Ladybugs Swarming the House

Ladybugs are swarming the house in early November to find shelter from the cold weather.

Walks Around Blackberry Homestead

November 5, 2025 Friday (October 31), was a beautiful clear day. The song “Sweet Home Alabama” said it well: “Sweet home Alabama, where the skies are so blue.” The leaves are changing to their fall colors. On Saturday (November 1), I got up at sunrise since Nox needed to go out. The clouds were back […]

Painting the Dining Room

November 2, 2025 With rain predicted for most of the week starting October 26, I decided to paint the dining room. Bruce wants to pick up our hutch from storage soon. The hutch is big and heavy and requires more muscle than both Bruce and I have to move it. I wanted the walls painted […]

Back to Blackberry Homestead Days

November 2, 2025 On October 24 (Friday), I stopped to look at the red pineapple. I noticed some damage to one of purple basil plants. There was a minor windstorm the night before. The Japanese mustard, radishes, and garlic looked good. I need to mulch the garlic. Some sweet potato vines are still growing under […]

Planting Flower Bulbs

October 29, 2025 On October 22 (Wednesday), Bruce and I were sitting in the living room reading. Nox slept beside me on the sheepskin rug. She woke up and came over to me. On the way down to the mailbox, I admired the neighbor’s pumpkin patch. While I can clearly see the orange pumpkins in […]

The Remains of a Windstorm

October 24, 2025 On Saturday (October 18), Nox needed to go out at 4:30 am. On the horizon, the moon was an orange sliver through the pine trees. The moon didn’t come out clearly in the picture, but you can get the idea of what I saw. The red pineapple continues to be a delight. […]

Harvesting Basil

October 24, 2025 On October 16 (Thursday), I had to take Nox out at 4:43 AM. I was able to get this picture of the night sky. During the day, we walked down to the mailbox and discovered the creek had dried up. I continue to be fascinated by my red pineapple. The bees were […]

Sunrise to Sunset

October 16, 2025 On Friday (October 10), Nox got me up at sunrise, 7:00 am. Nox needed to go outside to pee. While Nox wandered around off the patio, I watched the beautiful sunrise through the pine trees. After Nox finished her stops, she trotted back to me, ready to go inside. Once inside, she […]

Setting Out the Stepping Stones in the Large Flower Garden

October 3, 2025 Yesterday (Thursday, October 2), I set the stepping stones in place. We had bought nine stepping stones at Lowe’s. I had wanted ten, but the last two stones at Lowe’s looked bad, so I went with nine instead of ten. To put a stepping stone in place, I pushed back the mulch, […]

Taking It Easy

October 1, 2025 Bruce and I slept most of Sunday (September 28) away. We did go for a walk around Blackberry Homestead in the late afternoon. Sunday night to Monday morning (September 29), Nox decided to keep me up most of the night with her whining and fussing. I don’t know what was wrong with […]