A day in Charles City

The days shorten and allow us to sleep longer as the sun's rays trick us and we assume it is earlier than it really is. This is nice since J.D. sleeps past 7:00 now. He gets up quietly and turns on the coffee and when he hears me messing about, he gets my coffee ready and it greets me by my chair each morning. I am spoiled.

Waking up each day without having to reach for my glasses for the first time in 57 years is a joy I couldn't imagine. It is so odd to just worry about sun glasses now or little readers now and then. I don't even need them to work on my laptop!

The leaves are gently raining down on us and J.D. hopes to keep up with them. We are in the process of preparing the 8,000 sq. ft. front lawn so I can over-seed it. Now that we have our new irrigation system in, we will not have to worry about hauling hoses and setting timers to move them. Hooray!

J.D. has another project waiting in the wings -- a pump house to house our new pump on the well. He has poured the footings and is making a list of necessary blocks and wood beams. Mixing concrete and mortar is a job that has caused him to take serious notice of his remaining shoulder joint. Today, he met with a new orthopedic surgeon (his doctor moved to Boston) and he will probably have his shoulder joint replaced this winter. He will truly be the bionic man with both shoulders and both knees replaced. I hope he can avoid the hips!

My garden is wonderful and looking at it from the road makes me surprised each time I gaze toward each garden area. I did that? I stare in wonder and smile. Life is good even though I know the leaves will soon fall and I picked up a million acorns in the front yard but that Oak tree is so beautiful.... I didn't complain but they were rotten little scamps hiding in the grass. They look like brown grapes, hard as rocks. The squirrels were probably watching me from their trees --- lingering about in hopes I'd toss them their way. They are probably out there in the dark rooting through the compost pile right now!