Fall is on the back side in
the western mountains of Maine
Most of the bright reds and oranges are gone
and now the vista is earth tones of yellow, copper and brown. The copper beaches in my back yard are in
their height of color and many of the leaves will survive until mid
winter.
I expect within the next week
we will see snow capping the larger mountains.
Like the squirrels and
chipmunks I am scurrying around trying to finish projects that should have been
done during the summer.
 |
| fat face stuffing his cheeks with sunflower seeds |
I have changed
the oil and adjusted the belts in the snow blower, put away the lawn mowers,
winterized the motorcycle; but still have to change the lights in the crawl
space under the house, re-insulate my water pipes and check out the well house.
Today I called the oil
company to fill my tank with kerosene. I
have a Monitor as the primary source of heat (besides the wood stove.)
 |
| Our girl - 19 years old - Monitor in background. |
This is a major output, along with property
taxes, that I face each year at this time.
I use approximately one hundred and twenty-five gallons of fuel and
three cord of wood each year.
My bird feeders are now
supporting mainly chickadees. Most of
the other birds have left for parts unknown. The chickadees fly in and take one sunflower seed, fly away and eat it
and then fly back in for one more seed.
They burn so much energy just to feed during the winter that they depend
almost totally on the feeders.
I spend
so much money on sunflower seeds I feel I should be able to claim the birds on
my income tax return.
I actually look forward to
the first big snowfall. The leaves will
be gone on the trees and black spruce will be a stark contrast to the skeletal
white world. Grey snowy days – the wood
stove pumping – a bottle of wine – books to read – my wife for company: it doesn't get any better.
the Ol’Buzzard
Autumn is my favorite season. I miss Maine more each time I visit your blog.
ReplyDeleteThe leaves are just starting to change here in IU Land. But I think we might have a hard freeze frost....
ReplyDeleteGood post!
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Fall didn't last long. We had about one day of color and then the wind blew the leaves off.
ReplyDeleteTuesday we woke up to find about 3 inches of snow covering everything. It's still on the ground, but hope springs eternal and we are hoping it'll melt before we get snow that stays until next April or May. There's still things that need to be done before Winter, but with temps in the 60s and 70s the end of Sept. and beginning of Oct. got complacent!!
But if the snow doesn't melt, we can burn the brushpiles with no worries!!
We got out first snow this week here on the NC/TN state line. But 60-degree temps are in the forecast for next week. Nevertheless, I've put away my sandals until April.
ReplyDelete