not every day can be sunny and warm, continued

We are far from a bleak, cold weather landscape. In fact, October is a pretty month in the Midwest. What we lack in flowers, we get back in foliage. Within a week or two, all the golds and ruby reds will be at their peak.

But on a cloudy and cool day, you can't help but give at least a passing thought to spring. Just five months away!

Between a gift from a friend traveling to Holland, the online catalogue of colorblends.com, and our trip yesterday to the bigbox store, I am in possession of 250 tulip bulbs and a supplemental batch of 50 daffodils (we already have a large quantity of narcissus bulbs in the ground). I am a little uneasy  about tulips, since we appear to have groundhogs who chomps away at these guys with a robust appetite, but I have the idea this year that I will overwhelm them with quantity. I mean, how many tulips can one groundhog family eat? If I plant 250, maybe half will be left behind?

Putting the bulbs in the ground has to happen in the next couple of weeks. But I wait for sunshine. October yard work is joyous on a sunny day and nothing but a chore on a gray day like today.

Breakfast -- again in the sunless sunroom.






A quick check on our two happy hens in front of a mostly flower-less garden...






... and finally a glance at the truck farmers' fields to the east of us. We haven't had a night frost, so their flowers for the markets are still coming in strong.







In the afternoon, I am, of course, with Snowdrop.






I'm convinced our play outdoors will be short. Who wants to linger in this blustery weather?

She does.






Too, we have our long play in the car afterwards...






All this means that there is little time for my planned project of baking cookies. Strawberry jam thumb prints.

But I forge ahead with it anyway: bake today, eat tomorrow.

Snowdrop! Come bake cookies with me!
I'm busy playing with the babies, grandma!







There was a time that I could decide for her what her play should be. No more. She has her own big girl agendas.

And so I embark on baking alone. Well, to a point. She cannot contain her curiosity and when I ask her to finish up with dabbing the jam onto each cookie, she is my best helper again!






Licking the spoon is, as always, the best reward.






I study the weather maps for the days ahead. Hmmm. Still cloudy. I'm okay with that, so long as we're promised lots of brilliant and sunny days in the winter season. Is it a deal?