Friday - 210th

 Would you believe 80F (26.5C)? Indeed! We hit it this afternoon and it felt at once glorious and weird. It is, after all, October 9th. Last year, toward the end of this month, it snowed, there was ice, and Halloween was miserably freezing. Granted, we're not at the end of the month yet, but still, 80F??

 (And look what's blooming...)

 

 

Breakfast assuredly on the porch.

 

For Ed, it's back to maintenance work: he has the tractor-mower to fix (for the hundredth time, it seems), a tree to finish bringing down and a water heater to replace. When his list grows, the chances of moving through it diminish. Nonetheless, when I ask him if he'd like to go out for a hike locally, his conscience nudges him to say -- you go, I've got work to do.

 

 

And so I went. To the local park. Not a soul in sight. Plenty of gusty winds and a plethora of autumn hues.

Our men are working on the front steps and I think they're making progress! The entrance is starting to look authentically legitimate. So much so, that UPS has begun leaving packages there. That's the down side of not appearing to be a crumbling mess anymore. I may live to regret my rush to restore some credibility to that side of the farmhouse.

 

Both Ed and I have work to do on that project as well. He needs to fill in dirt to allow us to keep the steps down to three -- the legal limit for going without a rail. Me, I need to dig out a bunch of neighboring hydrangea bushes that are sending deep roots in every direction. I get to it tonight.

It is no surprise that I hit my 10,000 step target! 

Dinner: I bake some cod fillets (with lemon and cayenne) and I go purple: purple cauliflower, purple potatoes! With some chooped bok choy and corn kernels, all sauteed to a bit of a crisp. 

And after all that, after the popcorn and an episode from the series we're watching, I retreat upstairs with my kindle, loaded with two new mystery books. Escapism never felt so comfy!