nature's green turns to gold

she really does play telephone with almost anything...her shoe, the computer cord, a shell from Ocean Lane. and then when the real phone rings she leans her head to one side and says, "Lo?" of course when it comes time to talk on the phone she gets all smiley and quiet.

we've had a smash up fall here in the Northwest. the days are short, but the light is just amazing. almost every afternoon we spend some time outside. we go get books from the library, walk for coffee, buy a few groceries for dinner or just hang out on the deck and watch the scrub jays and Oregon juncos.

last week, getting ready for Halloween, we shared a near perfect day. as i raked leaves, Pa and the girl carved her little pumpkin that we got in Bonita. (yes, i brought three pumpkins with us in the move.) she was interested in eating the pumpkin, so i took the cut-out eyes and mouth pieces in the house and sauteed a few chunks. we also roasted the seeds. such a rich, warm flavor with a bit of salt. we took a handful over to our new neighbor and introduced ourselves.

today after a kind of slow morning, we took a walk to the library park: swings and slides and squirrels and a pretty cat with blue eyes. on the way home we shared a pumpkin shake from Burgerville. she cried when it was gone. crazy one!