I meandered down onto our "lower 40" this morning where Fred was trimming away the bushes that encroach on the lawn every year, interfering with his mowing. That was the extent of my exploration - I was still a little rocky, although most of the vertigo is gone. I took a few pictures. It was such a pretty morning I hated to go back into the house. The leaves are really pretty right now. I'd say we aren't at peak, but close. There is still a lot of green showing on the hillsides, but what color there is around our place, is brilliant.

In the mix of bushes, we have hop vines causing a great tangle. Fred was wrestling some out of a choke-cherry when I got down there. We have a gnarled old tree that is partially dead (third picture down) but I think it will stand for a few more years and probably be a great home for woodpeckers and other creatures. It's right next to the road, but I don't believe it's ready to come down - unless we get a big wind, of course.


 We are being told there will probably be nasty weather for the rest of this week - rain and possibly snow flurries! Now, that seems a tad early, but I've mentioned several times here that I recall going partridge hunting during the first week of October with snow on the ground. That would have been in the 1950s, so a while back. But we almost always had our first flurry of snow during the first week of October.

I just happen to have notations about weather in West Danville, and in 1891 the first snow came on October 12; there was rain, hail and snow on October 3, 1894 and the following week the ground was covered with snow and the pond had frozen over by Thanksgiving and by Christmas the temperature was below zero and the wind was "blowing a gale."

The weather turned really cold on October 21, 1907 with a temperature of only 18 degrees above zero. So whatever we get, it probably won't set any records. It will be pretty uncomfortable for the people who are here for foliage season, though. We can't always have nice weeks for Fall Foliage Festivals. Cabot's day to host is tomorrow (Tuesday).

Don't forget that Cabot's turkey dinner is tomorrow at the church, servings at 5 and 6:15 p.m. You can get take-outs, too. The dinner costs $15 for adults, $5 for children. Call Rose Bothfeld for reservations - 802-563-2715.