“In the winter she curls up around a good book and dreams away the cold.”
The time has come for the storm door. I have been keeping the back door closed because of the cold so Gracie rings her bells to go out. I trudge to the kitchen, open the door and wait so I can close the door when Gracie comes back inside. No question about it, the screen door is done for the season.
The game Sunday was wonderful. It was perfect fall baseball weather with lots of sun and a cooling breeze. My friends and I were not seated together so I made random comments aloud prompted by good fielding and a couple of home runs. The lady beside me was mute: she didn’t choose to chat. The guy on the other side tolerated my blithering. He had driven down from Maine, but it took him less time than it had taken us. The traffic was so slow going off cape it took us nearly an hour to get to the bridge. That game was the last one at home for the regular season. The Sox will be in Colorado for the next two games, and my family, wearing their Red Sox garb, will be cheering them on. I’ll watch on TV.
Today Gracie and I will go to the dump then to the farm stand. I’d like some gourds for the basket on the front steps. A small pumpkin is already there, but I love all the different colors and shapes of the gourds. I have some gourds I brought back from Ghana. Some were used when taking a bucket bath while others are ornamental with wood burned or etched designs. I never saw them growing nor did I see any in the market before the outsides had rotted or been removed. Women fill the gourds with rice then stand and let the rice fall in a cascade from the gourd into a pan. The hope is the small stones in the rice will pop out of the pan and be removed during the process. It is not always successful. Stones in cooked rice are pretty common. Broken teeth are too.
The birds are back in huge numbers. It seems I have been forgiven for my lapse of a day without seed. The thistle feeder had three goldfinches on it; none of them were wearing bright yellow. I think the finches are starting to sport their winter color or rather their lack of color. It is time to start bracing ourselves for the season of drab: one of leafless trees, desolate gardens, early darkness and clothes of muted colors.
The good thing is I have recovered.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: cold morniong, drab winter', end of baseball regular season, gourds, home runs, mute woman, ornamenta; gourds, Red Sox game, stones in rice, storm door time, winter colors
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September 24, 2013 at 11:24 am
27Fhere this morning and it didn’t get especially warm during the day despite the sunshine, we reached 53 for a minute or so and then it fell below 50 again.
I’ve had the fire burning most parts of the day and will lit it again in a minute or two. Autumn has really come to stay now. Still, a clematis opened up a few flowers today, strange because they usually freeze quickly.
I need to give the birds some food now and I bought some tallow balls and I’ll give them some sunflower seeds as well. Thistle seeds can’t be bought here, I guess people Think they can find enough of those out on the fields 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
September 24, 2013 at 11:31 am
Christer,
It will be in the 60’s tonight but colder at night. The prediction is the same for the whole week.
My heat actually came on this morning, but I turned it off when I came downstairs. Fern, Gracie and I were nestled together so I knew it was cold.
The backyard is filled with birds flying in and out of the feeder. It’s fun to watch.
Enjoy your day too!
September 24, 2013 at 1:41 pm
Hi Kat,
I’ve been stepping down from summer slowly. First the AC unit came out of the dining room window.
Then I fished some long sleeved shirts out of the winter clothes bin.
The next step was to close the front porch windows.
I’m now down to all windows closed except for the kitchen window. I’ve taken the fan out of it and will close that one up tonight.
The next step is to close the storm windows and the last step is to turn on the heat. I’m holding off on that one as long as possible.
My yard birds hate the thistle feeder. It is the feeder of last resort when all others are empty. They prefer the feeders where the seeds come out the bottom and there is a perching bar all around. When those are empty the birds go to the tube feeder that has 4 perches.
I’m glad to read that you are over your one day illness.
Enjoy the rest of the day.
September 24, 2013 at 3:46 pm
Hi Caryn,
I am in a long sleeve shirt as today is chilly. The back door needs to be closed, and all the windows are already closed. I have windows which just need to be locked-no screen moving so if I have a nice day, I can open one again.
My thistle feeders are cloth and three or four birds eat at the same time. They like the squirrel buster feeder best of all-it has sunflower seeds.
I am fine but tired. A bit of a nap will help there!
Have a wonderful evening!
September 24, 2013 at 7:40 pm
Fall only teased us over the weekend as today summer was back with temperatures in the lower 90s. Our AC is still an essential part of life until at least mid October. Next week the State Fair of Texas, the largest State Fair in the country, will open and run until October 20th. The center piece of the fair, Big Tex burned up at the end of last year’s run. A new version will be unveiled next week.
When I was a kid I enjoyed the fair but I haven’t gone in many years. The midway is full of ripoff carnival games and rides, lots of people trying to sell stuff and some farm animals.
Once again the Red River shootout between the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma, played at the Cotton Bowl, will bring Dallas a huge economic bump along with lots of crowds and drunken fans. It’s a good weekend to spend far away from the downtown or the fair grounds.
September 24, 2013 at 8:07 pm
Hi Bob,
Sorry about summer not taking a final bow and leaving. Here the seasons come and go pretty much around the same time each year, and fall is right on track.
Sorry about Big Tex but glad to know a new Tex will grace the fairgrounds.
The Barnstable Fair is about the same with the fairway and rides. The fair does have all the farm animals, food competitions like pies and cakes and sometimes good concerts, but I haven’t been in years either.
I’m not big on crowds so I’d stay away as well.
September 24, 2013 at 10:07 pm
Among the pies and cake competition they also have the most creative fried food contest. Here is a list of the finalists.
http://sidedish.dmagazine.com/2013/08/27/2013-texas-state-fair-announces-eight-fried-food-finalists/
September 25, 2013 at 10:44 am
Bob,
Some of those sound absolutely delicious!
September 24, 2013 at 9:24 pm
The Sun rose low behind the Cedar Elm wood in the southern field. It has for months climbed to the North, rising from behind the rocky hill where the Tonkowa buried their dead. Now shrugging its way back to the South, to the Cedar Elm Wood and the home of a Coopers Hawk that hunts my fields. I recognize this view and await the day some three months hence when the sun will rise from the quarry for less than half a day. The Hawk will be at home in my Barn and I will respect his place for the few weeks it will take the sun to find it’s way back towards the wood.
I believe the Owl will have a cow though.
September 24, 2013 at 9:28 pm
Beto,
Ever your prose is poetic,
The light here changes but not so dramatically except by the ocean. In the yard, the afternoons are dark and the tree shadows appear early. The birds come for their afternoon seeds earlier in the day. We all adjust.