Got Leaves?

 The wind is blowing steadily from the East, which only happens when a big storm is making its way up the mountain. While the temperature is only 45 degrees, the dark sky is already misting and our morning walkies will be shorter than the dogs prefer.
They are so crazy in the leaf covered hills, running like gravity has been suspended, and falling into the cushioned ground. Most days they run until they are all tuckered out and then head for the shallow end of the pond for a drink and a run in the mud. Hopefully yesterday's mud bath was the last of the season.



Just yesterday it was warm and sunny and our contractor Keith showed up ready to install the new French doors. A down-the-road neighbor was recruited to help carry the heavy doors from the garage to the far side of the house. The new doors went into place in just ten minutes! Framing will be completed today. What a difference from our old slider. No more dirt collecting track at the bottom of those doors.
Here's Chummy trudging towards me, as I shoot a photo from the hill. ( He's lost 4 pounds since we got the Tormentor).  We have so many leaves that the pond is nearly obscured by them all. Every year the pond fills up with leaves and it never seems to bother the fish. The water is suddenly clear from the recent frost, and black as ink from the decomposing leaves. Yet the fish are totally visible as they rise to the surface.

And Tony 'Plutonium' holds still for a split second!