Fall is here...

I don't have pictures yet - haven't even taken any, though I definitely need to, but Fall has definitely arrived here in Western NY. Every where you look, there's oranges and yellows and reds and golds and every color in between. Our grand pine in the front yard is beautifully framed by maples and oaks, its low, swag like branches vibrant and green against the flaming backdrop of the fall foliage. The yard is a riot of colors, and the chickens are in heaven. Opening the gate releases a flood of feathered fiends bee-lining for the blanket of fallen leaves, and soon they are rustling through them, looking for goodies.

Our weather has been alternating periods of crisp, cool fall temps, and indian summers. And rain, lots of rain. The month of October has seen highs of 85 degrees, and lows of 45, and we've received 2.76 inches of rain. And we're not done yet. While today and tomorrow are supposed to be dry, the rain will be returning for the weekend, with the forecasts predicting somewhere between a 60% and 80% chance of precipitation...with our proximity to Lake Erie, I have a feeling we'll be working inside the house, instead of out.

It will be cool though, so dinner this evening is going to be turkey and rice soup(made from a salvaged whole turkey breast - slightly freezer burnt- that we found in the freezer), and I think I see corn chowder on the menu for this weekend. Last night we had spicy mini-meatloaves with broccoli, and we'll be having the soup tonight before heading to a defensive driver course being offered by our insurance company - gotta save money any where we can, and the cost of the class will be offset the first year of the class's three year effective discount.

So, that's it for this week - kinda laid back I think. We were going to go out to my mom's for firewood, but the rain has squashed those plans, so that'll be next weekend, I guess. We might tackle the installation of the wood burner on the second floor - need to get a reducer and some flue repair cement to do that...not really expensive, but the repair costs are starting to add up, and we've still got a fair bit of winterizing left to do. Ah well, the joys of home-ownership!