All set for spooky fun!

Every year, it seems that more people in our neighbourhood decide to decorate their yards for Halloween. Tonight, the one in the photo above even has scary sounds emanating...Ooooooh, scary stuff!

We're more traditional (probably many would say 'boring') as all we have are a couple of jack-o-lanterns and a bag with a candle in it (luminaria) to guide tricksters up the walkway. 

Further down the street, there's a pair of skeletons taking a ride to who-knows-where! 

Good fun for a special night, and happily, one without rain.

End of the Line

It might seem odd to feature an image of apples, long associated with new beginnings (think Eden, even), in a post marking the end of something. In this case, unfortunately, those wonderful apples are the last of their kind. I'm not even sure what variety they might be, but because I know the people who rented a house on the land with the tree, I've had access to these for quite a few years. 

The parcel of land with the house has now been sold. Like so much of the land near here, what was once farmland has now been zoned industrial. Sigh. But back to the apples.

Not great for in-the-hand eating, but wonderful for pies or applesauce or, as I mostly do, dehydrating. Odd perhaps, but I no longer use an actual dehydrator, as I've discovered that the pilot light on our gas fireplace makes for just the right temp to slowly dry the fruit. 

Little bags of dried apples will find their way into gift packs at Christmas, though I guess for next year, I'll have to find some other old-timey apple tree that will serve me with a supply of windfall fruit. And hoping for sure, with all the strife currently raging in the world, that this holiday season won't be the end of the line for everyone. 

Eclipsed?

Earlier this morning I headed outside, hoping to get a glimpse of the partial eclipse that was supposed to be visible here. 

But instead of a view of the sun, I was greeted by clouds. 

Still, because I know how quickly our weather can change (yes, it can be an all-weathers-in-a-day kind of place), I poked around in the garden a bit, waiting in case the clouds might blow past.  

Luckily I knew where my special eclipse-viewing glasses were--the same pair from when I'd watched

the total eclipse in 2017. When I put them on, I thought they must have gone 'bad' from being so old, as I couldn't see anything through them. But I guess that's exactly how dark they're supposed to be, as a few minutes later when the sky cleared a bit, there it was--a partially occluded sun!

I didn't want to fry the light-sensing unit in my faithful little camera, so I refrained from trying to shoot with it. As a result, all I can do is tell you what I saw: in essence, a 'crescent sun' with the 'C' of its shape pointing downward, the black circle of the moon beneath. But here's a link to a news story about the event as it took place on the south end of Vancouver Island, not so far from here as the proverbial crow flies. It contains a few amazing images, which may help satisfy your craving for a glimpse of what I got to see today. 

Traditional

How lucky--to be invited for a Thanksgiving dinner--one I didn't have to make! About the only thing I needed to do was go along to the local store in search of a roasting pan that would be big enough to accommodate this beautiful bird, as the one in the cupboard was too small. 

After its ride in the oven while the rest of us went out to a local park for a stroll, the golden bird was ready for sharing. 

As we sat down with our meal, we remembered a dear one who had made turkey dinners for all of us in the past. And in honour of her, we were lucky enough to be feasting on food that came from some of her recipes. 

A feast to be thankful for, complete with all the trimmings. 

 

Ten-four plus two

Sometimes, my brain gets distracted by internal number games. Probably that's one of the reasons I like playing Sudoku. 

But the other night as I was falling asleep, it struck me that the day's date, October 4th, 'translated' as 'ten-four,' a phrase I've heard on too many cop shows (think: the classic Highway Patrol for one).

So yesterday (10/5), I thought I'd start poking around to check out the meaning of ten-four. And sure enough, it not only translates as 'okay' or 'all right' it turned up as an answer to a clue in that day's New York Times Crossword, another of my almost-daily addictions. There it was, 31-across: "Understood" and indeed, the answer, strung across seven blank squares required filling in T-E-N-F-O-U-R. Which means that I got at least one of their brain-teaser clues answered correctly. 

I took that as confirmation that I needed to look up what ten-four really meant, and found (who knew) that there's a whole list of 'ten-' codes with today's date (10/6) meaning as 'busy' (which it was). 

A further trip down the rabbit hole of the Internet informed me that October 4th is indeed ten-four day, and a special day for saluting radio operators, though I'm not sure how many of those there are anymore. 

I figured before I tried figuring out codes for the whole month, this would be a good way to end the week--especially where this is the long weekend when we celebrate Thanksgiving. I know that I have much to be thankful for, in particular, the bounty of this season's harvest. I certainly hope that you have much to be grateful for too. And to that, for now, I can only say 'ten-four'.