Autumn is knocking on the window pane...slow down, please...

Saturday, and it was a long "short" week. Mostly, school stuff was fine. Home stuff was generally fine (though the dust around here is ridiculous-- that'll be dealt with as soon as I can). Already, I spent the morning doing minor but necessary chores: who has three bottles of juice well past expiry in the back of their fridge? ugh. I cleaned and organized the fridge-top freezer, too. There are far too many ice packs in there, leftovers from when I was packing Holly's lunch last year. I think some will migrate to her house. Not much to toss there-- found an ancient frozen burrito that got the pitch, though. And I have ideas about stewing down a couple of chicken carcasses-- maybe not soup, but chicken and biscuits for Sunday dinner. And I can freeze some chicken broth from the process as well. That's always a nice thing to pull out of the freezer to make rice or gravy. And I did some dishes by hand (some things just can't go in the dishwasher), diced more tomatoes, and worked on a grocery list. Today is member discount day, so I try to figure out what I need/want that I can get a little less expensively. 

Frankly, I'm just avoiding getting dressed yet. I had coffee-- G went out last night to get coffee filters. I was going to get some today, but he insisted. So be it. One less thing I have to find at the store. So I had a cup of coffee with my breakfast, read a little while eating my bagel-banana-yogurt, and here I am, avoiding more pressing chores. O yeah, I stripped sheets off the bed, so I'll have to remake it, and there's laundry to fold, groceries to get, and I'm sure a bunch of things I am just going to have to stumble into/over. 

G finally dismantled the empty pool yesterday and hauled the metal and so forth to the transfer station. So we have a large bare/muddy circle in the backyard. It looks like an alien landing zone. It'll fill in, but for now, it's strange not to see the pool there. What I see, too, is the last of the tomatoes, the futile squash efforts, likely there may be a few green beans, and so on. And the burgeoning herbs. And the apples and pears bending branches. And it was 36 degrees this morning, so it all looks rather like work to be done. But not today. Well, maybe I'll take a look at the tomatoes and beans when I get motivated. The few carrots can continue to dwell in the garden for now, and the herbs are fine. The squash are a huge disappointment, though. My backdoor neighbor has graced and gifted us squash, with butternut to come-- apparently, the bees we keep have been busy in her gardens, forgoing ours. Jerks. I think I have two mini pumpkins out there, though, so that's something cute. 

I feel like autumn is crowding my days. I switched my closet from high summer to transitional work clothes the other day. 'Bye, shorts and sleeveless tops. Sorry, sundress-- never wore you this year. Maybe next year. I left out the dressier capri pants, since warm days are still with us for a little longer, but soon, probably in two weeks, those will get stowed as well. I'm not ready for corduroys and wool yet. But I might be putting a couple flannel shirts into rotation sooner than I'd like. 

But today is supposed to be up in the 70s, so I'll open the windows and let the fresh air (and more dust/pollen) into the house. I'd like to see the air conditioners put away soon, though-- the cooler nights mean I don't need 'em in the windows, and frankly, it gets a little extra chilly with them in there. But, relatively minor stuff, eh? 

The news is frightening, costs are awful, and there's so much to bemoan-- but having friends to keep us sane is one way of combatting the engineered evil that is darkening the horizon. Stay safe, keep each other close, and be brave.

C