MUMS for October

33 Days until the Midterms!

Exit September 🍂

 Another secret painting.  Now I need to get all three framed and gift them on October 17th.

34 Days until the Midterms!

Canine agility

When we posted the picture of Archer on the agility equipment, Catreona asked about it and I answered her in the comments.  Thought I'd talk about that in a post, and include another picture of Archer doing his thing. 

For anyone not familiar, here's the Wikipedia page about dog agility.  Briefly, a handler directs a dog through an obstacle course, and in competitions they are rated on speed and accuracy.  Demetrius and I have taken Archer to the first three levels of agility classes but don't currently have plans to enter any competitions.  But people say that German shepherds are dogs that need a job to do, and he seems to enjoy the classes. He especially loves the A-frame and the tunnels, and I think he's starting to get into the jumps too.  There is an activity called weave polls--a set of upright poles arranged in a straight line where the dog has to "weave" back and forth between them.  Anyway, that's the one where Archer still needs the most work.  According to the Wikipedia page, weave polls are one of the most difficult obstacles to master. 

So I guess that makes me feel less bad about his slow progress. Planning to start a new 4 week session of classes with him next month.  Demetrius set up some weave poles in our back yard and I thought I started to see some of the lights go on in Archer's head, so maybe he'll be better at that in his next class. 

Here he is coming out of a tunnel that was created through one of the hills at his favorite dog park. 

 35 Days until the Midterms! 

 

 

Alphabet book gets it right

Son was really into the alphabet for a time when he was little.  He especially liked the letter X, but unlike Elon Musk he didn't remain obsessed with it until adulthood. Anyway, when we went to the library he would head for the alphabet books and inspect them to see if they used a legitimate X word, or if they did something lame and had X be for X-tra or X-citing.  So, I thought of him when I was reading The Bookstore Cat with a child at Reading Buddies.  Here is that alphabet book's X page.  This author definitely didn't phone it in for the letter X.

 36 Days until the Midterms! 

 

 

The Stolen Neighbors Quilt

37 Days until the Midterms!

The Birthday Roses from Wil lasted a long time!

38 Days until the Midterms!

Spinnaker wishes it wasn't taking so long to get to the Midterms.

39 Days until the Midterms!

 

From Renee, my response to the pumpkin post from yesterday

Pumpkin!

40 Days until the Midterms!

Pollinators on the Autumn Joy Sedum

41 Days until the Midterms!

Mr. Chippy is pleased his porch is all finished and again furnished.

42 Days until the Midterms!

Peace Roses on the International Day of Peace

43 Days until the Midterms!

This Says It!

44 Days until the Midterms!

Yarrr, Maties!!

45 Days until the Midterms!

Today is puddle's birthday 💖 Do something kind and outrageous!

46 Days until the Midterms!

The Last 7:00pm Sunset for 6 Months!

 

We will lose about 3 minutes of daylight per day.

47 Days until the Midterms!

Colourful Bonfire!

 

I have not messed around with this photo at all. This is

what the treated pine cones added to the fire created.

                                                         ~ listener

48 Days until the Midterms!

Dog in the windowsill

This is where Pumpkin used to wait when I would take Archer on a walk. I'd feel bad leaving her behind, but also, a bulldog standing in the windowsill like a cat is pretty stinking cute!
                                                                                                        ~ Renee

 49 Days until the Midterms!

Archer says, "Just 50 days 'til the Midterms! Bark!!"

photo by Archer's human, Renee

Steeple against Blue Sky

51 Days until the Midterms!

European Peacock Butterfly!

This butterfly is not on the list of Vermont butterflies, yet it showed up in our pollinator garden on Friday! It is native to Europe and Asia and a few sightings are recorded near Montreal. I reported it to iNaturalist, and there were no other sightings showing in the States. Then, I learned that the first sighting ever in Vermont was on October 5th, 2022 in Calais, Vermont. There have been some sightings in the Montreal area since 1997. The species (Aglais io) was confirmed by two different online sites, so I'm pretty sure it's accurate. Such a great surprise!

52 Days until the Midterms!