Waking up to rain today reinforced my choice in working outside these past few days. Seeing rain in the forecast for the next few days or so made yesterday especially busy; but I got what I set out to accomplish, finished. yay!

-Yanked out dead plant stuff from pots and ground.

-Cleared out & stored remaining plant pots.

-Raked out beds of leaves and other mess I created.

-dragged branches, raked stuff and other decomposable debris out to rear 'yard-forest-unmanaged compost pile' area.

-Washed windows (outside only)

In the process: left side getting clean, right side not yet washed


not great, but much better than what it was, yes?



-Washed outside car windows while I was at it.

-Swept porch and wiped down outdoor furniture. One chair & small table with ashtray stays set up for smokers, although 100% family and 90% of friends don't smoke, thankfully.

-Daily long walk while sun was shining strong. Made sure to sit in the rays for a few minutes as we might not see it again for a few days or more.


Sitting on boat dock, lower Niagara River. (emptying into Lake Ontario straight ahead)





The sun was so bright! my eyes!my eyes!




After work stuff and play time, I have indoor projects to finish and/or start (still need to do the window plastic). I need to keep busy as the early darkness just kicks my ass, so as unexciting as all this sounds (I enjoy it on some level), it is really about keeping busy.

One last thing, as it can be generalized across the region--
The farmers markets in my area are pretty much ready to close by weeks end. Some have gone through to Thanksgiving, but this year the closings are a little earlier. So get out while you can!
I intend to hit up a few between today and tomorrow to gather up a few more apples, squash and whatever else that might look good. I love love love buttercup squash and end of season prices are a great time to stock up. I aim to cook up and freeze a few containers worth, also work some into a soup/stew/chili etc. MMMMM squash!

Looking at (e:metalpeter)'s recent post, (e:metalpeter,50334) reminded me that I had told Peter that I have a picture of him from the reception (candy table!) that I have been meaning to post. Oops!

I remember saying that as someone usually behind the camera you usually aren't in front of it. Which prompted me to take this picture.





of the few pictures I had immediately resized, this is one of them.

The other was already posted (e:theecarey,50210)

I have a few more that I hope to get to soon.

It is that time of year when traffic remains heavy for a couple of hours after rush hour.

It is that time of year when driving through a residential neighborhood one sees a mixture of pumpkins, corn stalks and wreaths with giant red bows.

It is that time of year when the darkness comes in early and the red, green and blue LEDs start turning on.

It is that time of year when at least two local radio stations play seasonal music (much too early, in my opinion) 24/7 until the first of the new year.

It is that time of year when friends and family talk about shopping; some of whom ask me what is on my "list"

It is that time of year when the single aisle of Christmas decor spotted in October is growing exponentially in color, variety and volume.

It is that time of year when merchandising displays, commercial radio/tv ads, and mail box circulars are covered with festive vomit.

It is that time of year when I try to focus on something other than the looming "holiday" but, it is everywhere.. every year, and it keeps getting earlier.

and now, it is that time of year, when I post my general displeasure to it all.

and for those that know me, it is also that time of year when I try to make the most of it and to find some fun and joy beyond the excessively marketed aspect of the 'season'.


Sooooo..

eventually, I would be down for some hot cocoa, baking (cookies!), sleigh rides, snowball fights, parties, "secret santa" (yes.. we have to do that this year, so get thinking about it!!), glittery craft/card creating inspired by the younger Visco, old movie night, caroling (do people do that?), perhaps a collective 'adopt a family', community projects, etc. Many possibilities to get together and have fun and create memories.

Just not "this time of year": Mid November!!

This week went by in a blur. So much so that I still feel like I have tons yet to accomplish. For this reason, I might stay close to home and work on an assortment of projects all weekend.

Maybe. I can be pretty easily swayed to venture out..

Alright, so I need to seriously wash the outside part of my windows. It is getting harder to see outside- yeh, they are pretty bad. It has been a perfect week to do that, so really, no excuses not to get it done. A quick scrub & squeegee should do it.

and now it is time to get around to putting plastic up on the windows. FUN! heh. I've been remiss in starting that project. I usually buy a bunch of window kits but I would like to find a roll of the plastic that is used in covering windows. That might be easier/quicker for my windows that are clustered together, and possibly less expensive to cover them all at once, then individually. The plastic in the large kits aren't big enough, so I end up doing the windows individually. *yawn*.

The rolls existed in the past, but I haven't seen anything in a few winters, so...

Do rolls of window plastic still exist and if so, where would I find such a product?

Home Depot only had kits.