October 16, 2007  

     Last week was the peak of fall color around here.  We look out our front window at a flame-red maple, and there's another across the brook.  Here's a look back at the house from the road.  Some multicolored sumac is set off against a dark tree trunk.
     The front garden continues to bloom with zinnias (the careful observer will find five bumblebees), toad lilies, foxglove, and morning glories.  Here are close-ups of the zinnias and the morning glories.
     Snowy (the neighbor's dog) and I go for a walk through the forest every two or three days.  The low sun filtering through the pines casts long shadows.  On the trail, we pass a small tree with a giant burl.
     Peter Dreyer came up from Westwood, MA for a hike last Thursday.  It was a drizzly day, but we managed to find some interesting photo shots.  Here are some Virginia creeper berries, and here are pines reflected in a pond (the helicopter "above" the trees is actually a duck landing).  We came to the foundation of a settler's house just off the trail (pictures 1 and 2).
     While Sarah and Steve moved into their new house in Thetford, VT, we took care of Alex and Addy.  Alex took Snowy for a walk with me, and Addy played with her toys.  (We had just brought the camera inside, and the condensation on the cold lens gave a soft focus to the shot.)  Here's a movie (5.7 MB) of Addy on our swing with her "babies."  On Saturday we took them to buy pumpkins to for Jack-o-lanterns (pictures 1, 2, and 3).  When we took the grandkids back Sunday, we stayed overnight at the new house and picked apples in the back yard in the morning.  They're natural apples that weren't sprayed, so they don't look like what you buy in the store.  But boy are they good—sweet and tart! 
     I made a "design wall" for Lynn's quilting.  It's a flannel-covered board that cloth sticks to so she can try out fabric and block arrangements before sewing them together.  It's better than laying pieces on the floor—you can step back, view them, and rearrange them in order to come to the final decision (in fact, she's already rearranged them since I took the picture).  These squares are six of nine that will become a wall hanging and are pieced by hand.  

Feature - Lynn ringing a temple bell in Japan.  More of our Japan trip.

Quote for the Day -
    "Both politicians and diapers need changing—usually for the same reason." — Bumper Sticker