I suppose I should be happy we made it this long without snow

It's supposed to be 60 again by Christmas Eve. Check out those  boots. I had on some snazzy red flannel pajama pants this morning when I took the dog out, and it dawned on me that I probably resembled  Santa Claus walking down the driveway.

Mid December

Sock Thief

Foot Fetish

Swimming in the Ditch

Pre-bath before the real one

Is that you, Carol Anne?

Paper Thief

Trying out the new dog seat-cover

Elmira snack bar, home of the wooden weenies

One more week, then things should be back to normal for you

No Snow. No Snow!

Milkweed?

December 7, and it's GREEN

Snapdragon that refuses to freeze

Now he's dressing her in his shirts

December 7, and he's still riding

Looks like a flying saucer; those are the living room windows reflected on it

Smoking her long rawhide, while watching America's Funniest Videos

Indian Summer at Stonybrook-- 72 Degrees on November 4!

 Hiking with his true love. She ran, climbed, swam, and drooled. I spent most of the time worrying that she would fall off the edge( I even started sounding like Daddy used to when we camped) She was filthy by the time we got back to the car; came home, had a bath, and fell asleep at 6. She slept until 7:30 this morning. After a week of soap eating and stealing toilet paper, maybe she's decided to be a good girl!

Cider Season

Today's perfect weather

Look at those crooked teeth

   We took B to the park to soak up the last of the sun. It's about 20 degrees above normal. On our way home we diverted to the back roads to get some cider. It's just an old barn next to an old farmhouse, with about a million apples out front. Afterwards,we saw a sign for hard cider, so decided to try that place, too.   We didn't realize it was closed, but they were nice enough to let Ken inside for a couple bottles.

Packing and Unpacking

  I've packed up the warm weather clothes and hauled all the coats and sweaters up from the basement. Ken put away most of the lawn chairs and carried all the petrified wood to the garage, last year a couple rocks cracked from the snow. We've had days of strong winds, so most of our leaves are no longer in the yard, so that's a plus. The cat has two warm beds made in the shed. I guess we're ready.

First dusting of snow

Rolled all the way down

Bed-head

Misery

Looks can be deceiving

This reminded me of a pig's butt, see the little tail?

Lazy Weekend

It's a beautiful day, supposed to freeze by morning. One family member is gallivanting around Long Island with his sweetheart, the other is driving to Ithaca to pick up his long awaited, rebuilt motor. I'm sewing buttons on shirts and feeding the dog Cheerios.

At the height of winter, the sun will appear to be setting behind the tree on the far left.

Ken's favorite apples

These were extra sweet, and so purple they seemed to be black

Searching for apple trees

I love their expressions

Playing with DirtySock in the sprinkler one last time.

First Day of Autumn

    I guess it's appropriate that we had the first( and only, we hope) delivery of propane and coal today.  165 bags = 6000+ pounds. Guess who helped carry it downstairs? He's going to be aching by morning. I hope we don't have to fire up the stove for another month, even though we've already had the heater on a few times. Everyone send good vibes that El Nino makes it all the way to us this winter.

Finally Purple!

These are the oddest,bulgy-folded, misshapen things. Supposed to be yellow/red striped. Officially called Hillbillies.

This looks a bit dangerous, doesn't it, with all those leaves. It's been a chipmunk hideout all summer.

Can you see the deer that the cat is watching?

Buffy watching cat who's watching deer

Our sunflowers and marigolds are always the last to bloom

Perfect face-- the marigolds really don't smell so good, do they