Autumn is my favorite season

Delaney is absolutely taken with this New Yorker issue and studies the cover at length.

She points to the bubble and names the contents, then goes back and names the people.  She and her parents are the family in upper left corner.

PlayDoh is such a mess and I regretted buying it as soon as we opened the first container.  Tomorrow is her last day so I dug it out for one last time.  She loves it.

She was on a roll and would have opened every single color when I got the idea to place the Amazon toy catalog on the table and it was an instant winner.  Winner, winner, chicken dinner!!

With her daddy's help she made me this birthday card which I will treasure until it's in tatters.

Tuesday was my birthday but since we were babysitting we went out for my dinner on Monday.  The tradition has been for all the family to go out to dinner on the birthday but we are shrinking already.  Grandson Logan and girlfriend moved to Kalispell this month and Son Matt, Julia and Delaney will be back in Reno this Sunday. 

I'm moving too - back into the world of adults after 2 1/2 years of being focused on a baby.  Wednesday was my book group and I hosted.  Kathi brought me these flowers which she said she instantly thought of as "Sharon colors."  They are gorgeous!  We had seven for our book discussion, first time to gather indoors since Covid hit.  We were so happy to be together again that we talked for three hours - yikes!  What did we read?  The Midnight Library by Matt Haig.

I love the colors of autumn and I love that our yard is beautiful.  It's also successfully blocked from maraudering deer.  There's plenty for them to eat outside the fence, which these guys were doing when I left for my walk Wednesday morning.

I am walking with friends in places other than my neighborhood now and our walk Monday along the Deschutes River was spectacular.  Ian bought me a pair of walking sticks to protect me from taking another header.  I'm stunned at how many people I know who have been injured while hiking.  My cousin tells me that it's called FOOSH - fall on out stretched hand.  Yep, that's exactly what I did.  One MRI, two x-rays and three doctor visits later, I don't want to do it again.

My root project piece is finished and due this Saturday.  It's a simple pencil rendering and when I see the lovely pieces by other participants I feel like using mine to start the wood stove.  But if you don't enter, you don't get to play.  I remind myself that I couldn't get started until the splint came off my hand.  Lame excuse :-)

If you are of the praying kind, I sure would appreciate prayers for my daughter Chris on this coming Thursday as they replace a heart valve and repair an aneurysm.  I will go down to be with her on the 26th since I won't be able to see her until she's released from the hospital.  We've compiled a list of campy movies to watch together in her recovery, starting with Galaxy Quest.