General Mundane Stuff and I Hate Mosquitoes

Happy Tuesday, which this week is technically my work Monday (in the sense that we were off on Monday, so today is my "Monday," and those usually bring a bit of a challenge after a long weekend). I love long weekends, but the Tuesday following one is always a bear! It's okay, though. I like my job, so I work through each situation like a puzzle. Silver lining is a big sense of accomplishment after crawling out from under everything.

I was grateful to have the long weekend, though, and we had the BEST Labor Day, just me and my husband. We got up, gave babies lots of good outside time, then we headed to a nearby park with hiking trails and spent a couple hours on those trails. You can see from the first picture in the list that the wooden bridge heads into the woods. It does turn into dirt/rock trails, but it was beautiful. We were blessed with humidity in the 30 percent range, and we were in shade the entire hike. It was just absolutely perfect. When we finished, we went for waffles at 1 p.m. I opted for chocolate chip waffles topped with strawberries and whipped cream (second picture). Then, we went to a Halloween Party Store and looked at all of the fun stuff there. We had a blast!

As you can see, most of the pumpkins got harvested yesterday. There are still a few turning on the vine, but for the most part, they've been picked. They won't hold up for long. Even though they grew really well, the extra-rainy weather drew SO many bugs this year that, unless we were willing to use a lot of pesticide (which gets into the soil and then your other garden vegetables, so that's not happening), there really was no way to prevent the pumpkins from getting buggy. We'll use them outside and then, when they rot, toss them into the woods for critters to enjoy.

The corn shocks that my dad made from our garden corn stalks turned out great. These will go in front of three of our huge trees, along with ribbon and pumpkins, and I'll declare the yard decorated for Autumn. I still need to do my front porch, though. Can't decide if I want a giant pot of yellow mums this year or not. Would be awfully pretty with the navy porch ceiling. I love navy and yellow for Autumn.

Next three shots are Bunny and babies. Isn't the one where Baby Trudy is stretching up towards her mama just absolutely precious? I was so worried that this little one was not going to make it. She got SO sickly and was so much tinier than the other two kittens. She is still much smaller than the other two, but she's strong now, and eats well and is thriving! Thank you, God. I prayed over her and her littermates constantly. I still do, but now it's prayers for continued health and prayers of gratefulness that are no longer anchored in anxiety and fear. 

Also note that Bunny and Trudy are lying in the grass holding each other's paws. These kittens LOVE their mama, and she loves them right back. Mamas rarely get to keep their litter. I hope we did the right thing, not separating them. They're an extremely bonded clowter. They do not like to be separated from each other. At the end of the day, after we nursed them through some tough times, I just could not let them go. I worry so much that it was a selfish decision; but I also know that with their chronic respiratory health issue, keeping them in their controlled environment will probably serve their health needs a lot better and prevent the spread of the virus to any other animals that are in the homes where we would have placed them. 

Next picture is Baby Higgins up a tree. Good grief. It is a constant battle to keep her on the ground. As long as she doesn't go up too high, I don't worry too much. But she's overly curious and just HAS to see what's farther up in those trees. It'll make you nuts with worry sometimes. 

It looks like our cooldown doesn't set in until this coming Sunday, now. It was supposed to be here by Wednesday. But that's okay. After next Sunday, it looks like 70s for highs, and soon enough, I'll be complaining about the cold. Another warm week certainly won't do me in, and it'll give me something to think about when I'm bundled up and shivering and cursing the month of February (yes, I do that).

My October sky and Crocktober are getting closer and closer! I cannot wait!! We've picked out our day trip in accordance with the fall foliage peaks on the TN/NC border. Comfy shoes, sweatshirts, bottled water, snacks, a full tank of gas, and a mosey up the parkway to stop at overlooks and take mini-hikes is on the table, but we may chuck all that and just drive on up to the Western NC Farmers Market to look at the giant pumpkins (and I mean GIANT) they have there each year! We haven't been the last three years, and it's always hoot. I hope you're making some fun Autumn plans. It's that one season that seems to go by in a flash, while the other seasons drag on, particularly mosquito season.

Time to get this day rolling. I hope that wherever you are, you have a great day and that all the mosquitoes where you live die suddenly and forever. I think the world would be a kinder place if we weren't all eaten up with mosquito bites. Just sayin'!

Get those Crocktober recipes together! It'll be here soon!