beautiful November!

I'm used to gorgeous autumnal weather in September. Wisconsin nearly always delivers a string of bright, brisk days then that just make you sing! But this year, that string was knotted and punctuated too often by long spells of wet, humid weather. The bugs were happy. Me -- well, it wasn't what it should have been.

But November thus far has been glorious. Oh sure, there'll be the rain now and then, but there appear to be many many days of pure sunshine. Crisp, yes, but in the most pleasant of ways.

We're on a more normal schedule and we eat breakfast by the light of the day. This is as we like it. It in itself is reason to smile.






I have appointments that mess a little with my Friday grocery store routines, but on the upside, I drive past Madison's Owen Woods and I catch that last bit of brilliant autumnal color.






And when I show up to pick up Snowdrop, her teachers have her bundled up for the outdoors, which I can understand...






It was cool this morning. But the sunshine now does away with the late autumn (yes, it is late autumn!) chill...

("That's gaga car!")





And I quickly put away her coat for the rest of the day.


At the farmhouse, she spies the baguette, freshly purchased this morning.

The girl loves baguette bread. I mean, really loves it. I'll give her a piece, she'll beg for "one more baguette!" I'll smile and agree to "just one more," knowing quite well that I'll get a grin and a plea for "one more!" with one finger lifted up in earnest.






It's always interesting to watch Snowdrop (or any child for that matter) rediscover an old toy and give it another, a more sophisticated go around. Snowdrop loses herself in this for a while...






And then I play music, to get her in a quiet, restful mood, but she still has a spring to her step and she dances...






... and dances...





Until I say -- okay, Snowdrop. Time to rest.


In the late afternoon, Ed returns from work and she is tickled pink to see him again (and he her). It's been a while!






Snowdrop's mom is here too and the little girl shows off her balance beam skills.















The light fades. This weekend we'll go through what Poland went through a week ago -- a shift in time. For now, it still feels like we're in the grip of a very golden Fall. Warm sun on our backs, the occasional flower still throwing out a blossom.





Such a beautiful day! Just ask Snowdrop.