright
yellow fields will be gorgeous when the canola blooms in the spring, but
afterwards, it grows tall and obscures our views. But – the land is leased and
it’s not up to us.
Walking
the fields is no easy feat, now that the soil is loose and furrowed, but I
enjoyed getting out on my own and taking pictures. Bess was gracious about watching
and waiting for me, but as I approached her on our last hike behind the house, she
looked me in the eye, turned around, and marched back across the field. She was
resting on the porch when I got home. Apparently she wasn’t up for the hike. KW
