Happy Halloween!

AWOL

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been down with what seemed like a cold a first, but progressed into what must have been either a sinus infection or a mild flu-like thing. So I've been laying low, feeling bad and feeling down. I still don't feel great, but things seem to be heading in the right direction now, so hopefully I'll feel more like blogging. I'm always glad when I do, but sometimes getting myself to post something is just hard. The black cloud that I struggle with when the days get short seems to be hitting me earlier this year. Strange, because it's been very sunny and warm for fall. Also strange that this is my favorite time of year in spite of it being the start of what's often a gloomy time for me.

Anyway, we have been having some lovely days with our grands and we'll be working at our church's Fall Festival on Sunday. We'll get to spend the afternoon there with our daughter and her three after we work our shift at the cake walk. That should be fun-there will be lots of games and a pumpkin patch.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night...

We spent this weekend with our son and his family, playing with our littlest (for now!) man and helping our daughter in love with her business. She makes custom baby items and she had a booth at a show this weekend. She sews beautifully and has some very unusual and creative things!

Shameless plug for her signature "baprons" (combination bib and apron) and diaper covers!
But what a cute little model! He's about a year old here.

As we were driving home last night, the predicted storms were starting to move in and we had quite a lightening show. I got to bed around midnight and was awakened about 1 by terrific wind and rain. My husband had stayed up to watch the weather since it was a pretty bad storm. We surveyed the damage this morning-lots of small tree limbs down and we lost one big tree.

To give you an idea of it's size, if I was standing in front of it, the part in the middle that sticks up would be above my head. It was an odd tree that split into two trunks near the base which twisted around each other. It looks like it had rotted where they grew around each other. Fortunately, it was far from the house.

Flying Spiders?

We had a storm front move through yesterday and this morning was clear, cool and windy. Something caught my eye, and I looked up at the deep blue sky to see hundreds of white strings of spider web drifting on the upper air currents. I'd never seen anything like this before, so I had to come back in and Google it. Here's what I found on Wikipedia:

 "A spider (usually limited to individuals of a small species), or spiderling after hatching,^[3] will climb as high as it can, stand on raised legs with its abdomen pointed upwards ("tiptoeing"),^[4] and then release several silk threads from its spinnerets into the air. These automatically form a triangular shaped parachute^[5] which carries the spider away on updrafts of winds where even the slightest of breezes will disperse the arachnid."  

(Image: WFAA/Facebook)

I guess I should have remembered the ending of E. B. White's children's book Charlotte's Web. This is exactly what happened, but I'd never seen it firsthand. We have found them draped across trees, fences and on the ground today.  Amazing.

October!

I do love fall! It's warm and dry right now, but the leaves are starting to turn-some pretty yellows and reds to be seen. Some cooler temperatures and a chance of rain for tomorrow which will be very welcome!