hello october

It's hard to believe it's October already. It's a temperamental month where I live, not really knowing what you will get in any given week. There are mostly nippy, windy days with a few warm ones thrown in. There can be abundant sunshine or endless days of rain.

I'm relishing the flowers that are still blooming ~ gerbera daisies, hydrangea, Russian sage. This is the last of them. Same with the cherry tomatoes. I picked the last few today. The dried up stalks and leaves will go into the compost bin.

I take daily walks around the neighborhood, relishing the last of the blue skies and sunshine, and picking up fallen red maple leaves to use in decor. Squashes and apples are in abundance at the farm stand and make beautiful displays until eaten. I love all fall and winter veggies...acorn, butternut and delicata squash; turnips and rutabaga; carrots and parsnips; pumpkin and sweet potatoes; cabbage and cauliflower. 

It's also soup weather again! We love soup and I make many kinds during the fall and winter. This one is Kale, White Bean & Squash soup. I used butternut squash in this recipe instead of the kobucha squash that was recommended. I couldn't find kobucha squash and the recipe said butternut would work just as well. This soup has everything going for it...easy to make, warming and filling, delicious ~ and it's even vegetarian/vegan, if that's what you're looking for.

I'm still worried about Monkey. (That's him on the left, cuddled up with Zippo.) He's had about four or five cold laser treatments on his bladder to relax it so any stones would break up and he could urinate without any problems. He seemed fine...eating normally, usual activity level. But last night I was able to observe him in the cat box again (very hard to catch your cat "in the act"!) and saw that he was still squatting for about eight minutes to urinate. I called the vet this morning, but he's at another animal hospital this morning. I left a message asking what the next steps should be, so I hope to have an answer soon.

Happy weekend, everyone.

the aftermath

Christmas has come and gone once again. I'm more grateful for the gone part.

I never was a big fan of Christmas. It's not only the excessive commercialism;

it's also the unrealistic expectations...finding the perfect gifts, decorating your

house just so, sending out Christmas cards on time (I only sent out a few this

year - one thing I did cut back on), baking all kinds of cookies for neighbors 

and relatives, hoping once again for a Norman Rockwell-like Christmas ~ and

 knowing full well that it's not going to happen. And then there's thinking of those

who have left us ~ my son, my father, my grandfather, my sister-in-law, my

great-aunt and uncle, a dear friend. Not that I don't always think of those people,

but the holidays somehow make your heart ache for them just a little bit more.

Don't get me wrong - I did enjoy the time spent with family. We went out to

dinner on Christmas Eve with Brian's side of the family. And on Christmas

day, the three of us - or, should I say, the six of us because there's the three

kitties that were in the thick of gift opening, too - enjoyed exchanging

gifts and relaxing and talking in the living room.

The best part of Christmas day was later in the afternoon when we had

a small bunch of family at our house. Lots of talking, laughing, eating (look

at all those desserts! My mom is the homemade pie maker), and Wii playing.

Now that it's all over, I've taken down all the decorations (which I still have to pack

up - they're all sitting downstairs on the bar), have deep cleaned, and am trying

to put the house back together. I can never remember how I had things arranged

BC (before Christmas). You'd think that after all these years I would learn my 

lesson. That I'd take pictures of the living room and kitchen BC to remind myself

where all the tchotchkes went. And since the weather isn't frigid right now, I've

been taking daily walks. Even though I don't like winter, I do see the beauty in

the bare branches, the gorgeous sunsets, and the snow blanketing the ground.

• We're having a heat wave today with temps around 40 and lots of sunshine. It'll be the last day for awhile that I can enjoy the walks outdoors, as the frigid air kicks back in on Sunday night with temps below zero.

• Tim is going back home today. I loved having my boy back home again, even if just for a short while. 

• Brian's had some days off, so he's been painting Tim's bedroom and I'm working on  decluttering in the basement. I made a lot of headway yesterday and have six bags of things packed up for donation.

• I've eaten way too many rich foods and sugary desserts, so it's back to clean eating. I made a pot of turkey noodle soup using the leftover turkey carcass from Christmas for a rich stock as the base, but I don't like turkey! So, I will save some of this soup in the fridge for Brian and send the rest home with Tim today. And then I will make a pot of fennel and carrot soup, which is a vegan recipe that I got from a friend. If it turns out delicious, I will post photos and the recipe later in the week.