Lost Day

The homestead got short shrift yesterday.  It was one of those days when I think back and say I didn't do a darned thing, although it was a busy, busy day.  After barn chores, I baked a cake to take to a Celebration of Life for a departed friend, dashed down the hill to attend that function, and came home just in time to help another friend clean up a newly established website.  Being a bit late getting the kids to bed had me rushing around shutting doors and I even missed a moment with Peggy and the red.  That's it.

After days of way-above-normal temperatures, fall once again sent warning signals.  The cloud cover came over (I heard there was a little rain down in the valley) and, for the first time this season, a long-sleeved shirt felt good down in the barn.  Woodpeckers have begun their rat-a-tat hammering, tucking away supplies for winter.  I'm beginning to hear the growl of augers as the nearby wine makers are starting the crush.  I can always tell when the grapes are just about ready to pick without going into the vineyards.  Coyotes are evidently big fans of sweet grapes.  They are such in-your-face critters.  They seem to purposefully leave their scat right in my pathways, and now the droppings are full of grape skins and seeds.  They appear to prefer red over white...little winos!  Flocks of noisy crows have moved in, intimidating the smaller birds at the feeding station, yelling at each other and pushing and shoving on the power lines.  The days are definitely shorter.  Yup, it's fall.