Happiness is ...

sunshine,

 

fall colors,

 

an afternoon walk with bassets,

 

and completed projects.

They're Back!!!!

Do you remember last fall when I told you about bugs and showed you this? Well it is that time of year again, but the Asian Beetles seem to be a little bit ahead of the Box Elders this year. Yesterday I left the house to run a few errands and there wasn't much happening on the house. I got home just a couple of hours later and we are covered, more and more seem to be coming, and they are finding their way in. Maybe they will have all piled up and gone to sleep by the time I get home next week (wishful thinking, I am sure).
I am just about to leave for Idaho and may or may not get access to the magic unseen tubes that transports me to you and you to me Internet tomorrow to share Oribel's latest Whiskers on Wednesday adventure. I'll give it my best shot, but I might not have it up until Thursday.

It seems to be fall around here these days.

The corn and soybeans in the fields are turning brown and drying out, almost ready for harvest. The leaves on the maple trees start to do this,

 

The deer come back to our yard and watch me doing stuff in the kitchen,

 

then they go back to eating their favorite candy, more commonly known as acorns, of which we have an abundance in our back yard.

 

Fall around here also means that the weather changes enough for Miss (arthritic) Sadie to be excited about going for walks every night. The Riverside Live concerts move inside, but it still made for a most awesome concert tonight. Who knew I could have taken pictures there as well? There is only one other group's concerts that I have everbeen to that they specifically said photography was allowed. Well, that group allowed audio/video taping at their concerts as well, which wasn't allowed tonight, but that group hasn't been around for awhile.

One of the very best things about fall this year is using this, now that the nights are cool.

Maybe there is something about Fall I don't like

I am sure you all were beginning to think I must live in a dream land for all the gushing I have been doing about the wonders and beauty of fall. Yeah, so I forgot there is at least one thing I really don't like, I might even use the word "hate," about fall. The invasion of the bugs.

Every fall the Box Elder Bugs cover the front of our house. They get inside the house too.

 

And they cover the dog house.

 

They also cover the side of the house and the door we go out to put the dogs in the yard by their house. That means they dive bomb whoever comes through the garage and opens this door to put the dogs out. They dive bomb your hair, your ears, your nose.

 

Just in case you need a close up of one. It is just going to get worse. We will soon be covered with these plus Asian Beetles. Not only do they dive bomb everything, get tangled in your hair, and get into your house; they bite, hard! They also release some nasty smell every time they get upset or disturbed. Yeah, they come into the house too.

 

So, I am going to leave you with this picture of what I worked on today. I just need to stuff it and close off the bottom. Then I'll see if it looks more like what it is supposed to represent. Any guesses?

Odds and Ends of Stuff

Well, for starters, I am so glad I made a fair number of you smile at my humor. Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed my question and for letting me know that I have readers out there!

I heard a story from my Grandmother a couple of years ago about a pet that someone near and dear to me once had. She told me that this said relative had a pet owl that he carried around in a tin bucket. Now I have to take this story with a grain of salt as she was given to flights of fancy, even more often as she got on in years (or maybe flights of dementia, depending on who you ask). Anyway, I sometimes wonder if this story is true, and if so, what kind of owl was it? What was its name? And how in the heck did you convince it that a tin bucket was what it should hang out and be carried about in?

The other night Hubband and I watched Stranger Than Fiction at the recommend of DTE. I loved the "I brought you flours" scene. It was very sweet and thoughtful of him to put such thought into a gift for Ana. I could totally relate to a present like that filling my cupboard. Plus it would be used.

Last item for odds and ends of the day is my answer to the "Topic of the Week" for FIADS.

Autumn has now officially begun here in the States!! What is your favorite thing about Autumn/Fall? Why?
The cool nights without the humidity, because I can finally sleep with the windows open.
The angle of the sunlight coming in the windows that the animals search out all day long.
The crunch and smell of the leaves as I walk through them.
The honking of the geese overhead.
Fall produce.
The changing colors. The colors are different here than in other regions of the country where I have lived, but I have always lived somewhere that gets definite seasons. I wouldn't want it any other way. (For those of you out there who are now saying, "What about the time you lived in Texas?" I will say that Texas was a rest stop in the road, but we never really lived there.)
What is there not to love about Autumn in the northern part of the US?