My Journey in 2011 – October

10/9/11

October has been really beautiful so far. The  colors here in rural Central NY have been brilliant. The tomatoes are all in, even the green ones. The cucumbers are finished as well as the zucchini. The frost we had two weeks ago rather weakened the plants. I still need to put my garden to “sleep” for winter. Especially to  remove the dead and frost bitten tomato plants. After a week of rain and cold, in the 40’s, we are now having great weather of the mid to upper 70’s….now I like this!

Several days ago, while working in my kitchen I heard continuous banging against the roof and sides of the house! As I checked out the back door to see what was happening, I saw pine cones  come sailing down from the top of a huge pine tree that we have at the southwest corner of our house. They were coming down like bombs that you would see from an old World War II movie! Looking up, there was a busy little red squirrel throwing them out of the tree! This noisy little occurrence lasted several hours! The next day I needed to bring hay into the yard from the front of the house and the little fellow was at it again. The pine tree happens to also be at the entrance to the back yard. I had to pass directly under the tree as the pine cones came sailing down…hoping that they didn’t land on my head!

10/19/11

This has been a beautiful October, or should I say a beautiful Autumn so far. The weather has been warm. We just put on our furnace this past weekend, which is very unusual for Central Rural NY mountains! We normally have our heat going late September. Well now, this is a propane savings!

The animal friends that I would see each morning, are practically non existent. They have either migrated already or have found themselves a nice warm place to sleep away the winter. The daily morning bunnies that would wait each morning for me, to feed the farm animals, have been gone since early this month. I hear the Canada Geese, each honking, as they fly, traveling southward to warmer climates. Soon they will be totally gone from this area.

The fur on Isabelle, my last remaining goat has gotten very thick and she seems as though she will be ready for another winter.  I love to watch her chase the leaves as they sail downward from the trees. She runs back and forth across the yard as they fall so she may grab a tasty treat of maple leaves. It is amazing how a goat can amuse herself being the only one left from an original herd of 28! She has gotten very attached to the geese and follows them around. Being a herding animal, I suppose her instinct requires her to be obedient to that calling.

Yesterday I have noticed that the brilliantly colored trees of last week, are now only half covered in leaves. They seem to loose their leaves from the top of the tree down. You can see these trees bare at the top and still full of beautiful colored leaves at the bottom. Soon they will be totally bare, leaving the only remaining color of green, of the evergreens that are on the mountains.  Another winter approaches.

10/28/11

The first snow of the season fell yesterday and last night. The covering is only on grassy surfaces. Paved road surfaces are just wet. A cold 26 degrees this morning….I don’t think I am ready for winter yet. I don’t think that I have a choice, though. The forecast for today is sunny with a height of 46 so that will be some encouragement!

The first snow of the season always brings ooo’s and aaaa’s when people see it. It gives you a happy feeling of watching the pretty flakes drop from the sky. However, in a month or so we will look at in a different way.
Snowflakes are groups of frozen ice crystals which fall through the Earth’s atmosphere. They begin as snow crystals which develop when microscopic super cooled cloud droplets freeze.

Snowflakes come in a variety of sizes and shapes. Complex shapes open up as the flake moves through different temperature and humidity regimes. Individual snowflakes are unique in structure.