There is something special about the quality of light at this time of year. It’s soft. Golden. The sun dips lower and lower and barely makes it above our trees. In the morning the light sifts through the trees creating glorious sunbeams. It shines through droplets of water leftover from the previous night’s rain, and a spider’s web.

The pool, now closed for the winter, never makes it into the full sunlight.

The hours of sunlight we can count on having each day get fewer and fewer. Night falls faster and faster. The sun is reluctant to wake up. Prepare to spend more time inside it seems to be saying.

The moon takes over the sun’s job and also rises through the trees, bathing the yard in its pale shimmery light.

I don’t know about you but I am taking in all of this golden light that I can!

Jan over at Just-A-Mere was having a vintage apron giveaway, and just look what I won! It arrived just the other day. I had forgotten all about it until I saw the package in my mail box!

Isn’t is fabulous? This little Mexican couple was lovingly appliquéd and embroidered by someone in some moment of time. We can only speculate about its original origins.

I love the fabric used for the basket on her head, as well as the embroidery work on the flowers that go with it. And, given my new found passion of embroidery it makes me appreciate it all the more!

The stitches are tiny and the appliqué has all been done by hand. The apron itself is very soft to the touch and is a unique light gray color. The bias tape at the top and bottom adds a pop of extra color.

Thank you so much Jan for choosing me as it’s new owner! What a great giveaway!

Here is the link to the original giveaway post.

It’s been gray/rainy/foggy and cool this week. Typically fall. Our mushroom foray that was rescheduled for today was put on hold for yet another week. It would seem the mushrooms are reluctant to make an appearance. So instead we visited Bed, Bath & Beyond and bought new bed pillows, sheets, and towels. The washer and dryer are working overtime getting them all ready for use. Well, not the pillows of course. (Did I mention the dryer is fixed? Well, mostly. It still needs a new belt which will be installed on Monday, but at least it’s usable.)

I just now stepped out on my deck because I heard the Carolina Wren singing its sweet song. It actually prompted me to write this entry. Such a cool bird to have around and it has so many different tunes it can sing! My neighbor’s rooster was crowing too, and every once in a while the sheep chime in with their cute baaaa…baaaa…baaaa‘s. My neighbor told me that they will be bred this fall so we’ll have more sheepy noises to come. I told her we’d love to have some milk to make cheese from but I don’t know if that will happen or not. It’s complicated. There will be wool though from the shearing. (Not that I would know what to do with it!)

There is also the very loud thwack! sound of acorns (or maybe it’s the other large nut-like things that have been falling this year) hitting the deck of my neighbors across the street. The rustling of tree leaves and limbs can also be heard as the squirrels busily run to and fro with their nutty booty.

Even though the trees are not showing much color as yet, fall has arrived. And maybe, just maybe, I’m out of my blut.

In other words,  I am in a Blogging Rut. BL(ogging) (R)UT. Not much to say. Nothing to photograph. BLUT. Back soon. I hope.

My eyes are finally adjusting. Instead of taking in the wide sweeping vistas around the cabin they are focusing in on a more closed-in view of trees and heavily wooded hills. The trees are just starting to turn here and there. There’s a touch of Fall in the air and we are expecting quite a bit of rain throughout the night tomorrow. Our annual mushroom foray is planned for Sunday (we just got word) but will depend on Sunday’s weather. I hope we don’t get rained out!

We had two cords of wood delivered yesterday. Yes, it’s that time of year again. Last year we didn’t use the full two cords so we have some nicely aged wood to begin the fire season with. Instead of trying to stack it as I went, this year my goal was just to move it off the grass so it wouldn’t kill it first, then slowly work on stacking at my leisure. See how much I got done yesterday by chucking it piece by piece onto the gravel.

Not bad, right? As I worked I heard a rustling noise in the woods. When I turned around I saw three deer walking the fence line. They came out of the woods and crossed our driveway. I went to the gate to get a better look. Each deer as it crossed the drive stopped to look at me, tails flicking with trepidation. I spoke softly to them: I won’t hurt you beautiful things, it’s okay. They stood there looking at me for a few minutes longer, then went on their way into the front yard and I got back to my wood chucking. I felt like a Deer Whisperer or something!

Here is the progress after today’s work:

Almost done! My arms gave out so I stopped. I’ll have Rick help me with the rest tomorrow.

What I wouldn’t give to have this wood at the cabin! Look at that lovely hardwood! Funny how we have this same chore at the cabin—putting up wood—except that there we have to actually cut it ourselves instead of having it delivered to us already split. I will still have to split some of the pieces with our little splitter, but mostly it’s all good to go.

This was also going on around my house today. The big question mark in the sky seems to be asking What? is going on here?

A big air show is going on in our town this weekend and this stunt plane was practicing his maneuvers almost over our house. I took these photos from the back yard. I think he was mostly out over the lake.

And upside down as well.

He was fun to watch. Noisy, but entertaining. I’m sure we’ll be seeing (and hearing) the whole air show almost as if we had a front row seat. After all, we are close to the airport. It’s fun to watch the big old WW II bombers fly over. They shake the whole house and are so magnificent in their vintage-ness. It’ not going to be quiet around here this weekend. Au contraire!

Added as an addendum: Dryer update! The motor is gone ... boo hoo ... so I’ve been hanging laundry on the line (gasp! My neighbors hate this!). Instead of opting for a new one we decided to just replace the motor in this one. Our twin washer is still going strong (both Maytags and never one day of service before this) and pronounced healthy by the repairman, so we hope it hangs in there for a few more years. Hopefully this coming week we’ll have a dryer back again! Not quite the same as pioneer laundry at the cabin, but almost.