Pumpkin Moon

This morning as I walked out the door to work I noticed that the front lawn was strewn with little white fleshy orbs - mushrooms had sprouted overnight! They look like common field mushrooms. It made me feel good, knowing that we were in for more wet.

I'm still walking and biking to work 4 days a week. I even walked this morning in the pouring rain. It makes me so happy, walking with the kids to Miller Creek, walking through the shady bay groves, over the bridge on the ever-rising creek, up the hill on Idylberry and in the valley among the oak-rich hills. Sometimes I see people I know like a mom from cub scouts or a mom of a kid in Alfred's grade. It makes me feel good.

The junipers berries are burgeoning now. The berries are becoming riper and riper. I like to pick them along the way and squash them into my wrists and temples. They have a sweet-astringent fragrance that I love.

In a couple of weeks we will have our Halloween party. Pumpkins are in all the storefront windows.

Rosemary in bloom

Juniper berries are coming out and creeping rosemany is in all its bloomy blue. Amanda came over today for lunch and brought some delicious golden green tea and a magazine about some jade sales going on currently. We went out to Bombay Garden for lunch. I told her about the Zoroastrians.

Schnapps

This week I am making schnapps from the remaining apples and pears that grew in the side yard.

Here is a wonderful website about schnapps.

Danish Schnapps

I may try making some herb schnapps too with the rosemary and oregano in the garden. Maybe even add the fruit and some honey. Experiment. There will be a lot to taste in a year or so. :)

Fireberry

It's October now. I started bicycling to and from work on the first of the month. The first day Alfred, who was off from school, accompanied me. It was his idea and it was an act of kindness. Sadly, during the trip he became distracted when another kid from his school biked by with his younger brother. Alfred tripped over a newspaper bag in the street and fell off the bike and on his face. He was in shock, was embarrassed in front of his schoolmate, and had to be taken home by a good Samaritan with a minivan. He fractured his elbow and now cannot play the trumpet or participate in gym. I feel very badly for him, but he gave me the courage to bike to work and now that is what I'm doing.

Art and I had a very absurd fight last night. He was telling me about how one of his theories about the Big Bang was recently vindicated. We discussed it and it absurdly led to a rampaging shouting match with wounded egos and general bad behavior on both our parts. We made up, but sheeesh..

The weather has been gorgeous. The quails visit our back yard each day in the late afternoon and they are fatter than ever. The fireberry (or pyrocantha) grows redder every day. They are predicting rain for tonight.