Fall, Part II

It was a very beautiful fall.  The trees were much more vibrant this year than last and this picture does not do the colors justice.

One fall morning we were watching deer in the field only to look up later and see cows. Our neighbor's cow and calf ("Ginger" and "Cinnamon") came to say hello.

The plum trees to the west of our house bore so many plums this year!  Last year we got 5.  This year we picked an ice cream bucket full and could have picked more if I could have reached them.  I have good memories of my cousin's backyard plum tree, so I love having plum trees ourselves.

We carved pumpkins outside this year.  It was a gorgeous October day.  Matt was away at Cross Country Finals.  Usually he's the pumpkin carver, but our lives have been so crazy busy lately that when an opportunity to carve the pumpkins and keep the mess outside came along, I had to take it!  The kids drew their faces on with a marker and I followed their lines the best I could.

Clare had wanted this pumpkin for her own the first time she saw it growing in the garden.  To her credit, she hollowed the entire inside herself.

Enjoying an apple snack:

Clare and Karl, ready to trick-or-treat.  Nora was sick with a bad cold and didn't want to go.
The weather was cold and nasty with some sleet-like precipitation so I didn't mind staying home with her and Lena.  

We accidentally got a rooster instead of an Australorp hen.  He's not so bad; good to his ladies and not mean or aggressive to them like our last year's rooster.  We named him Elvis.

Elvis always has one eye on me when I'm out in the garden.  He's very protective of his hens and doesn't let his guard down.  Once when Nora was in the garden he must have thought her a rooster because he flew up toward her and beat his wings and scared her to tears.  Matt and I agree that if he ever attacks one of the kids, he's soup.

We let the chickens into the garden this fall and they tore through the last of our kale. I probably should have kept them out of that area.  It's amazing how much damage 30 chickens can do to a kale patch.

Playing so nicely together: