this is the end, beautiful friend

Halloween has come and gone!  We concluded our 31 days of horror movies with "Rosemary's Baby" and some spooky homemade Almond Joy bites.

We went to a costume-optional Halloween party a couple of weeks ago.  We've gone multiple years and everyone always wears a costume...this year, it was just me, Todd, and someone's teen son.  I worked on my costume for a week (Puritan woman getting burned at the stake for being a witch):

I took ashes from the fire pit to smear on my face and arms.  Unfortunately, my hat and apron were more 'French maid' than Puritan lady, and at least one person asked me if my costume was 'dirty wench.'  Meanwhile, Todd threw his costume together day-of.  He went as a LEGO brick.  He cut holes in a cardboard box, used cut-off yogurt container bottoms as the protruding studs, and painted the whole thing red.  Since it was hard to eat while wearing a cardboard box, he took it off once we got inside.  Then it was just me and some teen in a costume.  Sigh.  Better luck next year!

Of course, Pepita participated.

Weather is still warm and sunny, with impossibly blue skies.

still so green!

So many "I can't believe it's November" moments, like when I found wild strawberries blooming in the yard.

Still, we're having some nice color.  This is our neighborhood, taken from the car with my terrible cell phone...

...and some trail pics.

And house:

lilac leaves...one of my favorite!  

We've had some insane sunrises.  These are going to look unnaturally enhanced...but they aren't!

Despite the advanced date, we're still seeing bees, butterflies, and other insects.

a clump of brown marmorated stink bugs

Berries are still everywhere.

from a couple of weeks ago...leaves have changed by now, but still berries!

Speaking of berries...these might be wild gooseberries or some weed that is some variant of a wild tomatillo, but I love them.  They grow in our side garden and I pick them every year in the fall.

After they dry out, they resemble tiny delicate lace cages.  They're so pretty!  

Even the morning glories on the porch are still going strong!

It's going to be near 70 today, but as Jim Morrison said, this is the end, beautiful friend.  The forecast by Sunday is 24 degrees and snow. It's time to set up Falafel's shelter and then hunker down by the fire.

Pepita approves.

Have a great week!

an awful falafel?

Pepita has gamely worn her donut...

...but now it's off and she's footloose and fancy free!

We've had our first frost...

...but she's still out on the trail.  I bought so many size S and M coats for her, but she's a lot more...stout...than we anticipated.  She's a short dog, but pretty stocky.  Still, a few fit.

Despite the frost, the days are warm enough that bees are still buzzing around.

A few butterflies and moths too, but mostly I find reminders that their time is nearly up.

Despite virtually no attention, we still have quite a few flowers blooming.

I'd planted morning glories in a pot by our porch in MAY.  All summer long, I hauled jugs of water for it, but we just had a lot of leaves.  Disgusted, I stopped caring for it in September.  The pot dried up.  The leaves drooped.  Then, a couple of weeks ago, it started blooming. 

Another head-scratcher...we didn't have any apple blossoms (or apples) this year because of a fungus.  However, six months late, we're starting to get a few blossoms!  Crazy!

We've been hearing coyotes almost every night, and close.  Deer regularly visit the yard, including this buck...

...with the same leg infection that we've been seeing all summer in local deer.

Claudia is thriving in the barn but refuses to go outside, even on nice days.  That's all right...we have a new feral cat to focus on!  His name is Falafel, a word that I think is really fun to say.  It works on two levels, too, because Todd isn't keen to have stray around...just in case Claudia decides to come out.  So he can call him Fal-Awful.  But I've already decided to feed and house Falafel this winter.  We've got stray cat houses and electric water bowls, so I'll set up a feeding station in our white barn.  Yay!

Just a little bit of yard work in these waning days of October...

But for me, the weather has turned and I'm mostly hanging inside with the cats.

Loving fall so much this year.

Have a great week!