after the storm

my old, non-working barometer

 I'm grateful to be able to say that I didn't suffer any negative consequences from the hurricane.  My houseplants and I woke up to a cozy home with foggy windows, and outside the kind of thick white cloud cover that makes for lovely soft daylight.

 There is just one minor thing.   The ceiling in my bedroom/studio has a terrible leak.  It dripped languorously throughout the night, and then around 10 this morning, the drip turned into a frantic, steady stream.  Thankfully it's stopped now, but the ceiling plaster is cracked and bowing, and my landlord came up to have a look.  He says he is going to have to cut a big hole in the ceiling to make the repairs.  This is going to be an interesting event - coinciding with my preparations for Christmas orders.  I may have to uproot my whole studio and temporarily transplant.  But I've already decided to make it as fun and fluid as possible.  I wish it could be otherwise, but things could be far, far worse.  So I may as well see it as an adventure, and go with the flow!

my leak-collecting pots!

kittens in the garden!

 Every Sunday after church, I go to my parents' house to visit and do laundry and spend the day.  This week, when I went out to the garden to get some lettuce for my sandwich, I found a litter of five fat kittens!!  Two grey and white, one solid grey, one tabby, and one black and white.  They made me feel like I was in elementary school again!

fall, from a balcony

 One of my favorite things about my apartment is the little balcony off the kitchen.  It makes such a difference to be able to easily go outside with a cup of tea, or to eat breakfast or lunch or dinner plein air.   What more could I ask for on any morning than to be able to step into the treetops in my robe!  This first picture I took a couple weekends ago.  I had rushed home from the quilt show to change into my waitressing clothes and eat quickly before going to work at the restaurant.  I took a few minutes to sit and enjoy the cooler air and the leaves starting to let go one by one.  Today while gathering my thoughts, I had fun watching a group of doves preening and dozing and puffing up their breasts against the chilliness.

And here is the honey that I suited up the other week to witness being harvested.  I really wanted to help Hunter bottle it too, but I didn't get to do that.  But here it is - he kindly gave me a jar.  Beautiful... it almost looks as warm as a fire in the hearth.