Journal: Friday, 10/24/08

Early Morning:

Started Jo's kiln on a bisque firing. 49º F (9º C) at midnight.

Late Morning:

Sunny, but a gusty south wind trumps the sunshine if you are outdoors.. 54º F (12º C) @ 11 AM.

The garlic Jo planted a couple of weeks back is up and doing well. Unfortunately, so are the weeds. The garlic will remain green, but go dormant over winter, then take off growing again as soon as spring arrives.

Afternoon:

Jo just toted a jug of hot water over to her pottery studio. It's chilly enough she wants her throwing water warmed. There's no hot water in her studio so she usually puts a kettle atop her kerosene heater, but that water isn't warm yet. 60º F (15º C) @ 2PM.

Back from PM walk. South wind has laid a bit. A few cumulus clouds scattered around, all the better for adding interest to pix. 60ºF/15ºC @ 5 PM.



Losing the ball yesterday meant today's session of fetch with the dogs was played with a new tennis ball, a ball that still bounced. We usually play with the same ball until it's way, way past dead -- until the cover comes off.

This maple is one of the prettiest trees along the road we walk most afternoons.

(Speaking of playing fetch with a tennis ball... The Chuckit is one of the greatest inventions I've run across in a long time, unless you enjoy having hands covered with dogs slobber, of course.)

Evening:

Another fire this evening. The temperature was down to 44ºF/6ºC at midnight.

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Journal: Friday, 10/24/08

Journal: Monday, 10/20/08

Morning: Each new day warmer than the last as our last cool front fades away. Mostly clear skies with only a few high, thin clouds. Light to moderate south wind. Weather conditions have not gone downhill as rapidly as I expected. Rain is still in our forecast for mid-week, though. 75º F (23º C) at noon.

Researching, cropping photos, etc. for a blog post on squash bugs, but I need to get on with my day leaving the post unfinished until this evening.

Afternoon: Lots of little projects. None of them really worth talking about.

This photo was taken about a month ago and shows poison ivy growing up a pine tree providing our earliest fall color.

Dogs: Play with the dogs for a while again this afternoon. When I discussed playing fetch with Rusty and Bucket yesterday, I made it sound like a purely altruistic activity. It isn't. Yes, I am concerned about them becoming total couch potatoes and preventing that is one of the reasons we play, but we also play fetch to burn off some of their energy. Someone once said, "A good dog is a tired dog." There's a lot of truth to that. Our cooler fall temps have boosted the dogs' energy level several steps. We burn off a little of that excess energy playing fetch, helping protect the inside of the house from being totally destroyed when Rusty and Bucket play with each other.

Cucumber: Jo harvested a cuke this afternoon. That's got to be a late season record for our garden. Of course, this cuke did not come from one of the vines we planted. Those sucuumbed to wilt before producing more than a half dozen fruits. A volunteer cucumber vine in the strawberry bed produced several cukes and this is the latest of those.

Temperatures: 79º/55º. 61º at midnight.

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Journal: Monday, 10/20/08

Journal: Sunday, 10/19/08

Early Morning: Blog post on Nature in the Ozarks:  Cloudless Sulphur butterfly (Phoebis sennae)

Late Morning: Getting into the downside of our last cold front:  A little warmer, a few high clouds around and south wind picking up.  64º @ noon.

Afternoon: South wind picked up some more, but the day was still what I'd call nice.  We've really enjoyed these sunny days, which is good because rain moves into our forecast by mid-week.

Played with the dog:  During the longer days of summer, I figure Rusty and Bucket get enough exercise.  They spend more time outside and come out into the garden with Jo and I in the late afternoon.  While we work, they play -- at least part of the time.  However, starting about now and through the winter, the dogs spend almost all their time just laying around in the house.  So, in the winter when the weather permits, I spend a little time playing fetch with them after our afternoon walk.

What's amazing is how much Rusty and Bucket remember about our little ritual, not just the basics of chasing the tennis ball and bringing it back, but also which dog plays first, where we play, how we end a session and, especially, when I dispense dog treats.  You'd think we last played yesterday instead of six months ago.  I wish they remembered how to behave even half as well.

Evening: I often take a little nap in the early evening which is my mid-day.  This evening I didn't get my timer set right and ended up sleeping for two and a half hours.  I guess that was good since I evidently needed the sleep, but I didn't get much else accomplished this evening.

Temperature range:  71º/49º.  56º @ midnight.

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Journal: Sunday, 10/19/08