All Hallow's Eve

We don't do much as far as anything celebratory for this holiday, except maybe eat a little more candy than normal.  In our nearly 18 years in our home, we have never received even a single trick-or-treater, but I usually buy some candy, just in case.  :)  My friend Claudia buys dilly bars and buster bars from Dairy Queen - maybe I should visit her this year...

Well, we've just returned from our trip to the beach.  The weather was absolutely glorious!  I couldn't possibly have wished for anything better.  The house was clean, open, bright, had amazing ocean views and the bed was comfortable.  We had a fire in the fireplace almost continuously and left the doors open to enjoy the fresh, coastal breeze.  I wore shorts and flip flops for walking on the beach.  Yep, the end of October in shorts and a sweatshirt.  There was just a trace of a breeze and we enjoyed every single minute of our time away.  The only fly in the ointment to an otherwise perfect holiday was, the hot tub.  It wasn't heating and I just tried it out briefly the first evening.  84 degrees is just not warm enough for a good soak.  This is the second time I've rented a vacation home with a non-working hot tub.  Just my luck.  I made up for it with long, hot showers...even took Ruby in with me once, and I think she enjoyed it.  Well, she felt much better after the showering part was finished anyway.  She was a sandy, ocean-smelling mess.  The dogs had a blast, of course.  Long walks on the beach, running through the surf, chasing seagulls and wayward bunny rabbits - what could be better?

I must have been in need of some rest because I went to bed early each evening and slept in every morning.  We ate all our meals in, except for one night out for fish and chips.  We even baked chocolate chip cookies.  Why is it that I never mind cooking while I'm on holiday?  I read a book, browsed magazines, watched movies and had several long, enjoyable and relaxing walks on the beach.  And of course, I took lots and lots of pictures.  Very low-key and exactly what we needed.  What a wonderful way to end a perfectly beautiful October.  I can hardly believe that tomorrow begins November.  Wow, where does the time go?  Before you know it, Thanksgiving will be here and then Christmas...good grief!  I don't want to even think about Christmas yet.  It's depressing for me to think about how very commercialized it's become.  I always feel like Christmas is force fed to us all by being crammed down our throats...buy, buy, buy.  Hurry, hurry, hurry...don't let the holidays sneak up on you!  Bah-humbug!  Not this gal, I'll enjoy my Christmas slowly and without going into debt.  Thank you very much.  But I digress...

Apparently, we had some very cold nights and mornings in our valley while we were away.  My Nasturtiums which had completely overtaken the front porch, except a tiny entry spot near the front door, are shriveled up and dying.  Hopefully the plants underneath them were protected from the freeze and will survive.  And the horses!  In just a few days time, they have really gotten woolly.  And fat.  Our caretakers did not spare the groceries, and they like it just fine.  I've always said that I'd rather they be overfed, than underfed while we're gone.  Keep them happy and satisfied and they're less likely to look for mischief.  That's how we like to believe anyway.  So far it's always worked in our favor.

 

We'll see you next year October!  It's been grand!!

Stay safe everyone...Happy Halloween!!  

Indian summer activities

Our park tree in full color

beautiful fall colors

Ruby

Annie

This may be the first real, true Indian Summer in the past several years, that I can remember anyway.  We've had a couple of frosts and now the most beautiful sunshine.  Many mornings have started out shrouded in mist, only to burn off and be beautiful and warm later in the day.  This is the kind of fall weather I absolutely adore!  Bring on the outdoor activities!!  Bonfires, roasting marshmallows, picking apples, chopping firewood, riding horses, taking hikes in the woods, capturing all those gorgeous Autumn colors that abound...aaaahhhh, just splendid!

Hello October and all your glory!

Walking in the woods

My beautiful (and round) Eagle

Lovebirds...Ladde and Missy

Sweet Harley

happy horses

sometimes he makes her soooo mad!

This past weekend we bathed the dogs, trimmed their nails, had a bonfire and burned our huge pile of tree trimmings that we've collected throughout the summer, cut some firewood, went out for breakfast, made homemade cabbage and tomato soup and I baked a marion berry pie.  I'm needing to make some room in the freezer for our quarter of a beef that we're expecting by the end of the month.  We haven't bought a quantity of beef in many years, so it will be nice to have this on hand.  Grass fed, grain finished, Black Angus and raised by friends of ours...it will be so nice knowing that the beef we're eating is humanely and organically raised locally.  The meat in the stores just doesn't taste good these days, so I buy very little of it.

Since we missed our horse camping trip last month due to bad weather, we're hoping to take a few days the end of this month and go to the beach.  All the campgrounds are closed for the winter now, so no horse camping...but, who doesn't love time spent at the beach?  I'm hoping to find an inexpensive beach house, and if I'm lucky, it will be beach front, have a wood stove or a fireplace, a full kitchen and a hot tub.  Sounds delicious doesn't it?  I envision long walks on a solitary beach, and then coming back for a nice, long soak in the hot tub, followed by a good book by the fire...or a movie, or maybe even a nap.  *sigh*  Mentally, I'm already there.  :)

I've still got to do the usual groundwork in preparation of a short trip though, like finding someone to cover for me at the clinic and a caretaker for the horses and the cats.  The dogs always travel with us.  They'd plot some heinous revenge if we left them at home...

happy dogs!

Missy's eye (Sugar)

our 2013 grape harvest - a good year

I'm hoping this beautiful weather sticks around for a while...through the end of October anyway, after that I've always said, come November and all bets are off.  Haha!  Winter is then upon us, as the monsoon season hits.  But fingers crossed for sunshine, brisk mornings, clear skies and frosty pumpkins for a little while longer...

How's the weather in your neck of the woods?  Do you have traditional activities that you enjoy this time of year???  I'd love to hear about them.  :)

Happy October everyone, and blessings from
Lorie @ Cingspots

As the worm turns

and other fun stuff.

Not.

I am cranky today.  I was cranky yesterday too.  Work at the clinic's been slow, people have been more than a little irritating and the weather's beautiful...and here I sit, in my cage.  And I've come to the conclusion that there is, nor will there ever be; a cure for stupid.  :(

I would like nothing better than to be somewhere warm and sunny, lying on a sandy beach, cocktail in hand, reading a really good book...far, far away from people and civilization.  Yes, it really is that bad.

*sigh*

Did I mention that people can be really, really insensitive and really, really stupid?  Oh, okay.  But in my defense, it does bear repeating.  Take our federal government for an example...now, if you want to talk stupid, that subject is a deep well my friends.  Very deep.

Just a couple of weeks ago, these fields were brown, dry and parched...now they're green and soggy.  What a difference a little lot of rain can make...the weatherman says this September was the wettest on record - ever.  Well, at least since they've been keeping records of such things anyway.  Since the late 1800's.  Yes, it's been that wet.  We had our first frost this morning.  Yesterday and now today have been beautiful.  I've been at work.  We don't have plans to go anywhere this weekend.  Oh joy...

It's too muddy to go riding anywhere.  It's too wet to go hiking anywhere.  It's too early to go Christmas shopping.  *sigh*  Normally, I love fall.  It's my favorite time of year, but if things don't improve, let's just say it feels like we're taking a major shortcut to winter.  You know what winters are like in the Pacific Northwest, right?  That's right.  Rain.  And then some more rain.  Some wind and yes, more rain.  Mud up to your eyebrows.  I am so. not. ready. for. this. crap!!!!  Sorry, I'll post another pretty cloud picture so you don't all get bummed like me...

Do you have any plans for this weekend?  What's the weather been like where you live lately?  Does anybody else out there feel like Mother Nature is all f*&^#d up????

On an unrelated topic, I got an amazing sweater and a beautiful neck scarf yesterday at the New To You consignment shop.  Oh my, the sweater is gorgeous, and long and cream-colored (my favorite) and hopefully will look half as good on me, as my imagination thinks it will look. :)   I envision black leggings or skinny jeans with boots...warm, cozy and chic, oh my!

Stay warm and dry my friends,
Blessings from C-ingspots...............................Lorie