apple grapple

The last pumpkin.

We've had a few more beautiful frosts...

Winter is coming...quickly.  But still...ootheca!

Ootheca!

Ootheca!

I'm finding them everywhere.  And despite our rapidly-falling temperatures, I saw a praying mantis, alive and well, a couple of days ago!

Still seeing a few mushrooms...

I dug up my dahlia tubers this week and was pleasantly surprised.  I did not fertilize, stake, or in any way care for my dahlias this year - they grew and fell in my 'weed patch.'  I had to follow the flattened stems to their bases for the tubers.  Some vole damage, but still a nice crop.

I mowed the garden and will leave it as-is until spring, when I'll lay down paths again and pull up the dead weed stumps.

We picked as many apples as we could...I estimate around 50 pounds!  Good thing, because the wind picked up and most of the remaining apples dropped.

These apples draw deer out of the forest at sunset.

Those sunsets are spectacular!

Days are shorter, and cats everywhere are curling up on blankets.

In other news, we've been stocking up for the arrival of our new pup.

Truth:  as a homebody with generalized anxiety issues, big disruptions to the home environment land me into a funhouse-mirror alternate universe, where everything familiar is distorted and slightly sinister. Even knowing this, I've been struggling a bit with this new pup since she came home yesterday afternoon.  She isn't interested in toys, food, or treats.  When I try to take her outside, she just shudders against my ankles in the cold wind.  All of the training videos prepped me for a frisking, treat-loving pup that I could immediately start to train and bond with, and I'm at a loss with how to handle a puppy that only wants to lay quietly in my lap.  We're hoping that a little bit of time will draw her out.  I won't be able to relax until we're in a definitive and familiar schedule.

Enjoy the last bit of fall!