Funny, it happens every year here in Bakersfield. The County Fair starts last week of Sept. and is in the high 90s and low 100s and almost always ends in the 70's. Last day of the fair was 67. (Fair only runs 12 days). It always amazes me. I must digress a little and say DGD really wowed us in Rabbitry showmanship. Its her second year as a junior 4Her and got a higher score than last year. Since Juniors are 4th thru 8th graders, the top ten are usually 7th and 8th graders. This year she competed against 26 other kids and we are very proud of how she is consistantly growing in showman skills. She was historian of her 4H club this year and her scrap book of the past year won first place. Thanks for bearing with me. Back to October musings......I woke up this morning feeling warm, cozy and mighty guilty. Here I was, able to feel my toes, but my chickens, rabbits, quail, turtle, cockatiel, and parakeets were out there in 46-50 degree brrrrrr. These low temp nights came on me unawares, so today I must make the bunnies cage covers, add more shavings to the coops and move the cockatiel and parakeets into the quail habitat and make their covers. Can't do anything about the turtle, but a few more cold nights and he'll go into semi-hibernation at the bottom of pond. Next on the list is keep raking those leaves and putting them to compost. I can't leave them in piles because the chickens dismantle them when I let them out to roam. But they do help to crumble and crush the leaves so maybe I should leave the leaves in piles for a day or two, let the hens help out a bit. I've got to make a higher fence in the side yard to separate my veggie garden from the bunny exercise grass, bunnies and lettuce and peas don't mix. And as soon as the leaves are off the shade tree in back, it'll be pruning time. Last weekend we pruned the tree in front and boy is it heart lifting to be able to see the sky from the living room window again. Didn't realize how gloomy and green-tinged the tree made the room. That was fine for summer, but light and life are what we need in the fall and winter. Our cats don't know what to make of it though. One jumped down to where a branch used to be and kept going until he landed on the ground. Didn't hurt anything but his pride. Someday that tree will be gone completely and a new one in its place. Don't know why people pick certain trees, but its amazing how often the wrong tree gets picked for the wrong place. Anyway I have another year to figure out what should be there instead. Had our first campfire in the back yard last night. By the smells in the air, a lot of people had fires in their fireplaces and fire pits. Luscious. I love autumn. Slow cooked stews, cookies in the oven, bread baking, all things we skip with summers in 90's and 100's. Maybe I'll bake a pie.