Sunshine!

Isn't it nice to see the sun shining brightly again!  I expect we had some spotty frosts last night, but that makes the weather seem far better, really - like mid to late September is supposed to be.  Today promises to be absolutely lovely, just about right temperatures for being outside doing end of summer jobs, and in the evening, dropping down to nice levels for sleeping.

I measured only .01 in. of precip in my rain gauge this morning; and we are  now watching the weather, trying to guess if our roofing crew will be back tomorrow morning.  By the way, if anyone is interested in what the weather is in space, there's a Space Weather site  now, set up by NOAA.  Not that it directly impacts our weather, but I guess long range it could or does.  Our weather patterns right now are very unusual, and that's what's causing all the rain in Colorado right now - weather patterns are not behaving as they have in the past.

Last night was a "corn chowder" kind of night, and that's what we had.  After spending the afternoon at the Cabot Historical Society building and having way more than normal visitors, I came home and for whatever reason had a huge urge to make corn chowder.  It just seemed to fit the chilly weather and my mood.  Fred, being a really unfussy eater, totally went along with the idea, and it hit the spot for both of us.

My last Saturday afternoon of being open for this season at the HistSoc was unusually busy.  I was delighted that my friend and dermatologist, Dr. Hammer, brought his parents to see our exhibits.  They spent quite a bit of time going through the displays, and then, just as I was closing at 3 p.m., Richard Lacelle and his young son stopped by.  The Lacelles recently bought and are renovating the Bob Davis (more recently John Woods' house) place on the Plain.  Richard was particularly interested in the history in his area, and I was happy to spend the extra time at the building for him to see our exhibits and will be sending him information on the Websters, who  originally settled where his home is now.  It is also land that my Grandfather Bolton once owned, and where we sugared for many years.  We hayed the field where Richard's house is as well as the one above it; and occasionally planted potatoes in the lower field.  That is where there used to be a big old maple tree that marked the burial spot of several Websters, and my grandfather made sure the land around the tree was left undisturbed by plowing and planting.  The Woods cut the top off the old tree and built a tree house in it; I believe Richard has taken it down entirely now, and removed the stump.  I'll look next time I pass by the house.

Fred is giving the lawn its last cut of the season today.  We were  down on the lower part of our lot after I got home yesterday, and found some black bear scat - yes, I took a picture.  There were mostly seeds from probably eating choke cherries and apples - which are plentiful around our lot.  I've only seen one bear all summer, but I'm sure they've been around.  Last night as I was falling asleep, I heard a chorus of coyotes up in the woods.  They seemed to be traveling, probably with their young, on a hunting expedition.  They sometimes awaken me in the winter, if the window is open a bit, but normally I don't hear them anymore as we are used to them.  A few years ago it was unusual to hear coyotes in our woods.


This guy hitched a ride (very briefly) on my windbreaker - I guess he dropped off a branch when I was walking by one of our trees.  I think it's called a Tiger Moth caterpillar, but I'm not certain.  I haven't seen many of the orange and black "wooly bears" this year, but I suppose they are around.  And now it's time to get out my old push lawn mower to do the walkway and trim where Fred can't go with the riding mower.