Shades Of Pumpkin


A pretty wildflower and pumpkin display at Saratoga State Park.

I made a couple of loaves of pumpkin bread on Sunday, and now I'm seeing pumpkin everywhere! I am not a fan of pumpkin spice everything, just baked goods like pie, muffins, or bread.

I used some of the free pumpkins from Home Depot that I froze last year to make this bread.
It tastes great and my nephew and his girlfriend got a loaf when they stopped in for dinner.

The rain is falling quite regularly, so pumpkin colored mushrooms are popping up regularly too. 

What made me stop and take a photo of this caterpillar was it's bright green head
against it's pumpkin colored bristles. It's not a great photo because I had to crawl on the road to take it, and a car was coming.


I have been looking for a large bird bath all summer for the backyard. This one appeared on the curb two houses down from mine, for free, on Saturday. That is my favorite price, so I lugged it home. It is heavy terracotta but is deep enough hold a little solar fountain which I've also been wanting. 

Today I'm off on a quest to buy a gift card for a friend to express our group's appreciation for all that she does. She organizes our little trips, she gets us tickets to concerts, and is often referred to as our Social Director. The little party we've organized is on Friday. 

After that is book club, which she also organized, to discus The Lion Women Of Tehran. It was an engaging read about friendship, jealousy, and a bit of recent history. I highly recommend it.

In audiological news, my hearing is only slightly better than before and my ENT does not recommend any further interventions. Which is good, because I've had enough of surgeries. He did remove the tiny tube that had mostly fallen out of place but is no big deal. 

Wednesday
Book Club went well, but I'm a little dismayed at some of the comments. It was suggested that only self supporting women are feminists, or lion women, but I disagreed. Being a stay at home parent (I had to remind them that not all couples are hetero, nor SAH parents female) is valid and important lifes' work and does not exclude one from being a feminist, nor does ones' gender. For goodness sakes, these are mostly women in the club! BTW, I was a single working parent for most of my adult life, so I'm not taking sides, just making room for many sides. The discussion got political, which is not what I want out of book club, so I'll have to rethink my status there.

This female must have just emerged as she was gently flapping her wings the way
they do, to get used to them. Another clue is their perfect color and condition. Soon she'll be off to Mexico!

I'm going through all my bills today and making calls to get better prices. It is amazing how flexible pricing is on phone plans, internet, garbage, and insurance. These companies are going to have to work a little harder to keep my business. 
I'm undertaking a little side quest this week. I've deactivated my FaceBook and Instagram accounts to see if I can go a week without social media. I was wasting so much time scrolling that I just want to see how it feels. I'm 24 hours in and feel like I'm missing out, but I'm holding strong.
I'm hiking tomorrow near Lake George, so I'm hoping for a pleasant day and no need for social media. 

Comments

  1. MargaretSeptember 23, 2026 at 11:48 PM

    My older daughter dumped Facebook long ago and is rarely on Instagram. I know I would miss the interaction if I quit! I love that bird bath and the price was perfect. :) Your BC discussion of the Lion Women sounds upsetting; it was quite a political book, so I can understand politics coming into the conversation--but the judgmental comments shock me. We had a pretty good BC talk on that book; I was one of the few who didn't love it although I did like it.

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