Fall is in the air. The last couple of days we've had a cooling wind with a little edge to it. It finally warmed up this afternoon, but I had to but on warmer clothes because it was so chilly in the house.

Once again I am a bowling widow: Mr. Troutbend has gone to Las Vegas for the winter, and one of his leagues starts tomorrow. The Las Vegas cat showed up in the yard soon after he got there and scolded him for about an hour before settling down.

Last spring I had some organic potatoes and decided to plant them on the riverbank. Today was harvest day, and there were actually some potatoes in there. They weren't large, but they were tasty. My wildflowers are finally starting to bloom, and maybe we won't get a killing frost for 3 or 4 weeks, although everyone says winter is supposed to come early this year.

Same with the vegetables: they are coming along slowly and will not really come into their own before freezing nights set in. I'll do what I can to cover them with sheets for as long as possible.

My hummingbirds are leaving, and we have about a third of the number from earlier this summer. It is sad to see them go, but it will be nice to not have to keep all those feeders going. Tomorrow I am going to take two more out of service, so we'll be down to three at each house. One problem is that the birds have their favorite feeder locations, so they are upset if they have to make a change.

I am still very busy with meetings and working on the river coalition's website. I'm learning quite a bit about Wordpress: there are unlimited whistles and bells that can be added to it to get all kinds of web things going on. I'm documenting my customizations and next year when professionals take over running the coalition, I'll gladly hand it over to them.

Sour cherry ice cream (homemade) and a red velvet cookie: red and red.



This poppy plant washed down the river during the flood and is growing next to some flood debris across the river. It's a different variety than our orange Oriental poppies that bloom in the spring, and has several buds on it.